The wind blew through Celes' hair, practically oozing of the desolation that it had just blown through. It was a wonder that the wind still blew at all, all of the plants were slowly dying off. Nothing planted would grow anymore, this new world made hell look nice. She looked up the hill that she was climbing past the small shack of a house that stood atop it. Past the house lay the wastelands, the small island was covered completely with them. Ever since the end of the world everything had started to rot away into waste.
For all she knew she and Cid were the only two people left alive on the entire planet. Kefka had gotten the destruction that he had wanted. The idiot, had moved the three sources of all magic power out of their exact alignment, causing everything, even all of her friends, to be destroyed. She didn't remember much of what had happened, they were escaping from the floating continent on Setzer's airship. There was a sound of wood crackling and breaking, and then she was falling.
She had awaken here a week and a half ago to find herself alone with Cid. Throughout her life Cid had been like a father to her. It was a strange twist of fate that they both ended up in the same place after a thing like this had happened. Cid told her of what had happened, the destruction, the desolation, the death, and the hurt.
"There were other people here in the beginning." she could hear Cid's voice in her memory. "They are all gone now. Many of them died of hopelessness. Just gave up on life. Others died of sickness. Whenever someone was really feeling down, they'd go up to the cliffs to the north and jump a leap of faith. It always cheered them up, pity none of them ever came back. The only reason that I didn't follow them off of the cliff was the hope that you'd wake up someday. Caring for you kept me alive."
A whole year it had been since the end of the world. A whole year Celes had slept while the world slipped further into it's shadow of darkness that seemed to hover in the very air. An entire year and there had been no ships, no one had come for them. If no one had found the island in a year's time surely there was no one left to find it. Surely if her friends were still alive they would have looked for her, found this wretched little island, and taken her and Cid away from their lonely days and frightened nights. Locke was dead, now when he was gone she realized that she had loved him. Now she would never be able to share with him her love.
A few days after she had awaken Cid had come down ill. He said that it was the same sickness that had fallen over those that had lost their will to live. "But I haven't lost my will to live." Cid had said. "I want to live even more now that you woke up."
"Hey Cid." Celes had said to him. "Let's forget about getting off of this island. We've got all we need right here. As long as we have each other we can stay happy here on this island. How about it. . .Grandad?"
"Grandad?." Cid said a little surprised. "I'm not that old. I'm only fifteen years older than you are."
"You're like family to me ever since that day when you found me you've taken care of me like I was your own child."
"I've always wanted grandchildren. Guess this is my chance to have one. Alright grand daughter. As long as we have each other we'll make out a happy existence in this cruel new world that we live in."
That was a week ago, Cid had gotten worse each day. Now when she heard him hacking and coughing at night she feared. She feared that Cid would die, that her grandad would die and leave her all alone in the world, with no one else left in the entire world. She feared what would happen to her if he died, the thought chilled her to the bone. She didn't think that she could stay sane if she was the only person left in the whole world. That's why she had done everything that she could for him to help him get better.
Her healing magic had no effect on the sickness. It seemed that the harder she tried to make him better the worse he got. Today when She had gotten up to go catch fish for the day's meals, he had said. "I know that I won't be alive much longer. I can't bear the though of leaving you all alone in like that but, who is to judge over who lives and who dies. If I die. I want you to find happiness anyway that you can. Even if it means a leap off of the cliffs."
"You're not going to die Grandad. You're getting better I know that you are. You'll be just fine, you'll see. We'll be together for years to come."
While fishing She had sat down and started crying. It wasn't just Cid dying, it was everything. Everywhere she looked there things were dying, the plants, the animals. She couldn't remember the last time that she had seen a bird fly overhead. It seemed that the only animals that were still thriving were the fish. She was so full of despair, she just had to let it out. Somehow she didn't think that anything would ever turn out right again.
She looked up at the house again it was close enough for Cid to hear her voice. "Hey Grandad I'm back." She called up to the shack. "Got lot's of fish this time. I probably won't have to go out tomorrow."
