Since she was still looking back, she didn't see where she was going and tripped. Her weight and the shaking of the fortress was enough to make the platform fall out from under her.

"I've got you, Celes," came Locke's voice as Celes suddenly felt a tight grip around her arm. Locke heaved her up and smiled. "I couldn't let that happen again," he said, his grin becoming bigger.

********

Celes walked quietly in the garden. She had somehow felt at rest after the airship crashing and her coming to Kohlingen. "Kohlingen is such a beautiful place," she thought. "If I'm ever going to grow old, it's going to be here..."

Terra, walking beside her, asked, "What do you plan on doing with the rest of your life?"

"You know, Terra, you must have some mind-reading abilities nobody knows about yet, 'cause that was just what I was thinking about."

"Well?"

"I guess I'm going to keep fighting. That's the only thing I know how to do. Besides, this old arm," she patted her shoulder, "has gotten me through two ends-of-the-world, and I don't think it's going to give out on me yet..."

*****

"Hey, Wren? Master Wren?" Celes called as she stepped into the darkened house. "Nobody came to the door so I let myself in. Master Wren?"

Suddenly a ninja, garbed in black, landed right in front of Celes. In the blink of an eye, her Scimitar was in her hands. She smiled. "I've gotten stronger. Do you think you can take me on?"

The ninja jumped in slashing with his daggers. Celes dodged right and hit him with the blunt end of her scimatar. She backed off. "If I still had my magic, you'd be dead already..."

"One does not learn the secrets of fighting by letting some other force do the job for them," the masked being said as it moved in to attack. Celes slashed. CLANG! The swords held fast against each other.

Celes smiled against the hooded person. "Let's see if Wren hired a man or a woman to protect him these days..." She kneed the ninja between the legs, and he bent over moaning.

"Man." Celes smiled. She slashed again, but the masked man threw a bag right at her face. "Sting Powder!" She ducked her head and leapt at the man, pinning him to the floor. She dropped her sword, swung one leg over the guy, and pinned his hands.

"Looks like I got you..." She ripped off his mask to reveal a brown-haired blue-eyed man underneath. Clapping and laughter came from the other side of the room. "Good to see you again, Celes."

Celes jumped off the man and ran to an old man. "Poppa!" she cried happily, hugging him.

"You know I'm not your father."

"You were as much of a father to me as my real one was."

Master Wren looked Celes up and down. "You've grown in the past... how long has it been? Four, five years?"

"Six, actually." She remembered back to the days when she was thirteen, and had just recieved a black belt in swordsmanship from the most respected swordfighter in town, Wren Caligraven.

"Come," said Wren, "we have many stories to tell each other..."

*****

"... And so I came here, to see if there were any jobs that would require fighting for me to do..." Celes finished her story.

"Ah, my child, you always have been the eager one, haven't you? But it is very fortunate that you should come now. For the world is in great peril," Wren said.

Celes got up from the couch. "I hear that's happening a lot these days."

"This is serious, my child. For it is not now that the world needs saving -"

"But you just said -"

Wren cut her off. "The reason it is not now that the world needs saving is because it is literally not *now*. You have to save the past!"

"THE PAST?!"

"I told you I would explain everything when we got there..." was his reply.

"Are these caves... inhabited, if you know what I mean?"

"Ha, you haven't changed a bit, Celes, and yes, there are two guardians along our path."

"I love wasting guardians." She smiled, and remembered back to the time they had thrashed the Guardian and the Poltergeist atop Kekfa's tower.

"It's a good thing, because the first is about thirty yards ahead," Wren replied is his calm, controlled voice.

Wren was proven right as a huge green dragon blocked their path. It had its eyes closed, but opened them and reared its head up as soon as Celes neared. She drew her sword. "Here I come." She ran in and slashed at its throat. It dodged around the side and tried to take a bite out of her arm.

Wren moved in a little closer. "You have still not learned the most important lesson, child," he said as he watched Celes and the dragon take turns at swiping at each other. "Your follow-up attacks are very strong, but you still haven't learned."

"Forget teaching me and help me deal with this thing." Celes huffed.

"Why attack only one monster when you can kill two with one swipe?" he said. "Watch, and learn. You still haven't learned the 'Eye of the Eagle.' You must look for your enemy's weak point. You must be able to feel it so strongly that you can close your eyes and know where to strike."

"If I closed my eyes, I'd be dead before I could do anything." Celes grunted, now tiring. Fighting by herself was hard work.

"Watch," said Wren. He stood motionless for a few seconds, and then drew two daggers and leapt at the monster. He let one fly halfway through his jump, but it was apparently going to miss its intended target, the dragon's eye.

"You must be getting old, Poppa. You missed."

Wren landed right in front of the monster just as the dagger landed on the dragon's snout. "You see, Celes, you still haven't learned." he said. The dagger had distracted the dragon to give Wren time to stab it in the eye with his other one. "Now, Celes!"

Celes ran up and stabbed the dragon four times while the dragon was struggling to get away from Wren's dagger. Three more hits from Celes' sword, and the dragon dropped dead. Wren explained, "If you would have watched the Dragon's movements, you would see that an attack such as the one I did was unstoppable. The dragon could not move its head, lest the first dagger hit its eye. This left its head an open target. Since it was paralyzed, it was quite easy to stab it in its other eye, to give you time to attack without mercy."

"'Eye of the Eagle.' I'll remember that..." Celes said.

Wren motioned for her to follow, as his torch now provided the only light for the two. Suddenly, they turned a corner and light poured out on them. A huge room was lit up by many mechanical things. "Do you know what this is, Celes?"

"Sorry, Edgar was our resident techno-person. You'll have to clue me in."

Wren stepped further into the room. "This is mankind's greastest weapon: Time. The items in this room are all connected, one way or another, to time travel."

"Time travel?"

"Yes. These machines, when activated, will produce a portal, a hole if you will, to any time or any place."

"Why is mankind in danger then, if it has been guarded by this dragon all this time? How did it get here anyway? I've never seen machinery like this before."

"As they say, 'Time flows like a river, and history repeats.' What you have done in your quest, in essence, is much like the War of the Magi a thousand years ago. This is not the first time magic has died out and technology has taken form. This machine was built long ago by an ancient civilization, but they were distroyed by magic..."

"How do you know all this?"

"The other caverns in this cave lead to inscriptions, which I have decoded, to tell me the story. Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, was that this machine controls all time and space. You see, a very powerful man has escaped into the past, and if we do not find him, humanity may have no future."

"But we're still alive now, so doesn't that mean that the person obviously didn't do anything?"

