Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Celestial Rise ❯ One Rainy Day in Vector ( Chapter 4 )

A First Lieutenant arrived at the Magitek Lab wearing a heavy military issue raincoat. It was pouring out. The heavy raindrops created a white noise that rivaled the static hissing of a Private First Class's communication device. The private was stationed at the entrance lobby of a Magitek Facility that night and was alone. He did not immediately notice the lieutenant's arrival as he played with the knobs and dials of the communication device.

"Give it up, Jasom. With this weather, you'll never get that thing to receive anything," the lieutenant said in greeting, as well as in declaration of her presence. "Especially now that we have signal-jammers surrounding the Bronze Compound."

The soldier snapped to attention, faced his superior and saluted. "Lieutenant Chere! I did not hear you come in!"

"At ease, Jasom. All is well," Lt. Celes Chere replied with a warm smile.

Jasom Keep helped her take off her raincoat. "Nasty weather," Jasom commented.

Celes flashed him a smile and answered, "I love it!" She stared outside through the glass doors of the facility and saw the millions of vertical lines comprising the heavy rainfall. It was as if the sky had lost interest in keeping the scene interesting because of the dark. No wind tossed and bent the dropping water. No lightning stirred in the black clouds. The torrent was as unimaginative as it was to a bored toddler, uninspiring to a starving painter, and utterly depressing to a Private First Class in his night guard duty. But it was not the sight and sound that pleased Celes. It was simply the thought of the tons of fresh, clean, heaven-sent water cleansing the buildings and streets of the Bronze compound. It was the thought of ablution and purging of the dregs that clung to Vector's steel and concrete--a passive rite of lavation of a grand scale.

"I prefer the sun myself," the soldier said continuing the small talk as he hung the dripping wet raincoat on a hook next to his desk. On his desk was a neatly folded towel. He gave it to Celes who thanked him for the thought. He was expecting her tonight and made sure to have one handy just for her.

"Well, thank you, Jasom. How very thoughtful!" Celes dabbed the towel on her face and arms. Though the raincoat had mainly done what it was supposed to, rain mist still penetrated through the openings, particularly through the hood and sleeves. Her golden hair remained fairly dry, pony-tailed by a silver hairpin, thus, exposing her slender neck. She'd rather lose the hairpin and let her hair down freely, but it was against regulations as a soldier in uniform. It was either that or have her hair cut short or head shaved just like the others.

Jasom was expecting her arrival like routine. She always came on the same day of the week to visit a friend who worked deep within the facility. Incidentally, her friend happened to be the most important man of the Magitek Lab Alpha.

"A tad late today, aren't we, lieutenant?" Jasom Keep said in a rare display of informality between a private first class and a first lieutenant. Celes Chere didn't mind. In fact, she preferred it… to an extent, of course. For as long as she could remember, Jasom Keep had always been assigned on guard duty at that particular facility, on that particular day of the week and at that particular time of day.

"I took my time under the rain. A downpour like this doesn't come often enough every year."

"You sound like you like it very much. I'm surprised you wore a raincoat at all," he said as he produced a mop from a utility closet nearby. He was set to a new task of mopping the small puddle of water on the white-tiled floor.

"I was very nearly tempted to take it off on my way here, but imagine the reaction of anybody who might see me do that."

Jasom sighed as he mopped the floor as the thought occurred to him. "Yes… I can I imagine how that would be," he said casually, concentrating on his work.

"I meant just the raincoat, Private First Class, Jasom Keep!" Lieutenant Chere said sternly, not looking very pleased with what Jasom said.

Keep stopped his task and looked surprised. His mind raced, trying to figure out what he had said wrong. Then it hit him. "B-begging your pardon, Lt. Chere. I-I meant only that I'd be mopping more water and would probably be needing more than a towel to give to you! N-not that I-I think you're a bother and all. I mean you can make a big mess on the floor for all I care. Er… I didn't mean it like that! And I'm not saying that you're a messy person--just saying that if you wanted to then you could and I wouldn't complain--not that you would and all! I mean you're probably one of the most well organized person in all of Vector considering--er… I-you-not because you're a woman! I'm just saying… I… can't imagine you to be an untidy person--not that I imagine you to be anything at all--I mean--I don't--" he said quickly in his defense and was left to juggle with words that only made the situation more awkward and embarrassing for him. He was red with embarrassment and quite nervous, too. His verbal blunder wouldn't have ended right there if it hadn't been for Celes bursting in laughter right before his eyes.

