Final Fantasy

When two worlds collide: Chapter 4

Locke Cole perched on the cliffs of the Narshe and hung on to the tow rope as his eyes scanned the snow covered sky for any ways of getting down.
For the past six months he and Celes Chere had lived as man and wife in a world that was beginning to adapt to its new climate. A world that had lived in a state of ruin for the past year and had now been given a chance to recover. They'd lived their lives pretty much together, apart from the odd treasure-hunt Locke inevitably went out on.
They'd had a good life. Locke continued his treasure-hunting, but made sure to remain with Celes whenever he could. Celes started up her new career as an opera singer, and had managed to make a fair amount of money from the increasing number of punters who had nothing to fear anymore. Not that Locke's treasure hunting couldn't pay any bills. Locke often went to see her shows whenever he could, giving her welcome words of both encouragement and gratitude.
Life for them wasn't always easy. Since they met, they had been involved in the destruction of an empire, a magical apocalypse, a world full of ruination and death, and a dangerous assault on the man who had caused so much misery and pain through all their lives.
The team separated afterwards, but not Locke and Celes. For four months, they had worked hard together to convince the world that they were free. Four months of toiling the earth so that it was habitable for life again. When it was finished, Locke had finally asked Celes to marry him.
When they married in Figaro Castle, witnessed by all their friends, and married by King Edgar himself, they believed at last the two of them could settle down and have a normal life together. Locke had always pictured some kind of desert that they'd be able to irrigate; and some kind of farm or museum of the different relics Locke had acquired, and a family. A normal, loving family.
A normal life: that's all he wanted. And to him, normal was a world where it was safe from war and evil, and no one got stuck up a freezing cold mountain in a huge blizzard.
Under the enormous blizzard, he could see that the exit path was getting wider. He was nearly out of the mountain path into the town of Narshe, now teeming with engineers and miners who had returned to their once-abandoned home. Now, he'd be able to get the hell out of here, back to his wife.
He took out the pocket-sized stone and gazed at it. His latest acquirement. A small stone of crystal that was rumoured to hold powers even greater than magic. Of course, Locke did not believe it. But then again, he once didn't believe in magic…
Locke had only been on his treasure hunting three times in his six months as a married man. Way below what he did before he even met Celes. He felt less desire to go on his treasure hunting, and more desire to be by his wife's side.
Who cared about treasure hunting? Not him, not anymore, not when it meant endangering his life and possibly breaking the heart of the woman he loved.
He smiled. Now that he was finally back at Narshe, he'd be able to eat, drink and rest his weary body, and then ride back to Kohlingen.
That would be the first thing he'd do, hire a chocobo, maybe even buy one for his future plans.
Then he'd return home to Celes. And he'd say sorry for deserting her on these idiotic quests to find relics of the past. Then they'd hopefully wind up making the first of their own children.
That's what they'd do.

Celes Cole was cooking a meal for herself, since she did not know when Locke would come back. She was feeling a little annoyed with herself. Her last opera did not go as well as many of her other performances. Although the critics said that Celes was certainly the best out of the other performers, they said that she felt somewhat distanced from the production.
That's because they don't know what it's like to have a husband that's far away.
Locke wasn't there to give her encouragement this time. In fact, Locke had been away for almost three weeks, and she was starting to worry. Locke hadn't said goodbye, he just left a note saying where he was going.
Celes didn't actually mind Locke's treasure hunting. It was when he had been away for so long, that she did mind. Her mind started to wonder as to whether something had happened to him.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Celes immediately ran up to the door and opened it. She smiled with a grin so large it could have probably held the Falcon. Standing in the doorway, holding a chocobo by the leash, was her husband.
"Hello Celes. Have you made enough for two?"
Celes hugged him, kissing him on his bottom lip.
"Here have you been?"
"I was just out on another damn treasure hunt again. I heard some wild rumours about some sort of crystal buried deep in Narshe, and I thought I'd take a peek before anyone else did." He struggled to walk inside, Celes holding him. "God, I've got the strength of a new-born sloth."
"No wonder, with what you've been through."
A pause. Celes could tell that Locke was trying to say something.
He started. "Listen,, there's something I want to say to you," he began. "I'm….. always, uh, ever since I was small, I've always had a big problem saying, y'know, well, apologizing and uh… and I just wanted to say, well, anyway, I am."
He grimaced. It was not one of his best speeches by a mile. He was, however, stunned by Celes's reply.
"You are what?"
"Huh?"
"You are what?"
"I am…. Don't make me say it Celes."
"Say what?"
"Sorry, OK? There, I said it. Sorry, sorry, sorry."
"What are you sorry for?"
"Besides having to say sorry, you mean?"
Celes grinned.
"For everything. For persuading you to let me go on these wild-goose chases. I'm leaving you alone for so long. Quite frankly, I'm getting sick of it."
Celes held him tighter. "Does that mean you'll quit being a treasure hunter."
Locke nodded his head.