"No, it doesn't work like that. You see, every year he spends in the past is a year we spend in the present. So if he goes to the past, and then does something to alter humanity in a year, then one year from the time he transported back, those changes will take effect."

"So where do we come in?"

"The person that escaped into the past was an old friend of mine, and it is my duty to stop him. You're tagging along because I'm letting you."

"I resent that."

Wren smiled. "Well, we now face the second guardian, these 'computers'."

"'Computers?'"

"These things around us require an access code to get them to work. My 'old friend' figured them out. Now we must do the same."

*****

"Well, it's humming now, is that a good sign?" Celes asked.

"It is ready now. I have set the date and place accordingly. I must set a few more things and prepare it for some verbal commands. Step inside that chamber, and I will be joining you soon."

Five minutes later, Wren stepped in next to Celes. "Prepare to be one of the first time travelers ever, Celes..."

"Computers: Energize."

"I guess his commanding skills aren't as good as he thinks. He'll be okay on his own," Celes thought.

"Miss Daphne, Miss Daphne, what are you doing out in the woods alone? The world isn't a very safe place anymore." A guard rushed up to her. "I've found her!" he called out. Within five mintues, two dozen guards joined the first.

"What's going on here? My name is Celes Chere and I'd..." Celes started.

"It's okay, Miss Daphne, we'll get you back to the palace quickly. You must have caught that strange disease. It's making everyone act weird."

"No, wait!" But before she could object more, the guards hurried her off a half-mile to a town.

She was shown into the palace and led to her room to rest. "Maybe this isn't such a bad thing. Wren will probably be in town, and being treated like a princess isn't so bad after all." She took a bite of a juicy apple from the fruit tray in her room, then sat on the sofa, and put her feet up. "Not bad at all..."

"Hello, Daphne? It's me, Dyluck," called a man's voice from the other side of the room.

"Dyluck?" thought Celes. "Just play along. Everyone thinks you've lost your mind, so act that way. Ask him who he is. Tell him you don't remember." She went to the door and opened it.

"Whoa! He's handsome. Yes, this princess thing is definitely good..." she thought, but out loud she said, "Who are you?"

"Oh, you don't remember, that's right, I heard. I'm sorry, but your memory will return."

"Who are you?" Celes repeated.

"I'm Dyluck. We're sorta like boyfriend/girlfriend, but it's not like... official or anything."

Dyluck stayed and talked. He told Celes that she was Princess Daphne Alura. She was the daughter of King William Alura, of the kingdom Pandora. Then one of the guards called, "Sir Dyluck, sorry to disturb you, sir, but there is a young boy who wants permission to enter and speak with the king."

"Let him in, and I'll take care of him."

*****

"Forget Dyluck, look at this boy!" Celes thought as she stood to the right and behind of the King's throne. The boy entered the room and bowed, somewhat majestically. Then he caught an eye of Celes, and immediately began asking her for help.

"Why do you want me to help you?" Celes replied.

"Don't you remember yesterday, you saved me from those goblins? You see, I'm on my way to the dwarf caves in the mountains... Gaia's Navel."

"'Dwarf caves in the mountains'! Isn't that where the machine was? Maybe I could find Wren there. I'm definitely not going to find him sitting around here," Celes thought. "May I go, father, please?" Celes begged.

Against his better judgement, the king agreed.

"Alright then, you ran off without telling me your name. What is it?" the boy asked.

"Daphne. What's yours?"

"Sean. Come on, let's go. I hear the dwarfs are remarkable creatures."

"Yes, the past isn't bad at ALL!"

"I had no idea you were so handy with a sword," Sean said, slashing at another overgrown bee with his own sword. He backflipped, and charged straight at the monster. SWISH! The sword made almost no sound as it contacted with the bee and drew blood. The bee dropped to the ground, fluttered its wings a little, and then lay dead. "Come on. Gaia's Navel is just around the corner."

*****

The cave was huge! It seemed much to big for its little inhabitants. The dwarfs all stopped and stared at them. Apparently they didn't get many visitors this way.

"There you are, Celes! Hurry, he just left," came Wren's voice.

"Wren! I found you."

"No time for that, the thief is getting away. Hurry!"

*****

There was almost no light in the forest. Celes drew in some quick breaths looking for the man.

"Hey Daphne, are you listening to me?" cried Sean. He staggered up to her, out of breath. He had followed them back out of the cave, and chased them to here, asking questions the entire time. Questions, of course, which were not answered.

"This way." called Wren. They followed him to a circular-looking device, much like the one they had come here on. "Jump on." Wren said, getting on himself. Suddenly his shape dissappeared. Celes and a confused Sean jumped on at the same time. Celes felt an extreme wave of nausea, and then found herself in the middle of a cave. Sean had passed out.

She continued on quickly, because Wren was nowhere to be found. About a half-mile down one of the tunnels, she heard swordfighting.

Wren and a tall, slender, blond-haired man were locked in combat. This must have been the 'old friend' Wren was talking about. With one of her battle cries, Celes charged at the man, and stabbed him in the stomach.

"NO!" cried Wren. Celes suddenly backed off. The man did the same and then suddenly shouted "Cure Water!" and his wound closed immediately.

"Magic?" whispered Celes.

It was then that Celes noticed a girl behind the man. She looked exactly like herself, and was even wearing the same clothes she was wearing, the ones the guards had told her to put on. That was obviously Princess Daphne. "What's going on here?" she called out to Wren.

"Celes, this may be hard for you to understand, but you cannot harm either this man or that girl."

"But why? Didn't we come here to stop him?"

Wren turned to Celes for a second.

It was then the man pounced.

"AAACCCKKKK!" was the only sound that came from Wren's throat as two daggers were forced into his chest. The man jumped away, back near the girl, and knelt, as if trying to figure out what to do.

Celes ran to her wounded master. She cradled the old man in her arms as he just stared at her. "WHY?" she was crying now.

"Celes, that girl... she's a princess... and... she's a long-dead grandmother of yours."

"What?"

"She has been dead for many... thousands of years, but she... is related to you, and if... she dies, you will never be. And... that man... is your father."

"WHAT?" cried Celes. "He can't be."

"He is, you must bring him... back to the place... where you first arrived... in this time, and then... say the... words 'Set destination and time to... default 3. Energize.' That will get you back to... our time."

Wren's eyes were slowly closing. "No! No, you old fool! Don't leave me here... alone." But her pleas went unheard. Wren was dead.

"You! You're the cause of all this! I'm going to bring you back even if I have to beat you senseless to do it," Celes shouted.

"You wouldn't do that, Celes. Not to your own father."

