Chapter 13: An Old Friend
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        Another Airship pulled up beside the one that he, Rydia, Celes
and the others were on.  They had been fighting some sort of creatures
when some coins flew through the air, nailing one of the beasts in the
throat...taking it's head off.  Cecil was behind the cabin, battling
some three-headed monstrosity with wings, when the ship started to go
down.  The balloon had been punctured.
        "Celes!  We're hit!"
        There was no answer.  Cecil ran to the fore, as he saw the other
airship speeding away.  He could make out Setzer's form, as well as the
others.  But they weren't looking his way.
        "Damn, guess I go down with the ship."
        Forgetting about the Chimera behind him, Cecil felt searing pain
on his back as claws ripp through the weak spots in his armor.  He fell
to the deck with a loud thud.
        "Argh, this isn't my day...Cure 2!"  He held the Orb aloft
as he spoke the words and his back was healed.  Rolling to the side, he
narrowly avoided another swipe of the creature's claws.
        Cecil got to his feet and saw he was heading toward some sorta
peninsula... He didn't have long...only seconds before the crash.
        The creature slashed again, but this time Cecil was ready for
it.  With a mighty swing of his dark sword, he took off the Chimera's
claw, and continued through it's breastbone, out the other side.  The
head fell to the deck trailing green ichor.
        Cecil turned and could see the rooftops of some town clearly
now.  The airship was going to go right into the ocean, but at this
speed, it would be nothing more than splinters after the crash.
        Securing the orb and his few possessions, Cecil jumped over the
roof of what seemed to be a barn.  He cursed and wished he knew float or
some other useful spell.
        "Crashing through roofs is becoming all too common for me," Cecil
thought as he braced himself for the impact.
        He saw two figures conversing, one looked oddly familar...It was
a face he knew well, but had never expected to see again.  Crashing
through the roof, he years of friendship with Kain passed through his mind.