Celes knew what he had meant by what he said from the very start. She only meant to liven up the quiet place by playing a little joke on him, but she never thought that he would react as clumsily as he did. She almost felt guilty for what she did, but it was all too funny. She tried her best to keep a straight face, at first, but when she couldn't take it anymore she let loose of her laughter that began as a snicker. It was a hearty laughter, neither taunting nor derisive. It was a kind of laugh that invited everybody else present to laugh with her. They were alone in the lobby at that time, and Jasom soon found himself chuckling with her nervously but still flushed.

"Oh, Keep! It may sound so unkind of me to say so, but I wish I had heard that till the end," Celes said when she had found enough strength to restrain her laughter.

"I don't think there would've been an end, Lieutenant," he replied, wiping a drop of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

Celes chuckled some more before retreating to the closest chair. "I'm sorry, Jasom. I didn't think you'd react like that."

Keep continued mopping the floor. "I didn't either," he admitted with a sigh.

"You must make your girlfriend laugh all the time. Which reminds me… how is she doing?"

"Just great, Lieutenant… or so I've heard. She will be coming back to Vector within the week," Keep replied with a smile, glad that the topic of conversation steered away from himself and onto something that he looked forward to.

"Well, good for the both of you. Remind me again where she went off to."

"Maranda. She received news that her grandmother was very ill. They went there to visit," he promptly answered.

"Oh, that's right. I hope everything's well," she said sympathetically.

"As do I. But I'm more concerned about the enactment of martial law. They have the entire capital cordoned with troops and watch guards. By the Emperor's own command, nobody is allowed to get in or out of Vector until he says so," Keep said, looking glum.

"Somebody has to make an exception. She's a Vectorian citizen herself. Her entire family is," she reasoned. Logically speaking, she was correct, but when it came to the unbending orders of the Emperor, her reasoning was merely a hypothesis. She knew this, but she dared not to sound pessimistic about it. "Tell you what, Jasom. I'll see what I can do about all that," she promised with a warm smile. It was a weak smile but honest and sincere.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, but you don't have to go out of the way just for me." Keep meant what he said, but deep inside he liked her suggestion. He appreciated it very much, however, he remained realistic. Even though Celes Chere was a Lieutenant, the problem of getting out of the locked-down Bronze Compound under Orange Alert was very difficult.

"Well it can't hurt to try, can it?" she said.

"I suppose not," he said, smiling. He turned back to his task. He was almost done.

Celes watched him mop the floor as she waited in the lobby for a friend to finish his shift for the day. She had always done this once a week every week since she joined the Imperial Army. It was her only reason for coming into the facility. But even though she had risen to the rank of a First Lieutenant, she still didn't have enough authorization to access the inner parts of the facility. She could only wait in the lobby--white-tiled, brightly lit, and sterile. Only the humming of the electric lights could be heard if it weren't raining, except perhaps for the occasional burst of staticky conversations coming from Jasom's radio. The tiles on the floor themselves couldn't be any duller. They were very unimaginatively patterned.

A tessellation of white squares tiled adjacently to each other. The tilers could've placed the rows juxtaposed to the previous one. They also could've slanted them, at least, with the walls as the basis so they would look like diamonds. Celes looked around her. Even the entire lobby is a square. And by the small size of it, it's more like a waiting room in the Imperial Army Infirmary! Celes shook her head to ward of the thoughts. I'm thinking too much again. I've lost count of how many times I've thought about this same old topic in my head.

She looked back towards Jasom. He had finished mopping the floor and had just placed the mop back in a small utility room in the lobby itself.