Then Sean appeared. "What, two Daphnes?" Sean cried, more confused than ever.

"You have to help me, boy. That girl is trying to take Daphne's place as princess," Celes' father cried.

"No, he's holding her captive. You have to help me."

Sean seemed to be taking up sides on Celes' father's side. Celes knew she couldn't harm the boy, yet she had to somehow dispose of him.

Then she remembered "magic". It might be possible that she could use her magic now too. "STOP!" she cried, pointing at Sean. Instantly, a green flame lept from her hand, and hit Sean. He was immobilized.

She turned toward her supposed "father", and called out "Fire 3!"

"AAAHHH!" Celes' father slammed against the wall and was knocked unconscious by the force of the blow.

Celes walked over to Daphne and untied her. "What's going on here? I go out to find Dyluck, I save him, I get caught by this weirdo, and then I... I... I'm confused."

Celes turned toward Sean, and waved her hand. He started moving again. "Sit down. This is going to take some explaining."

*****

"So you're going to be something like my great-great-great-great-great..." started Daphne.

"You'd better stop now or you'll just keep going." Celes interrupted.

"Wow! This is awesome," Sean commented.

"So can you help me get this guy back to the forest?" Celes said.

"Sure!" both cried out at the same time.

*****

"Well, it's been fun, but I have to go before sleeze-ball here wakes up. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

"Safe travels."

"Computer: Set destination and time to default 3... Energize!"

Since her "father" was tied up, and she still had her sword, she figured it was alright to talk.

"Wren said you were my father."

"I am. Look, Celes, I know you don't believe me, but I am your father."

"Bullshit you are! Or maybe you are. My father left home when I was four. If you aren't my father, I don't want to have anything to do with you. And if you are my father, I want even less to do with you."

"I'm sorry, Celes."

Celes was genuinely concerned when the man apologized so quickly.

"What's your name... Dad?"

"Ben, Ben Chere."

"Why did you do... what you did?"

"If you meant why did I leave home, it's because I had to. When the Empire told me they had combined my genes with a female's to make a daughter, I just went mad. I had never even given a thought to settling down and having a wife and children. And suddenly I have both and..." His voice trailed off.

"But I never even knew you. I wished I would meet you somehow, that I would be so happy, but now I've met you and I'm even more depressed. How could you leave like that? And how come you went and did this?"

"Ironically, your statements answer your questions. I thought that I shouldn't have run away like I did. But what was I supposed to do? I thought, 'If only I could turn back the clock.' Then I found this cave, and Wren. We became good friends, both of us ignorant that the other knew you. When I learned about the use of this place, I tried to go back in time."

"But why kidnap our ancestors?"

"That was an unfortunate mistake. I didn't know that Daphne was related to us. See, I researched things that shaped this world, and one of them was occuring the time you were just in. That boy, along with a sprite companion and Daphne, would come to save the world. I thought that if I saved the world instead, I could get the name 'Chere' very popular, and that, in turn, would help us out during the course of time..."

"Alright, I guess if I try to throw you in jail they'd think I was crazy, so I guess I have to let you go now and destroy this place, huh?" said Celes, untying him.

"No! Don't you understand? This machine offers power, luxury, everything! We can do anything with it. Let's go back, we can reshape the world."

"No. You will do no such thing. Time is not something to be played with like a child's toy. Follow me, we're leaving."

*****

"The exit's just around this bend. Ben?" Celes turned around. Where was he? The machine! She started running.

*****

The machine was all ready to go. It seemed like she had gotten there just in time. "STOP!" she shouted at her father.

"I won't stop, Celes, because I know that you really want a better life than the one you've been handed, and you wouldn't kill your own father for something you'd almost do youself."

"You're wrong, Dad. I would never do something like what you're trying to do."

"You won't stop me." He started running toward the platform.

There was nothing she could do now. Her sword was too heavy to try and throw, and there was no way she could reach him in time. There was only one hope. Maybe some of her magic still lived in her from her recent excursion to the past.

She raised both hands. "ULTIMA!" she shouted.

Everything turned blue, and in the center of the room, a bubble started growing, destroying everything it touched.

"Celes, what are you doing?!"

The blue bubble hit a support beam, destroying it. The cave started collapsing. One of the smaller rocks landed on Ben, knocking him to the floor. There was no way she could get across the room now. She tried her magic again. "Warp!" No effect.

"I'm sorry, Dad."

Celes turned and ran.

*****

That night, a young girl wept bitterly in her room at the hotel.

And flowers had been laid on two graves in rememberance of two friends.

A new one, and one more than 1000 years old.

But it looked like Celes wasn't in for so much luck. She passed through the always-open doors of the coliseum. "Oh, Master Wren, you would have liked to see this place so much more..." She was still more broken up over her recent time-trip than with the fighting she had done against Kefka.

She closed her eyes as she reached the door to the saloon. She couldn't help but smile. "Always try to blend in to your surroundings, whether in battle or at rest. By looking like you belong there you usually get better results than if you didn't 'camouflage' yourself," Wren had said. And right now, it looked like she wanted some action. "Here goes..."

She swung the doors open. "Bartender, get me some whiskey," she called loudly and rudely. She sat down and started to drink.

"Hey look at this, Bob," said a man from behind her.

"I see it but I don't believe it, Jack. This girl must've wandered into the wrong place by mistake," said the man next to him.

"Probably looking for mommy..." Jack said.

In one fluid motion, Celes turned, stood, and grabbed Jack by the neck, hoisting the small man off the floor. "Care to say that to my face? I haven't been having a good week and I'm just itchin' to pop someone halfway to Thamasa."

The man made some choking noises and then managed to get out "OK, OK, I'm sorry, just put me down." Celes did so and sat back down. She noticed that Jack and Bob were gone within five minutes.

"Hey, you know, you aren't too bad." A taller, bearded man stepped up to her. "Name's Harem. I was wondering what trade you're in. You look like a knight, but there aren't any of those around nowadays."

"I'm a... I'm a mercenary." Celes said, barely looking up from her drink.

"A mercenary, huh? I take it that means you'll also do a little bounty- huntin'?" Harem said.

Celes closed her eyes, making the situation look perfect. "I'm not below anything these days," she whispered, adding another touch of acting to her little melodrama.

"Well, then you may be in luck. Come here." Harem pulled Celes up from her chair and took her over to a board. It was littered with papers. Asking jobs of one kind or another, most of them asking to stop monsters from terrorizing them and so on. "This is where you want to look. Every possible type of job is posted here. From finding a lost item to killing your 'client's' father."

