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flonnebonneTitle: The Sleeping Beauty
Fandom: FF6
Characters: Celes, Terra, Locke, Edgar, Sabin, Shadow, Cyan, Gau, Setzer, Relm
Genre: Drama, AU
Wordcount: 10,678
Summary: What if, after one year asleep, Celes still does not wake? (AKA the next time I decide to write a story from the point of view of a woman in a coma, someone please slap me.)
Important Note: I have revised this story and posted a new version.
The Sleeping Beauty
(There are voices at her door.)
You come to see our famous Sleeping Beauty, yessir?
(First: she voice of her keeper.)
Yes, I have.
(Second: the voice of one she knew once, in her waking hours.)
Famous man like you come to my humble home, must say I'm surprised.
(From the one she knew once: the smell of gil and leather.)
But you came on chocobo, eh? Where's your...?
It's gone. Don't ask about it again.
(Missing from the one she knew once: the smell of engine oil.)
Ah. I see. Uh, pardon me for asking, but have you the, ah, admission fee?
Will this do?
(In its place: the heavy cloy of alcohol.)
That's quite a large - my, thank you, thank you. My wife will be very happy - come in, come in. Watch your feet - the plank's rotted through - and here we are.
Beautiful, weren't she?
(Something old, something new.)
But you'd expect as such from an opera star, as sure as we commonfolk have wives plain as day.
(Something borrowed, something skewed.)
May I...?
Take a closer look? Paying customer like you don't have to ask, good sir. She's not breathing, as you can see, but she's alive. Hands are cold, but they're not stiffened up like the dead. 'Cause she's not dead. Swear it on my honour. Go ahead, see for yourself.
(A faint touch on the cheek, unasked for.)
See the dress? She was wearing it when we found her tied to that raft, on the beach. Pretty picture in white she was, with that ribbon in her hair.
(But not unwelcome, from this one.)
How's the dress so clean? Well, we may have touched it up a little, my wife I mean, out of respect...
(A sound like anger.)
No, of course I never laid a finger on her. Only my wife and daughter, sir, I swear it on my honour.
(For a faint moment: a thawing of the ice against her skin.)
I swear to you, sir. This woman is Maria Cataldi of the Jidooran Opera. Came to us on a raft, from nowhere to here.
Who else could she be?
(But she is too cold, the ice too thick.)
Who indeed?
Ah, you've come again.
That I have.
And how! Scared the living daylights out of my little ones, you did, with all that racket -
(Preceding him: the familiar whirring of the propellers, far off but familiar: then the whipping of the wind, and the vibrations juddering through the cracks in the walls, the cacophony growing louder and louder, threatening to break open this place to the sun...then dying to nothing.)
Well, come on in. You're not the first repeat visitor, I'll tell you that, and you won't be the last. You have the admission fee?
Of course. Put both arms out, it's heavy.
My, um, goodness.
Ah, as much as I hate to say this, this is too much, sir.
That's not an admission fee. That's a kidnapping fee.
Ah, a -
What?
A kidnapping. You've heard the rumours I'm sure. Me and Maria, we go way back.
You can't - you can't take her, she's our Sleeping Beauty. Our hope. People visit because they want to see something beautiful in this rotten world. You can't take her!
Really? I can't?
(There's no smell of alcohol now. Only gil and leather and engine oil, and the taste of magic.)
You think I would leave her here, in this hovel? I'm different from you, my friend. You never wanted her to wake up. You never even knew her.
What the hell are you talking - don't touch her! Don't! I'll call my son, he's strong and young, we'll -
(The familiar flick of a card, razor sharp thin.)
I don't think you will, actually. I don't think you can call him and not die before he gets here.
(A breath, a heartbeat.)
You're taking away our livelihood, sir.
I've already given you more than enough compensation. Use that and find yourself an honest trade. You were a fisherman before The Ruin, weren't you?
You think it's that easy? There's no fish around these parts no more, sir. None that any want to eat, at any rate.
Then I'm sorry for you and your family. But she's needed.
By who?
(A pertinent silence.)
By those of us who have lost hope.
(Arms are around her; they are warm against her skin.)
(The scent of desert sand and desert wind.)
You have a lot of nerve, Gabbiani.
