Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Celestial Rise ❯ Derailment ( Chapter 15 )

They walked through the corridors in haste leaving the soldiers and the key staff behind. After Celes's announcement, Cid's reaction was not what any of them had expected. Cid held Celes by the wrist, and led her through the corridors again and back to his office. Celes obligingly followed. At one point, Cid was hurting her wrist, and only when she mentioned it to him that he eased his grip. It was obvious to Celes that something had upset him.

Cid closed the door behind them and locked it. Celes watched him intently, still holding the bottle of champagne rather awkwardly.

"Sit down," Cid said almost inaudibly then he started pacing back and forth right in front of her.

Celes sat on the chair nearest her. She was nervous. She hadn't seen Cid this upset before.

"Cid… what's going on?" she asked.

Cid continued pacing back and forth, seemingly in deep thought. Whether he was too preoccupied with his thoughts or he ignored her question, she couldn't tell.

This is happening too quickly all at the same time. The change… the cycle… the promotion. It's all too convenient. Finally, Cid stopped and looked at her. "Who promoted you?" he asked.

"The New Council chose me," Celes answered promptly.

"Who is the head of this New Council?" Cid asked almost immediately.

"G-General Cristophe is."

Leo?

"So General Cristophe promoted you?"

Celes felt like she was being interrogated.

"Yes. Cid, is anything the matter?"

"Who else knows about this?" Cid asked.

"Cid! Tell me what's wrong," she demanded.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?! The Empire just promoted you to a general, and you ask what's wrong? You-you-you're too young to be a general. Too inexperienced! Celes, just yesterday you were a first lieutenant. Now you're a general! This is not normal. It's highly irregular, and that is what's wrong!" Cid returned heatedly.

It was the first time Celes had seen him like this. It was almost as if Cid was deeply offended at the idea of her being a general. This was not the reaction she had in mind. "Cid… i-it's okay. I was just as surprised as you were when they told me, but they explained everything to me. I think everything's going to be fine. I'll deal with this. General Cristophe said they will train me."

"Who else knows about this?" Cid asked again.

Celes shook her head. "Why does that matter?"

"Just--!" Cid started with a raised voice. He caught himself just in time. He took a deep breath and asked again, calmly. "Just answer the question, Celes. It is very important. Who else knows about this?"

"Plenty of people--the Council, the officers in the military, the Emperor and a handful of guards--and you. Tomorrow, everybody in Vector will know."

"Does Kefka know?" Cid asked. He bit his lip after, but it was too late.

"Kefka? Maybe. But what's he got to do with anything?" she asked, puzzled.

Everything! He's the center of the classified information 'solar system.'

"Nothing, of course!" he said, turning away from her suddenly. "What do they want of you?"

"General Cristophe said they needed a new type of leader in Vector. They did some research and they chose me--to make the long story short."

But why Leo? Why is he involved? Why was the Council changed? Was it changed solely for her?

"Why did the New Council choose you?"

"I… I can't tell you that, Cid. I'm sorry," she said mildly.

"Why not?" he asked in alarm.

"It's… classified information," she said simply, feeling quite proud of herself for finally having the authority to say those words.

Classif--those bastards! What gave them the right to hide things from me?

"Classified? Are you hiding anything from me?" Cid asked, tactlessly. He was too upset to catch himself in time. Idiotic!

This time, Celes pounced back. Standing up, she retorted, "Yes, Cid! That's what classified information means! You know… like the ones you keep hidden from me when you're working on your… classified projects! Did you think it was something personal?" Cid immediately regretted asking the question even before Celes answered it. Now both of them were upset.

"Well, did you, at least, take the time to ask yourself why they chose you?"

"Of course, I did, Cid. I'm not stupid."

"I didn't say you were," Cid said defensively. "But you have to think about this very carefully. Unless… they didn't give you that chance."

"Of course, they did, Cid. And, yes, I have thought about it. Many times. General Cristophe helped clear out my doubts. The more I thought about it, the more it became clear to me that I wanted the job," Celes said.

"I don't like this one bit. You don't even have battlefield experience," Cid argued.

"Yes, I do. I went to many field missions before."

"But never into battle," Cid noted quickly.

"It doesn't matter. I will be trained and readied."

"For what?" What did they tell her?

"I-I can't tell you," Celes replied.

Cid sighed in exasperation. "I don't like it at all," he muttered under his breath, and he was sure this time that his voice was not loud enough for anybody else to hear. But Celes did hear him.

"Well, then you've got nothing to worry about because I didn't come here for your permission!" she said angrily.

Too fast… too early… I have to stall or else I'll lose her.

"Tell them that you change your mind!" Cid said suddenly.

"What?!" she exclaimed, looking at Cid incredulously.

"Tell them you're not ready to handle the responsibilities."

"I am not going to do that! Cid, what on Terrae is wrong with you?"