There was no answer, The lights inside weren't lit. The one thing that Cid always insisted upon was that there be plenty of light everywhere. He was quite paranoid of going blind.
Fear stabbed icily into her heart. "Gra. . .grandad. You all right in there." She dropped the bucket of fish on the ground and ran the rest of the way up to the small house. She opened the door and stepped inside. "Grandad. You awake?"
Again, there was no answer "Hey Cid. Stop it you're scaring me." She walked slowly up to the bed where Cid lay. "Cid?" Reaching down to shake him she realized that he wasn't breathing. The last few days he had been wheezing, there was no wheezing sound coming from deep inside his chest. She reached down and felt his neck for a pulse and pulled her hand back quickly. Cid was icy cold.
The icicle of fear in her heart suddenly grew spikes and began to twist "No." was all that she could say. "No." Her voice left her completely, and her legs gave out from underneath her. She fell forward onto the bed. "NOOOOO!!"
Celes looked over to Cid's face. He looked so peaceful laying there. His glasses were hanging off to one side as if he had convulsed in his last moments. She reached up and straightened them. ‘You said we'd be together for the rest of our lives." She whispered. She just stared at Cid's face with tears streaming from her eyes. The face that she remembered from her childhood. The face that she had grown to love. She had thought of this man all her life as her father. She would not be alive now if not for him. She owed him her life, she owed him more than that. All of the power that he had given her, all of the magic that she could use. Could not bring him back. Cid was gone forever, and she had just sat there and watched it happen.
"What kind of god would do a thing like this to someone?" Celes asked. "Didn't you take enough from me already? Did you have to take Cid too?"
She buried her face in the blanket and began sodding. She cried long and hard into the blanket. When she finally stopped the blanket was soaked and the sky was beginning to darken. The final rays of sunlight shone through the small window above Cid's head. There was nothing left in this world that she had to live for. Everyone and everything that she had loved and cared about was gone. There was nothing left. She gently lifted the blanket and put it over Cid's head.
"Rest in peace." She said quietly. "I love you Grandad."
"Whenever someone was really feeling down, they'd go up to the cliffs to the north and jump a leap of faith. It always cheered them up." Cid's words echoed through her head. There was nothing left. What was there to live for in an empty world, hopelessness would soon make her sick. Just as it had done to the other people that had lived here. Just as it had done to Cid.
She left the house and didn't look back, The cliffs to the north were just visible from the small shack of a house she thought that she would have called home for the rest of her life. It seemed that whenever she found somewhere to call home, it was always taken from her. Whether it be by nature, or soldiers, or god. She never had a place that felt like home, until she woke up here.
The cliffs grew larger ahead of her, thrusting themselves up from the water that imprisoned her here. Soon she was standing at the base of the small mountain with the cliffs on the other side. The higher that she climbed the lower her spirits sank. It felt like someone had ripped her heart out and smashed it. Darkness fell over her as she made her somber climb to the top of the cliffs. Soon she was looking down over the white crashing waves as they were broken by jagged rocks thrust out of the water like fingers waiting to catch her.
Looking up into the sky she saw the stars. They were shining brightly, the same as that cold winter night long ago. That was the first time that she had met Cid, a night that changed her life forever.
A winter wind blew down from the Cliffs of Narshe and across the land of Figaro. Across the great desert and through the spires of Figaro castle. This wind did not begin on the cliffs of Narshe. Wind has no beginning, and no end. It just blows around in circles until it loses it's will to blow. The wind continued from the castle out across the other half of the desert where it was warmed a great deal. This warmth did not last because, the wind fell on a snow storm. It pushed snow flakes around, never letting them fall straight down.
At last the wind fell upon a snow covered forest. The snow combined with the wind made for a very cold night. The wind finally gave it's last effort to push on through the trees, rustling them fiercely before it completely died away. A small child looked up at the snow falling down all around her and began to cry. It was cold and she was scarred. The bad men had hurt her mommy and now she wouldn't wake up. No matter how hard she tried.
