Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Celestial Rise ❯ Even the Dreamers ( Chapter 5 )

Celes and Cid sat at a table for two in an exclusive section of the Common Refectory reserved for those with notable positions or rank. Between the two, Cid held the more prominent status. People were more likely to identify him first on sight than Celes. The two didn't usually dine there. Their usual place was a restaurant just outside the restricted boundaries of the Bronze Compound. But since the Orange Alert had not been lifted up yet, the Common Refectory had to do for the past three weeks. The food was decent, if not exemplary. The Common Refectory was the less insipid choice above the Imperial Mess Hall for the army. It was three stories tall with the ground floor as the public food court. The exclusive sections were on the second and third floor of the building. They both only occupy half the normal floor space so that both have a clear view of the ground floor.

Cid and Celes dined at the very top by the floor railing. Just by looking to their sides they could see off-duty soldiers dining with their comrades talking to each other, laughing at jokes, and complaining about the lockdown. It was the same old scene for the past couple of weeks. Celes was more tired of the fuss inside the hall than the lockdown itself. Directly above them was thick, glass roof. It provided natural light during the day, and on a cloudless night sky, a refreshing view of the stars and the moon. That particular night, however, granted them neither. The rain pounded above them, creating a gray, distorted effect of flowing water. At first, it was interesting to look at, but it got duller by the minute. Celes thought that it was different than actually seeing the drops come straight down from the heaven. Though the rain had slowed its pace to a drizzle, it was still very difficult to see through the obscured glass.

They had finished their meals but not their conversation. Celes had just recounted her week's events that were worth telling. Some where repetition of the previous week, but Cid listened to her as though she were telling it for the first time. Cid, on the other hand were telling her about their experiments… at least not the confidential ones.

"… and that is my theory," he concluded. "They won't believe me--refused to believe me--because they want to have their own way. They want me to find a way to cheat. They want me to find a way to defy the laws of magic."

"Well what did you tell them?" she asked in interest.

"I told them I'd gladly do that. But I don't even understand the laws of magic fully! We've only begun to understand the basic principles of it."

"You're the only one who has the most knowledge of magic. Surely, they'd believe you."

"Bah! You don't know Kefka. He doesn't care about understanding magic. He only cares about controlling it. Talk about the wrong hands, I tell ya! I still don't understand why the Emperor can't see that Kefka's psychologically unstable. And yet the Emperor allows him to push me and my team around. He gives us deadlines like we're tackling a force that is as controllable as a pup on a leash."

"Nobody likes Kefka," she said flatly. It wasn't anything new. It wasn't a surprise at all.

"Not a lot of people get to work under his guidance," he grumbled, "like me and my colleagues. I wish it were him that got sent to the coma ward after the Terra Episode."

Celes chuckled. "I doubt the Council would find a suitable replacement for him! Not that that is exactly a bad thing."

"Speaking of which, any word about the new general? I thought the Council was supposed to vote today."

"I'm sure they did," she said, shrugging. She wasn't very much interested who got the job. "But they always announce it the day after. I guess a higher power needs to approve it. I still don't see what the big deal is. General Fencross isn't even dead. I'm sure everybody would feel very foolish if he woke up just a few days later. All these fuss about nothing. It's a complete waste of time, if you ask me."

"Well who do you think got the job?"

"I don't know, really. A lot of people were whispering about how Llurd had rigged the votes and secured the outcome, but they were just rumors. I wouldn't be surprised if it were him. He's the Army's logical choice. A lot of people are wondering why he hadn't been promoted to a general yet even before all these had begun."

"Do you?"

"Wonder about it?" Celes flashed a disgusted look on her face. "I'm not one to waste my time pondering the politics and bureaucracy of the Empire Military."

"Of course, not," Cid said, smiling. "You're just here for the food… so to speak"

"Hey, at least I know my limitations. My ambitions are not exactly out of reach, and yet they're not low," she retorted. "I'm no dreamer."