"Being this high up in the military is dangerous business, Celes. Trust me. I know! I have a feeling that they're not telling you everything you ought to know."

"I am aware of the danger, Cid. I am aware of the hardships. But I am confident that I can do this. General Cristophe and the New Council are behind me all the way. Besides, if I let this opportunity pass me by then it goes to the next person," she said grimly.

"Let it pass," Cid said. "Let the next person handle the immense responsibility of being a general. It's safer--"

"Safer--?!"

"You won't be burdened with the tedious military affairs. You'll be happier."

"Happier?! What do you know of things that make me happy, Cid? I joined the military not so long ago. You wished me luck on my next promotion just yesterday over dinner. Did you think I enlisted because I needed to? This is what I want to do, Cid. I want to be a soldier. I am happy here."

"I remember that day, Celes and--"

"You were happy for me."

"Yes, I was!"

"Then why can't you be happy for me now?"

"Because… because…" Cid had the word in his mind. Stop, fool! You cannot tell her! Not yet. Not like this!

He wanted to say it out loud, but he could not. Saying it out loud was out of the question. Celes noticed this. She examined the expression on his face intently. She felt like he was hiding something from her. "Because I have a terrible feeling about all these! It's highly illogical for somebody like you to be a general just like that."

Cid and Celes both fell quiet. The angry look left her face. Now… she was wounded.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Professor. I thought you'd be thrilled. You were the only one I could possibly share this supposedly exciting news with, and here you are acting like a… like a…" Celes couldn't possible think of an analogy to complete the sentence. She was not used to saying mean things… not especially to the only man she considered family in Vector. "…like an overprotective parent!" she finished triumphantly. She had no time to assess whether it was the smartest thing to say. She thrust the bottle of champagne into his hands, and she went for the door.

Go after her! Don't lose her now!

"Celes, wait!"

"That's General, to you," she snapped.

Don't lose her now.

"Celes--"

"General Celes Chere," she insisted, sternly.

Hide your concern. You're scaring her away.

Cid sighed. "Celes," he said calmly and thoughtfully. "I'm sorry. I panicked. It's what scientists do when something big happens that's totally unexpected no matter how pleasing it looks. I wanted to be sure it's real, but most of all, safe." Celes stared at him for a moment, checking to see if he was being sincere. She bit her lip when she realized that he was. "Please have a seat, Celes. No, no… use my chair behind the desk. It's more comfortable."

Celes did so. She didn't care where she sat down. She just wanted to give Cid another chance. She wanted to give herself another chance. Cid looked at the bottle in his hand and smiled. "Well, I must admit, Celes, that I still have a lot of questions in mind. But I'll put them all away for now. After all… a promotion is a promotion," he said cheerfully as he walked to a breakfront situated close to his desk. He opened the front glass door by its little knobs and pulled out two empty sterilized beakers.

"I don't believe in collecting wine glasses just for show," he explained with a smile.

Celes didn't say anything. She was still licking her wounds from the quarrel. She felt awful at what she had done. She felt bad about raising her voice and assuming the bitter tone of discourtesy in spite of his reaction. He was the only person she could trust, and what had just occurred was something she hadn't counted on ever happening. She felt betrayed by his questions and reaction.

Why did he have to act like that, anyway? Why couldn't he just be happy for me? she thought, trying to rationalize her actions. Well, he didn't give me much of a choice, she concluded. But somehow, even her defensive reasoning didn't give her much comfort. She knew that she still should've reserved her best judgment in the situation.

"It's supposed to be my working formula for the next experiment," Cid said as he placed the beaker filled with champagne on the table in front of her.

Celes looked up and asked suddenly, "What?"

"That paper that you were staring at," he pointed out. "I was working on it before you came."

Celes looked at the desk again and saw right in front of her a piece of paper with numbers, equations and symbols written by hand so fast that it was almost illegible. She was deep in thought about feeling guilty that she hadn't noticed the paper at all.

"Oh, I wasn't looking at it," she quickly explained, blushing. She pushed it aside and took a hold of her beaker. "I was just thinking."

Cid raised a brow. "Oh? About what?"

"About me saying how you were acting like an overprotective parent." She sighed before she continued on. "I'm sorry, Cid."

"Now, now, Celes. The apology should come from me, not you. I was acting like an overprotective parent; you were right."

"It wasn't an excuse--"

"My reaction was unjustifiable either. I should've been more careful with how I reacted," Cid said, stealing the moment of guilt from her obligingly. "Besides, I took your criticism as a compliment."

Celes smiled slightly and stared down at her beaker. She watched the bubbles in the champagne form on the sides of the clear glass, gain enough volume and rise up to the surface only to disappear.

Cid raised his beaker and made his toast.

"To your promotion--I wish for you happiness, good health, and all the rewards of being the great leader in you."

Celes smiled, raised her own beaker and acknowledged the honor. Both of them took a sip from the beakers and talked calmly the rest of the evening.