She looked over the papers posted. She found the perfect one. "Help chase monsters out of my mine. Dispose of in any way possible. Reward: 10,000 Gold + expenses and any money obtained from the monsters themselves. Contact Glen, 9035 King Street, South Figaro."

"Hey, thanks, Harem. This one looks perfect." She pulled down the paper.

"Happy to be of service, but if we ever meet out in the wilderness and I'm in trouble, remember you owe me one," he said, with a cryptic smile.

*****

It was a good thing that the Nikean ships were going almost everywhere these days. Since she no longer had Edgar traveling with her she could no longer manipulate Figaro Castle to go where she wanted.

"Edgar," she thought, as the smell of sea-water came to her again, "Edgar and his 'My lady' sayings. He really is a gentleman. Too bad lots of the other women don't see that. I really do feel sorry for him." She smiled, and her thoughts drifted. "'Don't tell anyone about this, o shrouded one,' Locke had said. What would he say now if he knew that I had heard him that night? What are they all doing? The fourteen of us must be scattered around the world by now. I probably just missed one of them in Kohlingen. Just my luck." She took a two-tailed coin out of her pocket. She looked up, as if expecting his airship to suddenly fly overhead. "Setzer. If I had flipped a real coin, I might be your wife now." She sighed. "Where are you?

"Where are you all?"

*****

"Hello? Glen?"

"Yes, who is it?"

"Celes Chere. I'm responding to the note you posted in the coliseum."

"Oh, well, I'm very glad it was responded to so quickly." An old man, looking about Strago's age, opened the door. "Although I would have expected a man."

"Are you implying that I'm not fit for the job?"

"No, no, you misunderstand, I am very happy to have someone reply. Please, come in, and let me treat you to dinner while I tell you what is happening."

*****

"So, your men were mining for silver, when suddenly, one of them screamed, and when the rest of them got there, all they could see was a bright light and monsters. So they ran and nobody has gone back since?" Celes summarized.

"That's correct. I want you to eliminate the monsters and perhaps get to the bottom of whatever that 'blinding light' was," Glen said.

"No problem. I'll get right on it."

She opened the pack she was carrying. She took out a prepared sandwich. Not bad; a little dry with nothing to drink, but not bad. She took a few more bites, and washed it down with some tonic. "Increases strength and quenches thirst. Kill two monsters with one arrow." She smiled to herself.

Presently she picked up her sword, packed everything away, and started walking again. But she had barely gone another quarter-mile when she heard a voice. "Go back!"

She must have jumped a mile high, but when she recovered she called out, "Where... Who are you?"

"Return to your town. This place is not of your concern anymore. You humans must not interfere."

She walked on further, calling out every once in a while. She had to admit to herself she was scared when she finally got an answer.

"Do not come any further, or I will be forced to destroy you." Suddenly a White Dragon appeared in front of her. Impossible; they had destroyed it. She had seen Edgar kill it with his own spear.

Then she realized that it was this dragon that had been calling out to her. "An intelligent monster?"

"If that is what you wish to call me, but I cannot let you pass. You cannot harm my master!"

"I... I don't want to harm anyone, not if you're intelligent. Let me talk to your master."

"SILENCE! NEITHER YOU NOR ANYONE ELSE WILL SPEAK TO MY MASTER! YOU WILL TURN AND LEAVE NOW OR YOU WILL BE DESTROYED!"

"I have to see what's behind you. If fighting is the only way to do it, then so be it."

The dragon simply flung its head toward Celes. She was thrown back fifty feet easily. "Wow! I've never seen anything so powerful before."

"Yes. I am powerful. I do not want to destroy you, so turn and go."

"I can't. I have to see what is behind you."

She jumped up and charged at the creature. She swung her hardest, right at the monster's torso, and fell to the floor. "What the...?"

"Hahahahaha! Foolish mortal. You swing at nothing and expect to hit something."

The monster disappeared. In fact, the walls disappeared too. She was caught in mist. She dashed back in the direction she came, out of the mist.

"An intelligent dragon that can turn itself to mist? A Mist Dragon?"

"CORRECT! AND YOU WILL LEAVE NOW OR DIE!"

The mist reformed into the dragon. Celes closed her eyes, visualizing the dragon. "Eye of the Eagle," she thought. Suddenly, it became clear, two unguarded spots on the dragon. All she had to do was use them to her advantage. But would it work on this thing?

She charged at the left side of the monster, then dodged to the right, attacking it just under its right arm. As it was rearing back its head in pain, she stabbed at its neck. She didn't want to kill it, so she didn't strike hard. But the blow was enough to knock the dragon down.

She ran past it. Into a bigger cavern leading off in different directions. She took the far right tunnel. That was where the light was coming from.

She rounded a corner and had to shield her eyes from the light. She managed to adjust to it, and saw an amazing thing. Another strange machine. This one held someone in it.

"TERRA!"... No, wait, it couldn't be her. The person inside this "capsule" had green hair, but was probably a few years older Terra, and definitely wasn't her. Who could it be?

She looked around the room. Monsters, men, they all seemed to look very mad about this intrusion. Then the Mist Dragon appeared in-between herself and the machine. "Protect our Master with your lives!"

"Wait! I don't want to fight."

"Then you must leave." A man, looking surprisingly like Odin - of the Odin magicite - said.

"No, please, I just want to look... to talk. Why is that girl here?"

The Mist Dragon shrank itself a little so that Celes could see.

"This person is our Master. Master Rydia. She put herself in this comatose state so that she may live to see the day when humans and summoned monsters may live freely in peace. You humans are not ready for this yet."

"Summoned monsters?"

"Yes. We are summoned monsters. Master Rydia may call us whenever she pleases. We have dedicated our lives to her."

"Why?"

"There was a time, many thousands of years ago, when the world was in peril. Master Rydia and her friends defeated an evil that would have crushed this world."

"Sorry, I didn't take much history. What happened?"

"Rydia and her friends saved the world from the fate of Zeromus, an evil power bent on destroying all that is. Master Rydia, with our help, defeated Zeromus and saved the world."

"So she just put herself in this state?"

"Yes. And before she did, she wished that we would bury this capsule and defend it until the appointed time. And we have made it so."

"So she is the only one left?"

"If you mean the only caller left, then yes, she is. But she is not the only human from her time in this world."

"You mean there are more?"

"Yes."

Suddenly, the monsters all stopped moving. "What's going on?" Celes said. They seemed to take no notice. They suddenly they all went into motion at once, pushing and pulling levers with their hoofs, hands, and snouts.

Then the capsule depressurized, and Rydia stepped out.