"Unlike your mother?" Cid asked, raising a brow.

"You're talking to a soldier, Cid. Sentiments mean so little to me," Celes answered with a smirk on her face. It was the kind of smirk that made one look more charming than arrogant. "I don't want to study the workings of magic. I just want to be one of those to be infused with it."

"And then what? You'd have the ability to call upon the elements, control them, mold them and bend them to your will. But what would you do with that power?" Cid asked as a challenge, but he made it sound like he was just asking a question to satisfy his curiosity.

"I don't know. Serve the Empire, I guess. I mean, I'm a soldier, am I not?" she answered, shrugging.

"I see. So you would use it to--"

"I know what you're going to say," she interrupted. "But I've thought about that."

"Have you now?"

"It's a paradox, Cid. We must be prepared for war at all times. It is undeniable that we have enemies. These rebels will not stop with their attacks. I know they're just lying low right now, but I'm almost sure they will attack again. Innocent lives have been lost. The Empire isn't evil. I mean… if the Empire had plans of world conquest they could've done so many years ago. The Empire doesn't need magic."

"Very interesting hypothesis. But what then is the Empire's ultimate goal?"

"Global accord and its security. It's not the best choice of words I could think of at the moment, but that sums it up fairly nicely."

"Semantics in play, that spells global domination and total control. Mind you, global conquest is entirely different," Cid said. "The Empire manufactures more Magitek Weapons than medical equipment. We train more soldiers than doctors and physicians. What does that tell you?"

Celes chuckled. "Why, Cid. You sound like you're complaining. Don't you like it here any more?"

"I never liked it here. But where else would I continue my research?"

"Aha!" she said with a smile of triumph. "So you, too, are also here for the food!"

Cid sighed. "I suppose you're right. It's a sad state of affairs. Might makes right. Either you're with the flow of the river or you're against it."

"For a soldier it's simpler and less promising. We follow orders or die following orders."

"Unless you're the one giving the orders."

"Heh! Like that'll happen. The orders I give to the new recruits are hardly even orders. To them I'm just an annoyance that they hope to get rid of by advancing to the next course. That's very encouraging!" she said sarcastically, finishing her glass of wine. "I've been sending my application to be one of the next magical infusion candidates. They've been rejecting them since I got into the army. They said that I would have to be at least a First Lieutenant to be a candidate. That or I would have to be handpicked by a high ranking military personnel. Well, I'm already a First Lieutenant and I'm still here. So I guess I have to improve my chances of getting chosen by rising up to a higher rank. I'm trying to get promoted to Captain. I believe I can still do that. Becoming a major is kind of a stretch. And I know being a Lt. Colonel is impossible. I know my limits."

"A pity," he muttered before taking another sip of his wine. "But I suppose you don't have to be a dreamer to be so like much your mother. You probably don't realize this, but you are very much like her--including the looks and poise. And that's hard to say since she wasn't a soldier like you are now."

Celes shrugged, looking uninterested in the conversation. She glanced to her side and saw a large group of people exiting the refectory. It was too early to retire to bed, but for a lot of soldiers, especially the smart ones, it was always a good idea not to wait till it was late at night. Morning trainings were always taxing to the mind and body. Looking up above her she noticed that the rain had stopped, and the glass surface was clear of the haze and optical distortion created by the splashing water. The sky was still cloudy. No doubt it would rain again soon. There was absolutely nothing to look at outside.

She sighed.

"Tired?" Cid asked.

"On the contrary, I feel very much active since I woke up this morning."

Cid averted his eyes from hers and looked over the rails to see how many people were still inside the building besides them. Then he said in a tone that sounded like he was uninterested in the new topic of conversation, "You don't say."

Celes thought he had caught a glimpse of emotion from Cid's face that she had never seen before. It didn't feel right to her, but then it could've been just her imagination. Celes pressed on.