She had given up finally and started crying. She was crying so hard that she didn't hear the call of the Chokobos as they drew a carriage through the snow. "He guys stop for a second." the driver said to the large birds that were pulling his carriage. They chokobos obeyed and the carriage ground to a halt. "Now stay here and wait for me will ya." One of the large birds warked at him as he crunched through the new fallen snow toward the sound of the sobbing.
He came upon a small girl huddled up against a tree trunk next to a woman who was covered in a thin blanket of the stuff. Blood stained the snow around the woman's head. "Hey." he said. "Hey lady are you alright?"
The girl looked up, seeing him for the first time. "Mommy won't wake up.' She managed through her sobbing. "Can you help her?"
The young man walked quickly over to the woman and soon discovered that she was dead. Written in the snow above her head in blood were the words. "Please take care of Celes"
"Your mommy is hurt pretty badly, I can't do much for her. We'll have to take her to a doctor OK?"
"He bad man hit her with a stick and then she wouldn't wake up."
"Hey come with me. I'll take you two some place warm."
"Thank you. Oh thank you." The girl said. It was as if she had never been crying in the first place.
"My name is Cid. Is your name Celes?"
"Yes I'm Celes. That's me. Celes."
"Well come on Celes. We'll freeze to death if we stay out here much longer"
Cid bent over and picked up the body of the woman and slung it over his shoulder. "This way." he said and started walking. "Hey Celes. If you saw the bad man that hit your mommy again would you know who he is?"
"He was wearing a mask. Halloween was last month, why would anyone wear a mask when it isn't Halloween?"
"Some people just don't want anyone to know who they are."
The chokobos warked happily as Cid walked out of the trees and onto the snow covered road. "Hey Guys. Told you I'd be back."
"Who are you talking to?" Celes asked.
"The Chokobos." Cid answered. "That one over there on the far side is Bill and the one next to him is Geremy."
Cid walked over to the carriage and opened the door to the back. He gently laid the body on the floor and covered it's face with a blanket. He grabbed another pile of blankets then shut the door. "Your mommy's going to ride in the back where she can lay down and sleep." He said to Celes. ‘Why don't you come ride with me up front?"
"OK."
Cid lifted the girl into the seat next to the drivers seat and handed her the stack of blankets. "Here." he said. "Wrap these around yourself. You must be freezing."
Celes took the blankets and did as she was told. Cid climbed up and sat down next to her, pulling his coat a little closer he grabbed the reins. "OK guys lets get going." the chokobos needed no more than that, they were soon running at their top speed through the cold winter night.
"It stopped snowing." Celes said sounding a little sad. Why does it always stop when you're just starting to enjoy it?"
"I don't know." Cid said. "But look. The snow went away and left all of those beautiful tars up there in the sky, look at them Celes."
"Wow look at how many there are."
"Yeah. Each one of those stars is the spirit of a person that died. They go up to the sky and look down on the people that hey love, watching over them. Whenever you're feeling sad, just look at the stars and know that someone is watching over you all the time."
"What does that mean."
"Nothing. . .I'll tell you later. So do you know why you and your mommy were out here in the middle of the forest so late?"
"Mommy said that it wasn't safe to stay at home anymore. She said that the empire would kill us if we didn't leave."
"The empire? That's on a whole different continent. You must have come a long way."
"We rode on a boat. It made me sick. Then we walked for a long time. Everyday."
"Well I'm on my way to Figaro. We should get there in a few hours. Why don't you try to sleep."
"I don't wanna sleep."
As children often do, right after the words were out of her mouth she leaned against Cid and was soon asleep. What kind of people would attack and kill an unarmed woman, Cid wondered. Celes said that they were running from the empire, could it be that Gestahl had sent someone after them? Why would the emperor want a woman and a child dead? So many questions. Could it be that this child was special in some way, different from other children?
The temperature gradually raised as they got closer to the desert, up ahead Cid could see the night sky reflecting off of the sand. It looked as if the ground in front of them was on fire, Cid wanted to wake Celes up to show it to her bur, he couldn't bring himself to do it. She looked so peaceful wrapped up in blankets and leaning against him.