Hmm. I just realized that cleaning the floor up wasn't even his job. Well, he must be very bored of this place, too. Who wouldn't be? To be alone here can be quite maddening. Thank the Goddesses for the glass doors, at least. Still… I wonder if he minded about the rainwater. I probably should've offered my help. It was, after all, my mess. But then, it would seem so wrong of me to fuss over such a trivial thing. I'm sure he didn't mind. Of course, not, she convinced herself. I'm more relaxed talking to him than to anybody… except maybe for Cid. I wonder if I'm being too relaxed. I have a higher rank than he does. I don't want him to think I'm abandoning my poise for his sake. Come to think of it, I had been chatty to him these past two weeks. But that's only because there's absolutely nothing to do in this cursed waiting room! Not that talking to him is a bad thing… A smirk appeared on her face. It was but a faint trace, and yet she knew it was there because it was intended for her. I'm glad I'm not saying all these out loud. Think of the irony!

Celes took a sharp intake of breath to release some energy within her, like the venting out of mental frustration. Jasom noticed this and gave her a quick glance in anticipation of the possibility that she was going to say something. It created a split second of awkwardness between the two.

Are you so starved of attention, Celes? she thought to herself in reprimand. He just caught me staring at him. But I wasn't. I was deep in thought! My eyes just happened to be looking into his direction. Why not? He's right in front of me!

What is wrong with me? Why am I thinking too much? I've been like this since I got up this morning.

It was true. She woke up in the morning without so much as a yawn or the urge to stretch. It was as if she had no need of those to start her blood flowing faster for the day. Her eyes didn't take too long to get acquainted with the sunlight, and when she went to the bathroom she noticed her face in the mirror--she was smiling. The sight surprised her for she didn't remember any special occasion marked for that day. Her spirit was just high at the start of the new day. She felt a strange energy welling up within her, waiting, yearning to be released.

At noon, when the clouds started to appear and accumulate above them all, it didn't dishearten her at all. It had the opposite effect on her compared to her fellow soldiers. She had been training new recruits with her captain during the morning till noon, after which she had a lecture about Magical Signatures in the Imperial Army's presentation hall. Usually, she got to the presentation hall, tired or close to exhaustion after her physical training. But today was an exception. The strange energy had kept her active. It was the type of energy that not only affected her physically but also mentally. While in the presentation room, sitting comfortably in her chair, she didn't feel the urge to get up from her chair and do something--anything--just to keep her body moving. The mysterious vim, it seemed, came with mental discipline. Her mind didn't wander off while the lecture was going on. She found herself enthralled at the topic of the lecture. She hung onto every word and absorbed every bit of information. She even thought of some profound questions in her mind though she never bothered to voice them out loud during the lecture.

After the lecture, she went to the gym to engage in swordplay with another who was equal in skill. Though she did not always win, her opponents were quite taken aback at the keen observation that she didn't seem to be getting tired as they practiced. Eventually, her opponents had to be someplace else, much to her disappointment. After a quick shower she proceeded to the facility.

And there's nothing to do here! Nothing to think about! No wonder I'm feeling restless. I sure wish Cid would be done soon.

**********

Professor Cid del Norte Marguez was her friend. He was the Magitek Master Engineer of Vector. In the field of Magic, Science and Technology, he was the big boss. A long time ago, an accident in an experimental procedure with magic infusion claimed the life of Celes's mother. Cid was there when it happened. He was her mother's colleague, her mentor and friend. After her mother died she was left in the care of her mother's sister. She never knew who her real father was. Nobody did. It was her mother's secret that she took to her grave. Her aunt raised her and taught her to be strong-willed, responsible and independent.

Cid, then, became a constant visitor to their household. He had been a family friend, ever since. He made sure that Celes got through the best schooling available. He had paid for tuition and even tutored her. He grew fond of her like she was his own child, and Celes didn't mind at all to have a father figure to look up to.

When she turned fourteen she confronted Cid with a question she had been curious to ask. "What do you know of my mother?"

Cid closed the textbook and smiled. With a sigh he looked out the window of his college office where they held the weekly tutoring sessions. "She was a very brave, young woman. A real risk-taker. She had such imagination, but they weren't completely foolish. She always thought about theories of magic and how it worked. You see, she was my top student. She liked to help around my early experiments about magic. She wanted to see me expose its very secret because she believed in it so much that she even volunteered to a few dangerous experiments. I didn't allow her, of course. I told her that the risks were against her favor, and so we tested our theories on animals."