"Hello. My name is Rydia. I am a caller of the village of Mist. And who might you be?"

"Please, Odin, I am sure she means no harm. Now all of you, be off. If I need any of you I shall call."

"Yes, Master Rydia," they answered in unison. Then they all bowed, and promptly disappeared.

"Come, we have much to talk about. You have to fill me in on what's been happening in the past few centuries," Rydia said with a smile.

*****

Rydia and Celes arrived at the edge of the cave. "Are you sure you want to leave, Rydia?" Celes asked.

"Yes, I have lain dormant for too long," Rydia replied.

"So, you have defeated this 'Kefka' person and saved the world? You remind me of me." Rydia smiled again, and blinked as she stepped into the broad daylight.

"You saved the world too?"

"Yes. I was one of the five that defeated Zeromus. I wonder if the others are still alive. My friends tell me they are, but I can't take their word for anything."

"How long ago did you last see them?"

"It must have been more than a few thousand years now, but some of them might have 'preserved' themselves, like I did. I could bet that Edge did..." She sighed. "I wish I could see him again."

"Lover?"

"Close friend."

"Well, stick with me and you might run into him again. I have this knack for finding people from the past lately." Celes grinned.

*****

Nikeah always smelled like saltwater to Celes. Rydia liked the smell; she said it sort of smelled like the land of the summoned monsters, only better.

"She must have been through hell." Celes thought, wrinkling her nose. She looked at Rydia, who was staring at the sea. Rydia seemed to always have a smile on her face. She seemed special in so many ways...

"Well, tell me we didn't take that long boatride to come here and smell the sea air. Where are we going?" Rydia turned toward her, still smiling.

"You said you wanted humans and summoned monsters to live closer together, right?"

"Of course. That is what I've been striving for my entire life."

"So I figure that if we really help some people, they're going to like your 'summoned monsters'."

"Wonderful, where are we going?"

"Mobliz."

*****

Celes walked up to Rydia, almost losing her footing on the roof. "You've been shouting commands at your friends for hours. Here, want something to drink?" She handed her a glass of water. She looked around at the city; it was quickly being rebuilt. The "monsters" had done more work in the past few hours than all the kids could do in months. While Odin slashed down trees, Chocobo called some friends to help haul the wood. Then it wasn't hard for all the other summoned monsters to cut, place, and tie together the wood to make houses.

"Now we just need someone to help keep this town safe for the children," Rydia said. "I can't believe the world has become like this." She frowned for the first time since Celes met her. "Why can't you just use some magic for moving and positioning all this stuff?"

"Magic can't do that," Celes said.

"Apparently your magic isn't as good as mine. Watch." Rydia turned toward the forest. She waved her hand and a tree flew up and toward the town. Halfway there, it fell.

"What!" She looked at her hand. "I guess my magic isn't as good as it used to be."

"Look, Rydia, I don't know how to tell you this, but magic is dead. The three goddesses that created it were destroyed," Celes said. "I myself used to be a powerful magician, but now, I can't even cast Cure."

Rydia looked down at her hands. She raised them and called "Fire!"

Her magic worked.

"How?!"

Rydia looked at her hands again. "Fire3!" she called.

It didn't work.

"Fire2!"

That worked.

"It seems like my higher level magic doesn't work, but I can do everything up to the twos."

"That leaves Cure, Cure2, Ice, Ice2, Bolt, Bolt2, Fire, Fire2, Warp, Poison and maybe a few more."

"Bolt?"

"Yeah, it's a lightning attack."

"Oh, you mean Lit. Seems like my magic isn't completely gone. It seems like I can still use mine, or at least some of it. I don't think my summoning magic is affected."

*****

"So who are we helping now?" Rydia said cheerfully.

"Ourselves. We need some money and my guess is that I'm going to have to take another job if I'm going to get us some lodging tonight," Celes replied.

*****

"Here's one. 'Help me and my wife. Monsters are terrorizing us. Reward: 35,000 GP for driving them away.'"

*****

"This is getting a little repetitive." Celes said as she trudged to the outskirts of Kohlingen.

"Help! HELP!"

"What was that?" Rydia whispered, breaking into a run.

As they approached the house, they saw a man, holding a plow, trying to fight off more than a dozen monsters.

"From the land of the summoned monsters, I call Bahamut!"

Rydia's shape changed and distorted until she became the form of the very same dragon Celes herself had called upon through the use of Magicite in her times of need.

"MEGAFLARE!" Rydia's voice coming from the huge dragon seemed awkward.

The dragon extended it's wings, opening its huge mouth. A shriek came from the powerful jaws, and suddenly, all the monsters were enveloped in explosions.

"Please," the man called. "Please, don't worry about me. They kidnapped my child and wife and ran off toward the desert. You have to stop them."

The dragon's shape grew smaller and changed into Rydia. "Alright! Finally, something I can sink my teeth into!"

Celes started running in the direction the man pointed. "Come on, Rydia. It's time to see how well you can fight!"

"This place looks... strangely familiar, as if I've been here before," Rydia said.

"Have you?" Celes stopped, giving Rydia time to look around.

"Yes. I have, but I thought..." her voice trailed off. Suddenly, she fell to the floor, crying out in pain.

"What? What is it?!" Celes grabbed Rydia by the shoulders.

"I feel such incredible power. It must be acting as a conductor."

"What must be a conductor? This place?"

"Yes. I can feel them, I can feel them all somehow."

"Who? What do you mean?"

Behind them, a sound...

Celes whirled. It seemed like their first adversary was showing himself. What a strange being. It was brown, in the shape of a woman, but had green hair. "Like a tree..." Celes thought.

"You must be gone! This place is ours now. We must not let you have access..." the being began.

"Access this!" Celes cried; she didn't know why, but she felt deeply in danger by this being. Drawing her scimitar and running at the monster, she slashed twice, but both were easily dodged.

"From the land of the summoned monsters, I call Mist Dragon." Mist appeared in front of Rydia, and swelled into the Mist Dragon. It blew a stream of gas at the monster. It didn't seem to hurt it. But it did stop it.

"A caller! But I thought you were all dead."

"Not all of us." said Rydia. "Who are you?"

"I am Dryad, spirit of the Earth, at your service. You may call me whenever you want," he said.

"Wait! What are you doing here? And what is your power?" Rydia said.

"I have been sent here by Cecil, high leader of Baron and the world, to guard this place forever."

"Then this is the place I was thinking of. This is the Tower of Bab-il!"

"THE MAGICAL ENTRANCE TO THE MOON?" Celes cried. "But I thought that was only a fairy-tale."