(Pressing heat and air so dry, it used to suffocate her.)
Thank you, Your Majesty.
(Back when she still remembered how to breathe.)
Well, aren't you even a little proud of me?
This is what you wanted to show me? An opera star? I can't believe you'd build an airship for a kidnapping - again! - and not when I asked you a month ago. And how on earth did you build it so fast?
(She's still cold, in the desert.)
Oh for - will you look at her up close? Really look at her, and not the dress.
Wait -
Celes?
(The sound of wonderment: it warms her, for a spell.)
Yes, Celes.
Is she...
She's alive. In a sense. Not breathing though. And none of the curative spells or potions I tried did a thing.
We should let my doctors look at her.
...Where on earth did you -
The family that found her said she washed up on a beach near that new Colosseum. She was tied to a raft - no idea who did that. They brought her to their decrepit little shack, put a white dress on her and started billing her as Maria Cataldi, the Sleeping Beauty. The real Maria and her family haven't been seen since The Ruin, so it was a safe bet for them.
The new colosseum...that's near Kohlingen.
Yeah, that's why I heard about it.
Funny, that. There's a girl in Kohlingen who...have you heard about Rachel?
(She has.)
No. I didn't talk to people there.
She was Locke's girl. He loved her. Still does, I think.
(He does.)
She died when the Empire attacked six years ago. But Locke somehow had her put to sleep, with an old man's help. Maybe he knows -
(Maybe he knows nothing.)
Well, we don't know where Locke is.
Then I suppose we should go see the old man. And Rachel.
Yes, I suppose we should.
(The cold presses deeper.)
Well, that was a creepy old pervert if I've ever seen one.
(The stench of roses lingers.)
Takes one to know one.
(Decaying, cloying, still.)
So it's magic, then. That's his answer. What a surprise. I think we could have figured that out ourselves.
Of course it's magic.
(Wrapped around her skin.)
Remember as we were leaving the Floating Continent? When that ray of light came at us...Celes raised her sword and it came to her instead of hitting the Blackjack.
Yes, I remember now...it was all so fast. It looked rather like the Light of Judgement, didn't it? She absorbed it with her Runic blade...but in the end she couldn't contain it, and the ship was struck anyway.
She tried to protect us all.
And this is what it cost her.
(Like living death, this.)
(Ever present: the gentle rumbling of the engines.)
I wonder about you, Celes.
And I worry.
(The hum of turbines spinning, spinning, spinning.)
You were alone with that fisher family for several weeks. Setzer says they were a shady lot, especially the man running the show. I hope nothing happened to you while you were there.
Well, we won't know unless you can wake up and tell us.
(She can't.)
And knowing you, even if you wake up you probably won't say a thing.
(She won't.)
I know it's not healthy or productive to overthink things, but I can't help it..
(Ever present: the hum of worry, worry, worry.)
Then there's Setzer, who tried to marry you once. He's not particularly trustworthy with you either.
He calls me "an internationally renowned lecher" too. But we both know that's just a carefully cultivated political persona.
(A voice drier than desert sand.)
You know, I worry about Rachel too.
(Cold air like a desert night.)
I know Locke trusts the old man, but...she's alone with him in that basement, and she's completely helpless.
Should I worry about a dead woman?
(A sigh like desert wind.)
But I worry about you, so.
It seems like all I do nowadays is worry.
(The hum of worry, worry, worry.)
I have a kingdom that needs me. But here I am running around the world on an airship again. And no Returners this time. Narshe was empty, Celes. Just monsters and empty homes.
It was such a blow. If we were going to regroup anywhere, it would be Narshe. Or Figaro. But no one has come. Not even Sabin.
Where is he?
(The hum of worry, worry, worry.)
Lately we've been seeing some kind of winged creature in the sky. It's enormous. Terrifying too. But don't tell Setzer I said that.
(She won't.)
I don't know what to do, Celes. Where are our friends? I want to find them, but should they be our priority? The world is dying out there.
I wish you were here to help us.
(Ever present: wishes.)
I wish it were my father on that throne. I wish my mother were here to comfort me.
(Regrets.)
I miss my brother.
(Longings.)
I miss you, too.
(Unbroken things.)
