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flonnebonneFandom: FF6
Characters: Celes, Terra, Locke, Edgar, Sabin, Shadow, Cyan, Gau, Setzer, Relm
Genre: Drama, AU
Wordcount: 11,975
Summary: What if, after one year asleep, Celes still does not wake?
Important Note: This is a revised version of the story I posted on April 2.
The main changes are:
1) New material at the beginning and end of the story, with significant changes to the plot;
2) Removal of unnecessary lines to promote clarity and better flow, hopefully, throughout the story;
3) Splitting up the story into thirteen sections instead of two, because I realize this is a damn long story;
4) Chapter titles.
Hopefully the story is better now! I am leaving the old version up for posterity's sake, if you'd like to compare. Comments and criticism are welcome, always.
Part 12: Metamorphosis
Please, wake up, Terra called out with her mind again. Celes.
She hadn't used her Esper form in so long. Her strength was failing. The Espers she carried with her were starting to go dark. The monster was so strong, and Terra didn't know how to fight anymore. But still she had to protect them - her children, her friends, the fragile vessel of wood and steel that housed them - no matter her fears, no matter the cost.
"Terra, get back on the ship!"
"Uwaoo~! It too dangerous!"
Their voices were almost lost in the wind, in the monster's shrieks of rage. In the crackling of her conjured fire. She hurled her magic at the monster in waves, holding nothing back, desperate to keep it away from the ship. She had forgotten what it felt like, this power. Isn't it a lovely gift? a voice asked, but that was just a memory, and Terra's magic was draining from her so quickly...
She sensed the light before she saw it.
It was coming toward them, impossibly fast, from the south. From the tower. She knew she had to protect the ship, but the light was so powerful, how could she -
And then, without warning, she was engulfed in heat and cold, all at once. It did not hurt her. She knew this magic. Isn't it a lovely gift?
Yes, it is.
Esper magic wound about her like a song. Terra let it fill her, let it twine their wishes together until there was nothing left of herself, of her friend, except the desire to protect.
I'm awake, said the voice in her mind.
Me too, Terra answered, and raised her sword.
The light was coming.
Setzer wasn't sure what happened - one minute Terra looked like she was going to fall with exhaustion, the next minute she was surrounded by magic so strange and powerful that even he knew it was not her own.
Then the light came, so fast, almost too fast to think -
It's just like before, when I lost the Blackjack -
But Terra was there, fire and ice whirling around her, her face almost inhumanly fierce as she raised her sword and held it before her.
It struck her, an enormous wall of blinding light, and her blade glowed Runic white, like Celes all over again when the world ended and they lost her. The light was swelling, pushing against her, and it seemed impossible that this small girl could possibly beat it -
Then the impossible started to happen. Terra snarled and her magic flared up as if in anger, and she turned her sword and sent the Light of Judgement skyward, toward the sickly purple clouds, and it streamed away from them for what seemed like ages, and then was gone.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to normal light again.
In the wake of that, Setzer was almost surprised to see Doom Gaze still flapping around nearby.
Terra saw the demon too.
Setzer wasn't sure if Doom Gaze had emotions, but if it did, terror was probably the one it was feeling right now.
"That's my girl," Sabin said as she streaked toward it.
But it wasn't just her, Setzer realized. I felt it.
As the rest of them watched Terra incinerate Doom Gaze into a pile of ash, he quietly handed the controls of the ship over to Edgar, and descended the stairs to the lower deck.
Some of the children were coming out of their rooms - brave things, more worried for their "Mama" than for themselves - and Setzer shooed them along toward the upper deck so they wouldn't miss the show. It would be a shame if they didn't see Terra at her best. He nodded reassuringly at Duane and Katarin, who looked more frazzled than the children did.
Eventually he came to the storage locker, which was latched shut. Someone was yelling and pounding on the door from within.
Setzer crouched down and opened the door.
Inside, there was a woman in a white dress with a ribbon in her hair. She was on her hands and knees, for the door was only a third of her height. Red silk flowers littered the floor around her. One arm raised and mouth opened mid-shout, the woman gazed at him from the dark with eyes wide awake.
"Hey, beautiful," he said, after a moment of mutual staring. "Good nap?"
"Just get me out of here and out of this dress," Celes huffed and started crawling forward.
Setzer gave her his hand.