Completely ignoring her, Rydia continued, "Why can I feel them Dryad? I can feel them all. Why?"

"That is my power, Master. I am the Earth. I communicate with every living thing. It is because of me you can feel the presence of everyone on Earth. It is because of the tower that you can feel your friends on the moon."

"So they're still alive. Cecil, Edge, Golbez, FuSoYa... Rosa!"

"Yes. You feel their presences, scattered around the two planets."

"Hey, we still have to find that guy's family you know." Celes chirped in.

"That's right. Dryad, come. You will help me find them."

*****

"I tell you, I can feel their presence. They're right around this corner." They turned right.

And came face-to-face with more than 100 monsters. "Tell me you sensed them too and have some sort of trap here, right?" Celes said, drawing her blade again.

"I can't feel monsters, only humans."

"You should say these things before we bet our lives on it."

Rydia drew her whip, which she hadn't used yet in this century. "Hope I'm not too rusty."

*****

Every part of Celes' body hurt. She was exhausted. No matter how many monsters she defeated, more always seemed to come. A monster to her right was attacking, now to her left. One hit her right shoulder and made her drop her sword.

Rydia, on the other hand, was fine. She had been casting and calling left and right and had defeated most of the monsters. "My magic is almost shot!" she called out, casting a fire spell in an Ice Wolf's direction.

"I don't have my sword. Can you cut me a path to the hostages? Then just Warp us out of here." Celes called.

"Alright, get ready... I call Ifrit!" The huge fire-beast appeared right in front of Celes, and plowed a path straight to the woman and child.

Celes ran as fast as she could. It seemed like she had to consciously tell her body what to do. Left foot, right foot, left foot...

She grabbed the two, and noticed something sitting on a pedestal. She instinctively grabbed it.

"Get us out of here."

"WARP!"

*****

They hadn't stopped running ever since they had warped out of the cave. Now Celes and Rydia, sitting outside the man's house, had time to catch their breath and heal their wounds.

"Oh, thank you, thank you. Here's your reward." He handed them 35,000 gold, in a bag. "I don't care if they come back, you two earned that money."

"Thanks." Celes whispered. And finally looked down at what she had grabbed on the way out of the cave.

An Orb.

"Yes. By using my powers is the only way to discover what the crystal is used for."

She touched the orb and closed her eyes.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" they both suddenly screamed in pain.

Then everything went black.

*****

"Uuungh. Rydia?"

"Right here, Celes."

They both picked themselves off the ground.

"I don't believe it - the crystal is too powerful for me to decode. I..."

"What is it?"

"Pharaoh." Rydia whispered.

Suddenly, a gold-colored head appeared, and then disappeared. Suddenly, Celes started falling all over the place, getting hit from unknown blows. It stopped.

"Ow." She checked herself to make sure she still had all of her fingers and limbs. "Another summoned monster?"

"No. An attack spell."

"I think I need some cure magic to..." She froze; she felt better. "Rydia, did I just cast cure?"

"I saw the sparkles. Try your other magic..."

Celes pointed to a tree. "Fire 3!"

The tree was immediately engulfed in flame. "MY MAGIC'S BACK!" she cried out happily.

"How can that be?" she asked herself.

"I think I've figured it out. Anything that was made magic before the loss of magic is still magical. And when it comes in contact with something or someone that has the capacity for casting spells, its power rubs off on it. That's why I gained this new spell and you got your magic back." Rydia said, half in wonder herself.

"But that means I have to keep the orb with me if I want magic, right?" Celes said, sad that it might not be permanent.

"Here." said Rydia. She took Celes' sword, raised it over her head, whispered some words that Celes couldn't hear, and cut into the orb. A little slab of it fell off.

She handed the slab to Celes. "This should be all you need to keep your magic working."

Celes smiled, and fixed the slab to her necklace.

"Come on. Maybe there are more of those orbs down there."

*****

They seemed so easy now. Now that she had magic, the monsters which had once been hard were now easy.

Celes and Rydia cut through them all.

They ran through the tunnels trying to lose the monsters.

"Wait!" Rydia suddenly called.

Celes skidded to a halt. "What?"

"I have to go."

"What?!"

Rydia turned right, into a little room.

"The orb's secret can only be found by FuSoYa. Through this room I can use the orb to go to the moon."

"The moon. Rydia, I can't follow you to the moon. How are we supposed to get back?"

"It's alright. I'm going to the moon, you can use your Warp magic to get out of here."

"Rydia, wait!"

"What?"

"Thanks, for showing me such a good time."

"Thank you. For waking me up, and giving me a friend."

They both smiled.

"We will meet again, right?"

"Bet on it."

They smiled again.

Rydia pressed a few buttons, and stepped onto a pad.

"Good-bye," she whispered, holding the orb above her head.

She disappeared.

"Good-bye." Celes whispered.

"Warp!"

*****

Celes looked up at the moon. "Rydia, you're up there, aren't you? I hope you've found your friends."

*****

Rydia looked at the "blue planet". "Celes, wherever you are down there, thanks again."

*****

During that week two people had overcome time to become good friends.

During that night, across space, two friends said good night to each other.

Actually, she didn't know what was. With the exception of Terra, she hadn't seen her friends at all after the fight in the tower, and was dying to meet someone she knew.

Should she head to Kohlingen? It was the closest, but she had just been there, and nobody was there. Jidoor? Maybe. Figaro? She hadn't heard from Edgar. Of course, she hadn't heard from anybody else either. Mobliz? She and Rydia had gone, but nobody besides the children were there.

Alright, to the opera house it was. Later, she could head to Jidoor or something...

But her mind just kept drifting back to Rydia. The green-haired, green- garbed girl that always smiled had become a good friend to her. She kept wondering if she would be alright on the moon. Even with all those monsters to protect her.

*****

"Maria!"

"Oh, please, Impresario. You know that's not my name."

"I know, Celes. But why are you here? Come to sing again?"

The words played back in her mind. "We must part now, my life goes on, but my heart won't give you up. Ere I walk away, let me hear you say I meant as much to you..." If that wasn't her life all over, she didn't know what was.

"You know what, Impresario? I think I just might."

"You mean it? Wonderful."

"Do you have a copy of the script again? I must have forgotten some words."

*****

"Oh my hero, so far away now, Will I ever see your smile? Love goes away, like night into day. It's just a fading dream..."

Celes fought back the urge to laugh at being onstage again. Once again, she had on that white dress and had a green bow in her hair.

Once again, she felt strangely free.

"I'm the darkness, you're the stars. Our love is brighter than the sun. For eternity, for me there can be,

Only you, my chosen one... Must I forget you? Our solemn promise? Will autumn take the place of spring?"