(The world is tilting.)
(Screams. Human and inhuman, mingling.)
(The world is breaking.)
(The beat of wings, the stench of rotting flesh.)
(The taste of magic, within her, without her.)
(Something terrible is here.)
(Fight! something screams in her. They need you!)
(But, a memory stirs: a light lancing toward her blade, the world tilting, the world breaking - )
(Falling. Drifting. Sleep.)
(Now she is so cold, she is so tired...)
Well, we made it through alive, somehow.
(Exhaustion.)
The creature finally attacked us, Celes. We couldn't kill it, but we drove it off, for now. It wasn't a dragon after all - it had wings, yes, but it was...it was already dead.
(There are many dead things.)
The crew are calling it Death Gaze, or Doom Gaze, something of the sort. Scared the pants off them. Some are talking about leaving. They think the Falcon is jinxed.
Good thing they don't know where I dug her up from.
I've never told any of them about her. Daryl, I mean.
(Whispers, secrets buried deep.)
She was...well, a firecracker, I tell you. Always going on about how her ship was faster than mine. And it was, to tell you the truth. Still is.
But it wasn't enough for her. She just had to keep pushing, faster and faster...and one day she didn't come home. I waited on our hill and she didn't come.
(Deeper still.)
(Silence now but for the engines, the air, the turbines spinning, spinning, spinning.)
When I found you, Celes, in that fisherman's shack...hell, the moment I heard about the Sleeping Beauty and thought it might be you, not Maria...you gave me hope again. I was drinking my life away in that dumpy backwater town. Before you came along Edgar found me there, told me I had to build him an airship, but he was such a high-handed ass about it.
Then I found you. Or you found me, maybe. Still don't know why I bothered to go to you.
Here I was in Kohlingen and I kept hearing this crazy story. An opera star on a raft, not dead but just sleeping. Washed up right out of a fairy tale, like magic. Crazy. Just like when I met you.
Maybe, I thought, maybe it's not Maria, it's her. And if it's her, it means my luck is back. And it was.
You, I mean.
I dug up the Falcon for you. All those old ghosts - literally, there were ghosts who tried to kill me down there - I fought them so I could put you in this room and talk to you. Hoping you might talk back one day.
Funny, that I'd rather talk to a dead woman than the people on this ship.
But I think Edgar understands. He comes and talks to you often enough.
I think Locke would understand too, if he were here, considering that girl of his.
(There are many dead things.)
But enough with sob stories, eh?
(They do not leave us.)
Time to go - got to find our friends.
(And there are many living things, too.)
You don't think this is another wild goose chase?
(Hope and doubt, warring, as they ever do.)
A Doman warrior and a strange boy living on the Veldt. Who else could they be?
Well, it's only halfway across the world. What else do we have an airship for?
(For hope, on wings.)
(Her door opens, cautiously. A body enters.)
It has been a long time, my friend.
(There is something new, and old, here.)
Strange that I am able to call thee by that name, in thy sleep.
Thou must forgive me for never having the courage until now. It is only but lately that I have become more honest with myself.
(A scent almost forgotten: silk cord and burnished steel.)
(A scent heady and new: silk ribbon and copper wire.)
I must admit...I treated thee unjustly when first we met, Celes. But thou has proven thyself a true ally and friend.
Would that I had spake these words to thee long ago. I promise I shall remedy this error when thou wakest.
(A sound almost gone from this world: a dead kingdom's tongue.)
And thou wilt wake, Celes. Thou art a warrior.
(Her door opens further, incautiously. A body enters.)
Gau here too!
Gau happy Celes okay! Uoo~!
(A scent almost forgotten: animal fur and animal blood.)
(A scent heady and new: a strength to match the wildness.)
Ah, Sir Gau, enter! Yes, they found us together. I had happened to meet Sir Gau in Maranda, though he did not stay long - he told me he sought greater strength, to destroy the madman in his tower. I found him later, once my...business in Maranda was done.
Mr. Thou find Gau on Veldt! Gau training!
Yes, indeed I did. 'Twas no easy feat. The plains are vast.
Gau get stronger, help fight!
We trained together for a time. He taught me many...interesting things.
Mr. Thou learn how collect animal poo, make fire!