"She believed in magic then? Even before the first magic infusion?"

"Oh, yes. She believed in it because she had this dream of a perfect world where there is no suffering, only a place of constant learning. She wanted it to come true. She wanted to see that world before she died. And that's why she believed in it. She believed that only through the mysteries of magic can such a world be transformed to her vision of utopia in a short period of time." Cid's face fell to a frown. "But alas. An experiment went horribly wrong. I tried to save her life, but I failed. Everybody felt her loss, most especially me."

Cid's eyes went back to the other pair staring back at him. He looked for a hint of detestation from those innocent eyes. Was this the day when he would be confronted by the past? No. Celes's face showed nothing that would hint to blame or disappointment. It was just a question about her mother. It had nothing to do with Cid at all. He felt foolish to think that a young girl such as she would confront him with something she had yet to understand--something he had yet to understand. Celes just wanted to learn what she could about her mother, and he had been selfish to take away this opportunity for her for his own personal redemption. This was not the day. Perhaps soon.

Perhaps later.

So Cid stopped talking about the accident. He started telling her stories about her mother's steadfastness, often confused with a trait of stubbornness. He told her funny stories and exciting stories about her mother, and Celes absorbed them all through her blue eyes. Her smile was a comfort to both of them. Cid continued to tell her the stories until she feared that the conversation might steer to something that was beyond his memory. He feared that Celes might ask about her father.

Cid had left teaching at the college a year later much to Celes's disappointment. She very much wanted to take up some of his classes after she finished her previous schooling.

"Ah, Celes. You don't need me to be teaching you about these things," he said, explaining apologetically. "I'm a horrible teacher! I really would rather do some experiments just like in the good old days with your mother."

Celes shrugged and went on with life. Unlike her mother, a life of studying magic was not for her. Instead, she wanted to wield it. She had heard of how safe the magical infusion experiments had become. She wanted to be one of those people who could use magic. She marveled at the thought. It wasn't so much as a hunger for power that drove her to her fancy but just simply to be one of the Mage-Knights of long ago. With the Empire's progress of rediscovering magic, they were ushering in a new age. New, perhaps not to the world itself, but it was new to her generation. She wanted to be a herald. She wanted to be one of the Neo Mage-Knights.

The only way this was possible was to become a soldier of the Empire. One who would be worthy and disciplined enough. At the first chance she received, she enlisted into the Imperial Army and trained hard. It was uncommon for a woman to work through the rigorous physical challenges of being a soldier, but she made it through, nonetheless, surprising her peers, her superiors, and herself.

She had become stronger and more independent. She had left her aunt's home to live within the Bronze Compound, which she had accepted as her new home. Her aunt didn't object. Her aunt just smiled for she saw a little bit of her late sister in Celes. Cid, too, as he watched her progress in her studies and training. Cid was close to her now, also residing within the Bronze Compound.

**********

Three doors led from the lobby to the inner facility. All three were off-limits to Celes. Though it would appear that Jasom was the only soldier on duty, that particular Magitek Facility was heavily guarded from the inside. Beyond the doors were more guards, security precautions, and Magitek drones on patrol.

The middle door slid opened with a clap of a steel mechanism from within and a hiss. Celes stood up as a man emerged from the restricted corridor. Two Imperial soldiers guarded the door from the inside. She knew that there were more. Security had been tightened since the Terra Episode.

The man was in his late fifties. He wore a thick, bright yellow rubber coat. It was the kind that was lined with lead to shield the wearer from radiation.

"Celes!" the man greeted with a smiling face.

"Hello, Cid!" Celes answered back.

He didn't wear the coat each time they met, but it was also as good as any other raincoat. In fact, it was better.

"Goodness! I guess Jasom wasn't kidding when he told me it was pouring," Cid said, glancing at Keep thankfully.

Keep smiled and nodded in return. "You two have a nice dinner now, Professor." He turned to Celes and extended his well wish. "See you next week, Lieutenant."

Celes was already putting on her dark green raincoat when she wished him well, too.