Locke. Somehow Draco and Maria reminded her of herself and Locke. Suddenly, she heard Locke's little phrase in her mind. "I'll protect you. Stick with me and you'll be fine." Where was Locke now? Why wasn't she looking for him? Or any of her friends?

"What shall I do? I'm lost without you. Speak to me once more!"

Celes moved to the upper terrace. She took the bouquet of flowers and walked slowly to the edge.

"We must part now, My life goes on. But my heart won't give you up.

Ere I walk away, Let me hear you say, I meant as much to you..."

She tossed the flowers over the edge.

"So gently, you touched my heart, I will be forever yours.

Come what may, I won't age a day, I'll wait for you always."

*****

Celes walked out of the opera house, along with all the other people that had been to the show. It was pretty late now; the sun was setting.

"Hey man. That Maria girl was hot!"

"You're tellin' me. Hubba hubba."

"That was the best."

"Mommy, can we go to that play again?"

Celes tried her hardest to contain her laughter.

Half a mile from the opera house, she burst out laughing.

Once she finally slowed her laughing down, she started working out where to go next. "Alright. I know I have to find my friends. But I haven't the slightest of where to look. There's only one way to figure this out. I'll let fate decide. Wherever my hand goes, I go." She closed her eyes, pointed out to the distance and spun. She fell down. She opened her eyes.

And found herself pointing up at the moon.

"I guess fate decided."

*****

It hadn't been hard to get to the same machine Rydia had used. No monsters had barred her way this time. Everything on the machine was in place. Only one thing to do.

She stepped onto the pad. And raised the slab of the orb above her head.

She felt that strange wave of dizziness she had felt before.

"Not again!"

******

Celes awoke on the moon.

She looked around. There was nothing in sight. No caves, no castles, no vegetation. Nothing!

She closed her eyes and spun again.

When she opened her eyes she noticed something she hadn't seen before. Blue. A speck of blue out in the distance.

Rydia would be heading there.

"I'm coming, Rydia."

Celes checked herself. She was dirty, tired, and hungry. She looked back. The pad that she had come from lay only two miles away. She had only been able to go two miles in about a day.

"I need some way to fly over there."

She had been using Float as much as she could. But trying to go around the craters and trying to climb the cliffs of this moon were too much for her. As if that weren't enough, the enemies from the moon were really starting to cut into her magic supply. Every Ice 3 and sword attack she made made her a little weaker, and a little more tired.

Now she wasn't sure if she could make it back, let alone make it to the small 'castle' she could see in the distance.

*****

"Bolt 2!" Celes called out. The lightning struck from above, even though there weren't any clouds. That had never stopped it before. She jumped from the ledge, and in mid-air whipped out her sword and slashed at the circular-looking thing.

She landed, as did the monster, now sliced in two. "Cyan would be proud."

She turned around. More of them coming. "Don't they ever stop?" she thought as she prepared for their attack.

The first flew in. SWISH! One down.

Now the second and third were coming in at once.

Celes slashed, and another fell to the ground. But the third grabbed the sword out of her hand with its teeth.

"Hey, that's mine. Poison!"

As the monster started making gasping and wheezing sounds, Celes dove for the sword. She turned and waited for the right moment...

"Aaargh!"

Two hit her from behind. One hit her right in the back, sticking one of its short claws deep into her. The second flew by her, sticking her in the right arm as it did.

She rolled to the side. She couldn't waste her magic now, just something to stun them. "Fire 2!"

As they were hit by the explosions of the fire, Celes retrieved her sword with her left hand.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another two heading for her. She ducked, and they flew by harmlessly. It was now five on one.

The circular monsters flew together; they were getting in an arrow formation. "Now or never!"

She ran right at them, catching them off guard. She jumped and slashed. One down. Landed at swiped upward at another. Two. Turned, stabbed and rolled backward. Three. Two left. One flew right at her. Easily taken care of. Now only one was left; the original one, the one that had first taken her sword, remained.

The final monster started expanding. Like it was going to blow up. Like a bomb. There was no way she came this far only to die. As the knights of many ages before had done, she pointed her sword at the bomb, since that was now what she thought it was. A sign of respect, of honor, this one was a worthy opponent.

"Control your emotions! Concentrate on the fight," Wren had always told her. This time she couldn't control her emotions. She was pissed at this one. She charged in, and the bomb quickly deflated, giving up its "explosion" technique. She slashed once, twice, she stabbed. It was easily dodging her blows now.

It executed a perfect barrel-roll in mid-air, flew around, and caught Celes off-guard. She instinctively held up her sword.

BA-ZANG!

Celes opened her eyes. What was that? She looked around. Charred remains of the bomb were lying on the ground. She looked at her sword; it was glowing. So was the orb shard on her chest.

She looked at her Rune Sword. She had only had it for a short while. When she had lost her scimitar in the tower, she had had this one personally forged for her.

Why was it glowing now?

She had used it when she had went into the tower the second and third times, and she had used it here on the moon. Why hadn't it done this before?

Her anger. That had something to do with it. It was the only thing present now that hadn't been present in any of the other cases. But how was that having any effect? Apparently the orb shard was mixing with her emotions and the power of the sword, to make it change.

Celes looked down at the shard; it was radiating red now. Red, the color of anger. She tried again. She closed her eyes and thought of Kefka, what he had done to the world; of Gestahl, and his wishes for power; of her father, and what he had done to Wren.

She opened her eyes.

Wow! The shard was bright red, and the sword was glowing brightly. Behind her!

Two more bombs, except these, like others here, were purple instead of red. She slashed with her sword.

POP!

The first one deflated like a popped balloon. The second flew off in terror.

*****

Celes neared the place she had come from. She had been experimenting with the shard. Feeling sad made it turn blue. Happy, goldish-orange. Content left it black. Excited made it turn a yellowish color. She had also tried attacking enemies when the shard glowed. Blue turned enemies ice cold, like snowmen. Red obviously added strength to it. Gold burnt enemies to a crisp. Yellow seemed to work much like an Osmose spell, except it took away strength instead of magic.

Wonderful! Now if she met a powerful monster, she could use her Runic Blade to stop its magic, the shard by itself to use her own magic, and the shard combined with emotions and her sword to produce various effects on it. If she was battling a fire monster, Runic would absorb its fire spells, she could cast Ice 3, and feel sad to attack it with cold power. Awesome!

Had Rydia discovered its power? Or did this only work for her, or for her sword? She had to go back to Earth now. She was running low on magic, and she needed to experiment with her new power.