"Almost there guys." he said to the ckokobos pulling the carriage. "Almost there, just keep going a little longer."
For a desert it was unusually cold, Cid had heard that it sometimes got below freezing on summer nights in the desert but, he had never believed it. Until now, it was almost colder than it had been in the snow. Quite a contrast to the sand that seemed to burn in the starlight. Up head in the distance he could see the castle as he got closer it seemed to grow out of the sand. Soon he was right at the gates.
"Who goes there?" someone called down from atop the wall.
"I'm just a traveler seeking a place to spend the rest of the night." Cid yelled up to him.
"Why should we let you in? You could be a bandit."
"Please let me in, I came across a child in the forest to the north, her mother had been murdered and we need a place to bury her."
"What makes you think that we have room to bury any homeless person that turns up dead."
"But. . ."
"Let them in Jonathan." A new voice said calmly. "They mean us no harm."
"Yes sire." The guard said sounding a little chastened. "Open the gates. Let them in."
The huge gates in front of Cid opened and he drove his carriage inside where he was met by two guards and another man. Cid recognized him as king Figaro himself. He quickly got down from the drivers seat and knelt before the king. "Your majesty>" he said
"Oh please do get up. I always hate it when people do that."
"Yes sire." Cid said as he got to his feet.
"Now what is this I hear of murder?"
"Come Cid said as he walked back to the carriage. "See for yourself." he opened the door and showed him the body of Celes' mother. "Found her in the middle of the northern forest. Her daughter up there asleep in the driver seat says that they were attacked by a man wearing a mask."
"But why would anyone want to kill a woman and her child?" the king asked.
"The girl said that they were running from the empire. I know that Figaro and the empire are allies and that you have given imperial soldiers the right to roam around you country as they please. Maybe one of them did it?'
"But why? Why would the empire stoop down to murder, there is no point to it."
"I don't know, I'm going to be leaving here in the morning I hope. Is it too much to ask for her to be buried here before we leave?"
"So you're taking the girl with you?"
"Yes I found her, I guess that she's my responsibility."
"No it's not to much trouble. I'll get someone out digging a grave right now. You must be frozen solid. Come lets go up and talk over a hot meal shall we?"
"What about Celes?"
"Who?"
"The little girl. What about her?"
"I'll have someone put her in a bed. Come."
Celes awoke in a strange bed with two little boys standing there staring at her. "Hello" one of then said. "I'm Edgar, That's my brother Sabin. We're twins. Who're you?"
"I'm Celes." Celes said.
"Hey." Edgar said. "I'm going to be king someday. Wanna be my Queen?"
"My mommy says that Queens are so full of themselves that they can't see what the people really want."
"What does that mean."
"I don't know but, I don't think it's good."
"Celes." someone at the door said. "Celes come here."
It was Cid, she got out of bed and ran over to him. "Cid." She said happily. She was smiling brightly until she looked at his face that seemed dark and sad. "What's the matter Cid?"
Cid knelt down by Celes so that he was eye level with her, "Celes. Your mommy was hurt really bad last night, and she died."
"My mommy said that my daddy died in the war. I never saw him again after that. Am I never going to see my mommy again?"
"Your mommy went to sleep and she's never going to wake up again. I sorry I didn't find you in time."
"Mommy." Celes said and then broke out in tears. She fell over forwards into Cid and cried into his shoulder. Cid put his arms around her.
"Don't worry. Your mommy is up with the stars. She'll watch over you for the rest of your life."
A while later Celes stopped crying and sat down on the floor, just staring up at the ceiling, "here Celes. I have something for you." Cid produced a necklace from one of his pockets. "Your mommy was holding this in her hand. I think that she wanted you to have it."
Celes looked at it. "It was her mommy's when she was a kid." She said
"Here let me put it on you." Cid said and put the necklace around her neck. "There you go."
"You're not going to leave me too Cid are you?"