"So what is this thing you bought on your very last treasure-hunt?"
"It was this stone." Locke brought out the shining silver crystal out and gave it to Celes. "It was said that this time-stone had a power greater than magic. I haven't really figured out what it does, but it's still pretty beautiful."
"You're right."
Celes examined the stone with awe. The light from the candle was reflected in a number of different ways, as if it was a beacon. It was then that she noticed a small piece of metal inside the stone, like obsidian.
"Hey, what's this? It looks different to the crystal."
Locke studied the obsidian Celes had just discovered. "I don't know. Maybe it was just put in there to make it look different than a lot of other stones. It was said to be worshipped by the people who created such a thing."
Celes brushed her thumb over the small piece of obsidian. "Well, maybe it's just decoration." She put the stone down, and turned to go back to the kitchen. As she turned, however, she noticed small electrical sparks fly out of the crystal.
"What the….Locke, what's going on?"
"I…..I don't know."
The electricity started to increase in size. A sudden panic ran through Celes, and she held on to Locke tightly.
"What the hell is going on?" shouted Locke, as a sudden swirl of energy encased them both. They screamed as they were sucked into the vortex.
Then, as sudden as it happened, it stopped.
Everything was the same. The furniture was in the same positions, the table laid out for supper, the hot stove cooking the casserole in the kitchen. In the living-room, the grandfather clock ticked away the hours in the still quietness.
The only things missing was Locke and Celes Cole.

The vortex had surrounded them both as they held their hands, hoping that they wouldn't separate and lose each other.
They stared at everything that was happening around them, and then looked dead ahead. There was light at the end of the tunnel…..

Thousands of years later, in a vast snow covered crater, the two lovers lay sleeping, both of them in a foetal position, murmuring remarks in the gibberish of sleep. Their hands clasped were clasped together as they slept, not knowing where they were. Suddenly, a poorly digested packet of food rations Locke had eaten from his last journey caused a silent pocket of escaping air to flee his lower intestine and rouse him from his slumbers.
He struggled into the sitting position and peered through tired eyes. He was on some kind of rocky platform, surrounded by inwardly sloping walls. When his eyes managed to get into focus, he noticed a pathway circled around the inside of the crater. He laid a hand on Celes's shoulder, and she woke up with a start. She was fresher than Locke was, but still groggy.
"Where are we?"
"I have no idea."
This was completely unfamiliar to them. Here they were, stuck in some giant crater in the middle of nowhere. Outside, the snow rained down, covering the top of the crater's inside.
A stench overpowered their nostrils, and it wasn't Locke's fault. It was the stench of decay.
"Let's get out of here and find out where we are." advised Celes.

After several minutes walking, climbing, and jumping, they reached the top of the crater, and was greeted by a number of dead bodies.
"What the hell?"
They had seen the sight many times before, so they were not nauseated. But they were scared as to the fact that they believed they had ended up in a war zone.
Celes picked up a strange object lying by her side. "What the hell's this? We don't have weapons like this where we live."
Accidentally, she pulled the trigger, and the object fired a round of bullets, creating small holes in the snow. Celes stumbled back from both the kickback and the surprise. Locke ran to her side.
"Are you okay?"
Celes held on tightly to Locke as she shivered. Locke picked her up and embraced her warmly, keeping themselves as warm as possible in the bitter cold.
"We'd better find a town near here, or we'll freeze." said Locke.
Locke drew out his sword that he still kept so that they could defend themselves, and they walked away from the crater, hoping to find shelter.

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