"Yes. I was--am--in a rare form. Usually, at this time of day I would be exhausted both in mind and body, but not today. I don't even feel tired in a least bit. Isn't that strange? I don't even think I'd get a good night's sleep tonight with so much energy left."

"No, I don't think that's strange at all. It happens. It even happens to me at my age. But like you said, it happens rarely," he said in haste. Then, straightening up he continued, "Shall we? I need to be up early tomorrow and--oh!"

Cid's eyes caught a group of Spitfires through the glass roof, flying overhead in a V formation. They had been dispatched from a nearby Magitek Hangar within the Bronze Compound for their evening patrols over the capital in their designated routes. They flew in patterns over the streets and buildings shining their search lights from above, actively looking for people who broke the curfew.

"Goodness! It's that late already?" Cid exclaimed.

He wasn't at all worried about the curfew and neither was Celes. They were exempt due to their rank and position, although, it was still advisable not to be about when they weren't suppose to. It raised questions.

Celes sighed again. She didn't feel like going back to her quarters yet. As if in protest of the idea, she didn't stand up when Cid did.

Smiling, he stood ready to go. "Are you going to stay here a little longer?"

Celes thought about it. "If you don't mind, Cid. I'd like to go to the gym after this. I need to burn up a bit more of this energy in me else I won't be able to fall asleep tonight."

"Very well then," Cid said as he wore his yellow raincoat. "It's been a lovely evening spent with you as always, Celes. I will see you next week, same time, same place, I suppose. I have a big day tomorrow."

"Good night, Cid," she said, smiling back. "Always a pleasure."

**********

After Celes had rested a little inside the Common Refectory, headed for the Army's Fitness and Training Center where she had been earlier in the afternoon. It was the first time that she went there in the evening. There were less people there at the time. Most soldiers had the sense to just take the evening as a sign to retire to bed.

She ran laps indoors, trying to exhaust herself. After twenty laps and she still did not feel physically tired, she tried thinking about random things to get her mind tired, at least. She tried solving long arithmetic in her head at first as she continued running laps. She was not a math genius, but she tried it anyway just to keep her brain cells working. When she arrived at an answer to her made-up math problem, she just shrugged and never bothered to check whether her answer was correct or not. Getting to the correct answer was beside the point. It was the mental process that she wanted to set in motion.

After a few math problems in her head she turned to thinking about the mysteries of the present challenges of studying magic. It had been the subject of their lecture earlier during the day. One topic actually sparked her interest. It was that of the puzzling and erratic nature of the magical force and aviation technology. There had been experiments long ago to combine magical energy with flight technology. They were catastrophic failures. For some reason, magical energy was harder to control when in flight. The special battery packs that contained the magical energy either overloaded or got mysteriously drained for no viably observable reasons. The flight tests resulted in crashes or explosions--most often, both. Many died during the first tests, when the engineers and scientists were still confident that their calculations and corrections were perfect. In the end, they resorted to automated flights as experiments. "At the frequency of the flight experiments, we would've run out of pilots by now!" said their professor in exasperation. "Our current theory is that contained magical energy becomes violently out of scale the higher above the ground it is raised, resulting in the failure," stated the professor.

Other mysteries included the unpredictable result of the Drain and Revive magic, disruption of the Invisibility Magic, short-term positive effect of the magical infusion process and the ineffectiveness of other spells such as Stop, Dispel, Imp and Osmose.

After an hour in the Training Center she exited the building without even bothering to wear her raincoat. She just ran outside in the rain, heading for her quarters. She didn't mind getting wet. She had planned to take a shower in her quarters before she retired for the night. Her feet splashed the water-covered pavement. Her hair, no longer kept together by a hairpin, sagged and clung to her neck and shoulders. The rain felt deliciously warm against her skin. It was not cold at all.