"No. " Cid said as he stood up again. "No I'm not. I'm going to take you with me to my home. How about that?"
"Where do you live?"
"A town that's very far away from here called Maranda. We'll have to ride a boat to get there"
"I hate boats. They always make me sick."
"Me also. Come on I have something to show you."
"What is it?"
"Your mommy's grave. Here's some flowers for you to put n it." Cid handed her a bouchet of wild desert flowers. Celes took them and followed him through the hallways that wound their ways through the old castle. He took her outside to the small graveyard behind the castle where Celes' mom had been buried an hour before.
"See that cross right there." Cid said pointing at one of the headstones. "You're mommy is sleeping under it. Go put those flowers next to it."
Celes walked up to the headstone, and put the flowers next to it. Her feet sank a little in the freshly turned dirt. "Mommy why did you have to go away? Why?"
Cid stood back and watched Celes talk to the cross for a few minutes. Then she got up and walked back to Cid. "Lets go to your home now."
"OK. My carriage is waiting for us outside the front gates. Lets go." Cid said.
"Do the stars shine where you live?" Celes asked as Cid lifted her up to the drivers seat on the carriage.
"Yes they shine brightly all the time. Even when the sun is up and you can't see them." Cid climbed up next to her. "Ok Bill And Geremy." he said to the chokobos. "Lets go." The ckokobos needed no pushing, they took off right away into the hot desert sand. It was hard to believe that this hot desert had been freezing cold a few hours ago.
They went south to the cave of Figaro, and on to the town of South Figaro, where Cid returned the rented Chokobos and carriage. From South Figaro they got on a boat and sailed across the ocean to Tzen, where they got on a carriage headed for Maranda. Staying well clear of Vector, the capital of the empire. They arrived in Maranda where Cid lived. His Parents had died in the war three years before. He lived alone in a small house in the back of the town, where it was most time overlooked by everyone. Cid worked as an assistant to a scientist, he was actually more of an apprentice of sorts but, all he did it seemed was fetch this, fetch that, clean this, move that.
Celes fit right in. He told everyone that he had married a woman with a child on his year long trip but, she had died soon after leaving the child to him. She got alone great with all of the towns children and it seemed that they would be happy for years to come.
Two Years Later
Cid sat in the lab that had been left to him by the scientist that he was apprenticed to. The man had finally started to teach him when he died, leaving Cid to learn for himself all about the wonders of science. He was barely old enough under Maranda law to own such a thing, only twenty one years old. Suddenly The six year old Child that he was taking care of as his own burst in. "What is it Celes?" he asked
"Cid. " she practically screamed. "Cid come quick something's wrong."
He got up and ran outside with her to see a whole bunch of people running past outside carrying all that they could hold and more. "What's going on. " he called to no one in particular. Hey what's going on?"
Finally he grabbed someone and Stopped him. "Hey what's going on where's everyone going?"
"You'd know if you weren't always cooped up in that lab of yours all day long. "The man said. "It's the empire, they're on the move. Tzen and Albrook fell during the night and the imperial army is headed this way. If I were you I'd get that daughter of yours and anything that you two can carry and get the hell out of here."
The man broke free of Cid's grasp and ran off , disappearing into the crowd. "The empire. Oh no, maybe they've figured out that Celes Is here." He turned and ran back into the lab. "Come on Celes we've got to get out of here now."
He grabbed Her hand and they ran together back to the small house that they shared. Cid reached up above the fireplace and pulled down the sword that had belonged to his father and buckled it to his belt, he then ran to the kitchen and stuffed as much food into a sack as he could fit. He handed it to Celes. "Here you carry that he said." He ran up the stairs to the rooms above and began pulling things out of a dresser. "Ah forget it there's no time. He reached into a hole in the wall and pulled out a pouch full of money. It was his life's savings, put away for exactly this kind of thing. He ran back to the stair and stopped by a closet to pull out an old dagger.
Celes was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. He handed the dagger to her. "It any soldier try to take you, you stab them with this knife and then twist the blade, before you pull it out." he said hooking it to the small girl's belt. "Ok let's go."