*****

Celes walked drearily into the weapon shop. That night at the inn didn't last long enough. "Give me an Enhancer!" she said. She paid the man 10,000 Gold and left.

Alright, mad! She got mad, and the crystal turned red, but it didn't work. Apparently, it only worked for her Rune Sword. She had an advantage over anything now.

She deserved another night in the inn for this. Tomorrow she would try to find out another way to get to the moon. Maybe there was a way to transport Setzer's airship there.

She took off her necklace with the orb shard on it. Runic Blade, magic, Mood Stages, her own special sword. She definitely had an advantage over the average Joe.

She smiled as one thought came to her mind before she fell asleep.

"Self-improvement."

"It's alright, Sedge. She is a... former acquaintance of mine."

"Edgar!"

Celes smiled an ran to her old friend. Edgar stuck his hand out, and was quite surprised to get a hug from Celes.

"You've changed."

"We need to talk, Edgar, and I need to study your books."

*****

"So you've been to the moon?" Edgar asked.

"Yes. My friend, Rydia is there. I want to help her out, but I don't have any way to get around up there." Celes answered.

"And you say she has a special way to get around?"

"Yes, she can call a dragon to help her, and I'm betting it can fly."

"A caller...."

"Yes. Of Mist."

Edgar smiled grinningly. "How... interesting."

*****

"Here are the books, ma'am."

Celes started paging through. "Lesse, Edge..." She checked the index. "Lesse, subdirectories. Birth, childhood, fighting in the Great War..." Celes smiled. "That's it."

"Edge, Cecil, Rydia, Kain." She looked through it all. "Going to the moon. Here!"

"What is it?" asked Edgar, looking over her shoulder.

"The 'Big Whale'. An interplanetary ship designed to take people to the moon and back. I bet we could easily go to the moon with that."

"Really? Where is it located?"

"According to the information, it would be placed just under... Ebot's Rock!"

"Not Ebot's Rock. I don't have good memories of that place."

"I'll go, and maybe you can come with me to the moon, once I get the Whale."

"Well, you wouldn't leave me out?"

Celes turned to the new voice.

"Grandpapa!" She ran to Cid's side.

"I've been following some of your quest, Celes. And I have an idea." He turned toward a book. "See, we can add some mechanics here, and basically change the aft cargo bay into a storage area for an airship, instead of cargo. We could use a mechanical arm to 'tote' Setzer's airship to the moon. We could then cover twice as much ground."

*****

"Alright. I'm headed for Ebot's Rock. When I get back, Cid, have the stuff ready to modify the whale. Edgar, if you're going to come, you better get ready."

A devilish grin spread over Edgar's face. "Excellent."

Celes mounted the Black Chocobo. Edgar's breeding programs were working excellently.

*****

Celes couldn't help but laugh as the wind whistled by her. The chocobo was flying its fastest now. And the sights were breathtaking. Unlike an airship, on a chocobo, she could see everything below her. It was wonderful.

*****

Ebot's Rock wasn't any better a place. Fortunately, she was able to figure out how to get to the secret stairway to the lower caverns.

"The map said the staircase was right around here..." She looked around; the light wasn't much, but she was sure she could see no stairway. Some crevices, and a pillar of stone helping to hold the place up, but nothing more.

She leaned against the pillar. She heard a sound. She turned and looked. Amazing! The pillar really wasn't connected to the ceiling. It was movable. She pushed and finally got it moved. The stairway wasn't near the pillar; it was IN the pillar.

*****

The walls radiated their light. It was amazing, these new technologies. The whale was somewhere around here; the map had said so.

Celes turned the corner, and there it was. It was HUGE! Incredible! She seemed to be using those words a lot now. She slowly walked toward the gigantic thing.

A hatchway opened.

A shadowed figure stepped out.

"Who are you? Whoever you are, I cannot let you go any further."

The figure stepped into the light. Celes could now easily see it was a woman, quite a bit older than herself, garbed in white. An obvious White Mage.

"My name is Rosa. And I cannot let you come any closer to this ship. When I was ordered by the Lunarians to keep this ship safe, I promised I would do so with my life. I cannot let you take it."

The woman unslung her bow from off her shoulder. "Please leave. I do not wish to harm you."

Celes drew her sword. "If that's the way it has to be." She sighed. Why did she have to fight everyone she met these days?

Rosa took aim. Celes smiled. She was going to hit her hard and knock her off balance. Rosa drew her arm back. "Nuke!"

Rosa didn't even flinch. "I cast a wall on myself before I came out."

"But Nuke goes through walls!"

"Not extra-strong ones!"

Rosa let her arrow fly. Celes ducked out of the way. Rosa fit another arrow. Celes charged. Rosa let the arrow fly at close range. Celes again instincivly moved her sword.

"Yaah!" The sword flew out of her hand, taking the arrow with it. It had missed her hand by centimeters. Celes dove and knocked the arrows and bow away from Rosa.

It was going to be hand-to-hand now. Celes knew she had the advantage.

"White!"

Celes didn't even have time to react; she flew backwards. What incredible power. If she just had one of Rydia's call-monsters now!

Rosa charged at her. Celes flipped, and Rosa landed where she had been a second ago. They struggled around, each trying to get a weapon, or somehow get the upper hand.

"FuSoYa! Grant me the power to destroy her. METEO!"

Celes took the raining from above with only mild damage. "Apparently that spell isn't as powerful as it used to be. Now try this... MERTON!" The spell cut through Rosa's Wall. Celes, who was now used to taking spells like this, wasn't as badly hurt as Rosa was.

Celes grabbed her sword while Rosa was trying to get up. She pointed it right at Rosa's neck. "Are you going to let me have this ship now, or do I have to kill you? Either way, I find Rydia and it doesn't matter."

"Rydia! How do you know her?" Rosa said.

Celes stood in shock. "Goddess, you're not THAT Rosa, are you?"

"I helped defeat Zeromus."

Celes quickly helped her to her feet, "We have to talk."

*****

"Alright. I'll show you how it works." Rosa grabbed her bow and arrows and headed into the machine.

Celes followed her in. Whoa! How was she ever supposed to understand what all these buttons and levers do?

"Here. Use the crystal of flight to awaken the Whale."

*****

Ebot's Rock rumbled. The Big Whale came out from the sea, flying up to the sky. Setzer didn't have sole possession of the air anymore.

"I'm laying in a course for Figaro." said Celes, pressing the correct buttons at her terminal.

"One to be born from a dragon, hoisting the light and the dark, arises high up in the sky to the still land..." Celes thought of the legend.

The Whale was flying again.