The Return

by Nathan Bounds

View
Chapter 1	Chapter 2	Chapters 3 - 7	Chapters 8 - 10
Chapters 11 - 12	Chapter 13	Chapters 14 - 16	Chapters 17 - 20
Chapters 21 - 22	Chapters 23 - 25	Chapters 26 - 28	Chapters 29 - 31

Chapter 21

Terra and Cyan crept up to the Kefkanian tower under cover of night. They could hardly see. Here, it was dark in the day, and darker at night.

Terra slid behind a rock and watched some guards standing watch. She signalled for Cyan.

Cyan crept over. "What?"

"How do you think we should get rid of them? Apparently, Magic is an available option, but it might be too noticable. They might not see us if we attacked them, but then they might."

"I have an idea," Cyan said. Cyan pulled out his sword and dealt himself a deep cut. Terra gasped.

Cyan groaned in agony. He held his sword out and gasped, "Empowerer." A light came from the sword, hit one of the soldiers, and came back to Cyan. Cyan's wound closed up scarlessly while the soldier fell to the ground, dead.

The other soldier looked up and around, but did not see Terra and Cyan. He began to pace back and forth, looking for what had killed his partner.

Cyan got up and crept over to where the soldier was. The soldier still didn't see Cyan or Terra. Suddenly, Cyan jumped up and put a sword through the soldiers heart.

Terra got up and walked over to Cyan. "Guess we'd better get going," she whispered.

"I agree," Cyan replied.

They walked over to the stairwell that would lead them to Lola. Terra kept looking around.

"What's wrong?" Cyan asked.

"I'm not sure. Do you feel like we're being watched?"

Cyan looked around. "I feel like we're alone."

"All right," Terra said uneasily. "Still, something seems-" She was cut off as a blazing fire suddenly surrounded her and Cyan.

Chapter 22

Setzer, Gogo, and Celes loaded onto the airship. Setzer set them in motion, and the ship flew up into the sky, wind blowing across the deck. After the liftoff, Gogo retired below deck.

Celes stood on deck with Setzer, both their hair blowing in the wind. Setzer looked edgy about something.

"Setzer," Celes said. "What's wrong?"

"It's about Locke," Setzer said.

"What happened?" Celes said urgently.

"He's dead. He fell from a rope ladder into the sea. He couldn't have survived."

Celes stood in stunned silence, soaking the situation in. Her eyes went wide, and she ran over to the edge of the ship.

"I think I'm gonna-" Then she vomited into the empty sky.

Still sick, she fell to her knees and began to cry. The crying began gently, then escalated into uncontrollable sobs. The she began to scream. Setzer did the only thing he could: pilot the ship.

Finally, Celes settled down and just moaned. "I thought we had all the time in the world," she said to herself. "All the time in the world."

Setzer continued to pilot. As he listened to Celes's moaning, a tear came to his eye. "I thought we had all the time in the world. But then, just like that, she was gone." Setzer could not pilot much longer. Memories he had kept mostly inside for so long were now taking their toll. Above all, he was standing where Daryl had stood moments before her death. "Gogo," he called out amidst tears. "Fly this damn thing for me."

Gogo came up and took the wheel, while Setzer, followed by Celes went below deck.

Setzer sat quietly down on the sofa as Celes buried her face in an arm cushion right next to him. They sat that way for hours.