"Where are we going to go?"
"We've got to get to the dock and get on a ship before all of them are gone. Come on we've got to run."
They left the house and ran to towards the docks. They got there in good time considering the crowd. "Wait." Cid said looking out into the bay. "Those are imperial ships. We'll never make it out that way. We've got to find another way."
As if to punctuate Cid's words a cannon fired from one of the incoming ships. The cannonball fell right in the middle of the crowd trying to get aboard the ships. There was a huge explosion that threw people and parts of people high into the air. Cid turned around holding tight to Celes' hand he ran in the opposite direction. Other explosions resounded behind them as more cannons fired, ignoring the screams of the wounded Cid pushed on back through the crowd of people that all of a sudden were a roiling mass of bodies trying to get away like he and Celes.
They soon got to the edge of town where Cid could see about a mile off the glint of sunlight off of armor. The army was almost there. They were trapped in on two sides. "This way" Cid said pulling on Celes' arm. He drew his father's sword and held it in front of him. The soldiers would be attacking any time now.
Cid led Celes to another side of town that was up against a small patch of rolling hills. They wouldn't be very visible through the hills and they could sneak away quietly without anyone noticing. They ran over the hills keeping low so that no one would see them. It was all for nought, they came over the top of a hill and right into a group of soldiers. The soldiers raised bows at them.
"Stop and put your weapons on the ground or you will be fired on." The commander said
"Damn It." Cid yelled as he threw his sword to the ground. "Damn you all."
Soldiers walked up to him and tied his hands behind his back. One of the soldiers grabbed Celes' shoulder. Celes screamed, and pulled the dagger that she had hidden in her sleeve out. She plunged the blade into the mans thigh and twisted it. The man screamed and fell over holding his bleeding leg.
"Run Celes." Cid yelled. "Run. Get away and hide somewhere."
Celes didn't need much more invitation to run. She dropped the dagger and took off over the hills. Several archers pulled back and fired at her. The arrows screamed through the air toward her, just as they were about to hit her she tripped, and they all flew over her head to land sticking out of the ground two feet above her head. She got up and started running again, by the time the archers were ready to fire again she had disappeared over the top of a hill.
"Let her go." The commander said. "We've got him."
"Hey commander." on of the soldiers said. "It's him. . .The one we were supposed to find."
"Cid." The commander said. "You are Cid are you not?"
"Go to hell." Cid said.
"Persuade him to be a little kinder." The commander ordered.
A soldier hit Cid hard on the back of the legs with the flat of his sword. Cid fell down backwards, and the soldier brought the sword down again on his fore head. There was a loud thud as the flat of the blade connected with Cid's skull. The soldier put the point of the sword against Cid's throat. "Ready to answer some questions now?"
"Yes. Cid said weakly. I'm Cid."
"Good." The commander said. "Tie a rope around his neck, if he trips don't stop. Just drag him." The commander walked over to Cid and leaned over him. "The emperor would like to speak with you."
Cid lay on his back with his hands tied under him, he was in a lot of pain. The soldiers had taken him the whole long distance back to Vector on foot. Whenever he fell they dragged him until he could manage to get back on his feet. Now he laid in a cell in the dungeon of the imperial castle in Vector awaiting God knows what fate.
The door suddenly opened, letting in bright light. Cid closed his eyes as the light washed over his face. "The emperor Gestahl awaits." Someone unseen said. "On your feet." Someone walked in and pulled him to his feet.
He was led Through a maze of identical corridors to a large set of wooden doors with the imperial seal carved into it. The doors opened and he was thrown inside. "Untie him." A gravelly voice said. "He is our guest not our prisoner."
"I'd hate to see how you treat your prisoners." Cid said looking up to where the voice had come from. The source was no other than the emperor himself. "Why have you brought me here?"
you can only put so much code on one page the rest of the story is here
This story is by yours truely Eric Allen. It is copyrighted so don't even dream of thinking of using it without my expressed permission or I can And Will sue you for large ammounts of cash