Training the recruits tomorrow morning would be more interesting if this doesn't stop. I hope it doesn't, she wished. I wonder if Capta--

A blinding flash of lightning distracted her thought. She was forced to close her eyes as she was running. Common sense dictated for her to stop running until she regained her sight, but that part did not go well for Celes. Celes's left foot had stepped on something very slippery. She immediately lost control and balance as she toppled backwards, sending her feet ahead of her and into the air while her body continued to thrust forward from the momentum that she initially carried. Reflex sent both her arms to prepare for a rough fall, but it was too late. She fell roughly on her back that she even hit the back of her head on the pavement. She very nearly blacked out from the blow but didn't. Instead, she felt her whole body sliding forward still--spinning, even--on the slick pavement. The pain in her head and on her body was enough to disorient and impair her judgment. Was she still sliding? Was she really spinning?

After what she felt to be a full minute, the world had stopped moving. She was lying on the pavement, staring at the gray sky with heavy raindrops pounding on her face.

What in the world just happened?

Celes groaned as she sat up slowly, mindful of any broken bone, stinging scrape or sore bruise. Her vision darkened slightly as the pain from the back of her head returned. She felt the spot at the back of her head with her right hand. There was a painful lump. Her face grimaced in pain. Sharp needles shot to her eyes. She covered them both with her hands when she felt an icy cold sensation on her cheeks.

She forced herself to open her eyes and look at her hands.

Great Goddesses!

Her hands were covered with frost, quickly melting with the rain. She rubbed them off quickly and looked at the ground.

Ice!

Indeed. Celes was lying on an ice-covered pavement. Slowly, she stood up with great care and maintained her balance. She looked at the pavement and found herself to be at the center of a circular area where a thin layer of rainwater had frozen over.

Where did this come from? she asked as she estimated the diameter of the near circular area. Her guess was thirty feet.

The ice was starting to melt with the rainwater. The edges were already breaking apart. She looked around her, searching for clues as to what could have caused the water to freeze. She found none. She was alone.

The most logical explanation she could think of was that a Magitek Weapon had created it earlier for whatever the reason. Perhaps a test of the weapon's Ice setting. Or perhaps it was simply--and irresponsibly--fired by a soldier to watch the water freeze for his own amusement. She doubted her theory very much. Magitek activities had been restricted since the Orange Alert. If a Magitek Armor were scheduled for testing then the entire Army would know about it as a precaution. After the Terra Episode, nobody wanted any more surprises.

Still, it was the most logical explanation she could think of. My head hurts, but I don't have any scrapes, at least. I'm going to have this lump at the back of my head checked tomorrow.

**********

Celes stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. She had taken a quick shower after a non-eventful walk the rest of the way home. Her headache was gone now giving her the mental strength to ponder upon what had happened.

Let's see… I was running, and a lightning flashed from nearby, blinding me. I closed my eyes and the next thing I know I was bracing for a rough impact. I hit my head and slid down a few feet. Took me a while to notice I was lying on something cold. Maybe I should report this to somebody tomorrow. It could be serious. I don't recall reading about a Magitek deployment for today.

Another possibility crept into Celes's mind. A magical discharge by magic-user, perhaps? That would be scary if that were the case. Magic was disallowed outside until further notice. I hope we don't have another attack soon. But how can that be? Could it be possible that we have another rebel in our midst?

Celes turned to her right side and closed her eyes. She pulled the blanket up to her shoulder and tried to go to sleep. Her mind was not at rest, as well as her body. The energy she woke up with that morning was still present. She ignored it with the might of her will. She'd need it tomorrow. Still, something was bothering her about the whole thing. Granted, the ice was strange enough by itself… but Celes knew that she was missing something completely different about the event. More specifically, there was something wrong about the flash of lightning.

Celes opened her eyes slightly and found herself staring at the closed window. It was still pouring out. She saw a bright flash from the outside. One… two… three… four… five… she counted before she heard the thunder from the distance.

Celes's eyes widened in realization. She had identified the other thing that had been bothering her.

Thunder! There was no thunder!