Poo!
(A sound almost gone from this world: a child's simple laughter.)
Yes, I did learn that.
Er...King Edgar and Sir Setzer seemed quite delighted to find us, I could not help but notice. I think they were becoming rather tired of each others' company...
Mr. Edgar want to find Mr. Thou!
He means Sir Sabin. He calls us both Mr. Thou now.
Mr. Thou!
Thou thou thou!
We find Mr. Thou!
Yes, we shall find him, Sir Gau. Ah, please refrain from leaping about in here -
We find Mr. Thou!
(A sound she never knew she missed: the sound of joy.)
(Another sound she's forgotten: mutual embarrassment.)
Ah, my apologies for interrupting, Sir Setzer.
Nothing to apologize about. Just on my way out.
Thou art here often, sir. Thou find'st comfort in speaking with her, dost thou not?
Well, it's free therapy.
...Yes, I suppose.
(A silence, awkward in its length.)
What's all that you got there?
Ah, these? Flowers. Man-made, these.
(Another sound she's forgotten: evasion.)
Where did those come from?
Ah. I brought them from Maranda.
You had them with you the whole time you were on the Veldt?
Yes.
(The shame of silk bound by wire, not by steel.)
Well, as long as you don't put too many all over the room. That would be creepy.
Why so?
Hm, I don't think that's my story to tell.
(A scent she's longed to forget: the cloy of roses, lingering.)
I only have these few. I thought perhaps Lady Celes might enjoy them in her room.
I don't mean to put a damper on your idea, but how can they help her if she can't see them?
Ah, but mayhaps she can sense them? Even when men are felled by an ailment such as hers, they say, their spirits can still feel and hear what goes on around them.
Perhaps. Well, it couldn't hurt. The woman who used to own this room would have liked them, anyway.
Woman?
Yes. She liked nice things.
A friend of yours?
You could say that. She's gone now, though.
(Another sound she's forgotten: confession.)
I am sorry to hear that. We have all lost much, in this war.
Ah. It wasn't during the war, not like...
(A silence, poignant in its length.)
Damn it. I'm sorry, Cyan.
There is no reason to apologize.
You have to understand: it never stops hurting but it get better. That's all I can tell you.
Just...don't go digging up old ghosts.
Actually, I had hoped to...stop by Doma Castle, to see if we might find something there. One of our friends, perhaps.
What did I just tell you about old ghosts?
(A silence, obstinate in its length.)
Well, we're not far from there.
But I think you should stay on the Falcon.
...Aye. 'Tis good counsel.
It gets better, Cyan. I promise you.
Aye.
(A silence, stretching on into eternity.)
(Something old, something dark.)
I'm only here because they told me I should talk to you once in a while.
Sir Shadow! Thou must have more grace before a lady.
(A spirit cold with uncaring.)
Leave us.
I shall. But you must let her hear your voice, Sir Shadow. The doctors say -
Leave us.
(Footsteps, receding.)
(The constant humming of the engines.)
(The murmur of voices, more now than before.)
(Laughter, somewhere far off.)
(A stray insect buzzing near her ear.)
(Wood settling.)
(A clock ticking.)
I'm only here because I need to find my dog. And the girl.
(Ticking.)
I thought my dog might be in Doma. He's been there before.
(Ticking ticking.)
I thought the girl might be there too. Nice place to do a painting. Real creepy.
(Ticking ticking ticking.)
Sorry. I don't like seeing women looking dead in a bed, with nothing I can do.
(Ticking ticking ticking ticking.)
I don't like the dreams.
(Ticking ticking ticking ticking ticking.)
(The sudden sound of metal, razor thin sharp, slicing into the clock.)
(The sound of something not there, a mere shade of a man, lowering an arm.)
The ticking was getting annoying.
(A spirit dark with forgetting.)
(Her door opens, cautiously.)
(A presence.)
(A spirit shy with remembering.)
Hi, Celes.
How are you?
(One filled with magic, different from her own.)
...That's a stupid question, after all this time.
I still never know what to say to you.
(Truer, warmer, more alive.)
They told me to try to help you. I don't know how though.
But, you know, I used to be able to...kind of sense your mind.
When I was in my Esper form.
(Wilder.)
...There. Ah it feels strange. I haven't done this in a year.
I think you could sense me too, right? When I changed?
(Her magic is cold.)
Where have you gone, Celes?
Why can't I find you?
(She is cold.)
They've all tried using Espers on you, I heard.
...Father. Can you help my friend?
(Her magic is from the dead.)
No?
Why isn't anything working?
(Her magic is stolen.)
Well, maybe I'll just talk. They told me that's good too.
(Talk is fine. Magic is more dangerous.)
Um, I'm living in Mobliz now. I'm just visiting the airship for a bit. I can't stay - my kids need me.
Sabin is here too. He's with Edgar. Or rather, Edgar is with him, by his bedside.
Sabin is...oh, Celes. He lost his arm when he was protecting me and the village. He was already injured from when he was in Tzen - the Light of Judgement hit there, and he tried to save a child who was trapped in a collapsing house. In the end the child didn't make it. The poor mother...
Sabin should have stayed in Tzen to recover, but he kept pressing on. He came to Mobliz, and when Phunbaba came, he fought it and -
...I kept pouring magic into him, but the arm wouldn't heal. Duane, he said it was infected and we had to cut it off. I had to cut it off. I used my sword. We didn't have anything, not even some alcohol, to dull the pain.
I still remember how he sounded, when I -
(A voice, choked by remembrance.)
(Tears.)
(Long silence.)
I can't fight anymore, Celes.
I just can't.
I'm sorry.
Any luck?
No?
That's too bad. We were hoping you, of all people...are you all right, Terra?
I...
I'm sorry, Setzer.
(Footsteps, receding.)
(A door closing shut.)
Poor kid.
Edgar told me, just now, the kind of pressure the Returners used to put on her. Banon once asked her to be their "hope." Actually told her she had to be a symbol! Kind of much to ask a teenager who can barely remember who she is, huh?
...I've done that too, haven't I. To you.
(You have.)
It might not be fair...
(It isn't.)
...but we need these things, these symbols.
(You do.)
If you were awake, wouldn't it be the same?
(Would it?)
If you were awake, wouldn't you be leading us?
I can just see it: General Celes Chere, standing tall at the Falcon's prow, a bird on the wing. Carrying enough hope to carry us all. I've seen your strength. You wouldn't show us anything else, if you could help it.
Is that really you?
I don't know. I don't actually know you well enough to say.
(Who does?)
Oh well, excuse my ramblings.
You probably won't remember this anyway.
(Probably, she won't.)
Hey, Celes. It's me, His Royal Aloofness, as Setzer calls me. Sorry I haven't been down here for a while...
(Even here among the clouds, the sigh of desert wind.)
You've had a lot of visitors lately. I suppose that's why I've been "aloof."
Does this even help you? Us talking with you, I mean.
(Wind grants us air, air grants us life.)
I think I only come down here when I need to talk, actually.
You probably heard that we found Terra, and my brother.
Neither of them is coming with us.
She is broken in spirit. He...is broken in body.
(Life grants us a home, carried in the flesh.)
I wanted to take him back to Figaro, give him the best doctors in the world, give him back his old bed.
But he's moved on, hasn't he?
(Carried in the heart, carried in the wind.)
And, truth be told, Terra, with her magic, makes for a better doctor than any of mine.
I think he might love her, you know.
(Capricious wind, capricious heart.)
She, of course, has no idea. Wants to know love is, she tells me. Ha, if Sabin and Setzer knew they'd have my head.
Celes, I am a selfish man. I've found my brother, who by some amazing turn of luck is alive, and nearly whole. But I find myself jealous - jealous! - that he's found himself a new home, a new family, a woman to love: a purpose beyond the walls of our father's kingdom.
He's grown up, my little brother.
Beat me to the punch.
(Yet never does the heart abandon the flesh.)
Sabin made a joke about you, Celes. He said I should kiss you, like the princes from the fairy tales.
Of course, I told him that he is the prince, and that he should do the kissing!
I am a king, not a prince. It's different.
(Heavy though the heart may turn.)
Anyway, we're not the ones who should be kissing you.
We'll find him.
I promise you, Celes.
(For the heart may turn, even in sleep.)
- End Part 1 -
