Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Celestial Rise ❯ The Change ( Chapter 9 )

Celes was furious. She had woken up the day before with a smile on her face. Now she was wearing a hardened frown of frustration. She couldn't sleep. The energy within her could not be doused by prolonged physical exertion. After waking up from her dream she had returned to the Training Facility. It was hours still before the sun shone, and she had run laps around in the building at top speed, but still she didn't feel tired. The very few soldiers present watched her with slight interest at first which then turned to utter amazement when Celes decided to climb the ropes several times in a row--with added weights strapped on both of her legs.

It was a marvelous display. Even the physical trainers present were awed and speechless. They had lost count at how many times she had reached the top of the forty-foot rope in a succession. Celes slid down the rope from the top gradually. When she landed back on the padded ground she fell on her knees, breathing deeply. Everybody thought that that was the end. To their surprise Celes cursed out loud, almost in tears, "What is the matter with me?!"

It was then that she started to climb the rope again at an even faster pace than the previous times. The soldiers didn't know exactly what they were looking at. It was obviously not normal--not even for the strongest, quickest, and toughest among them.

Celes gave the rope up. It was not getting her anywhere. She still wasn't tired.

"Who wants to spar with me?" she shouted. Her voice echoed in the near-empty building. The soldiers looked at each other, nervously. "Come on! One hundred gold pieces to the first person to beat me!"

The trainer in-charge volunteered first. He put on protective training gears as fast as he could and grabbed his training sword--no sharp edges. The trainer had beaten her a few times before in sword training exercises when she had asked for a sparring partner. Surely, he could do it again with ease. It would be the easiest one hundred gold pieces that he would earn.

**********

The trainer, named Brett, fell on all fours, catching his breath. He was exhausted and at the end of his strength. Many rounds had gone by already, and he still hasn't beaten Celes yet. He could not believe it. He didn't remember her being this skillful and adept with the sword. Moreover, he didn't remember her having such uncanny stamina.

"What's the matter, Brett? Is that all you have to show me? I'm very disappointed in you!" Celes said scornfully. She didn't normally talk to people like that, but she was angry and very frustrated. "You used to beat me all the time in training! What is wrong with you?!" she screamed. She was in tears. She needed to see a doctor. She needed to find out what was wrong with her. But she couldn't stop. Her body wanted to keep on going.

Celes relaxed and faced the rest of the soldiers gawking at the two of them. "Two hundred gold pieces… to the first pair to beat me!"

**********

They moved so slowly. Their attacks appeared so apparent and predictable. They were so weak. I was too quick for them all. They didn't even come close. I was surrounded and now they lie in individual masses of exhausted, pathetic excuses for soldiers. They should be dead by now if only my sword were real. No! They should be dead by now if hadn't held back! Real sword or not, three against one or not, I could've killed them all!

"I guess nobody wanted to have that five hundred gold pieces badly enough! You make me sick!" she yelled again. She wasn't only angry, she was also terrified.

In a violent moment of her unbridled fury, she threw her sparring sword to the farthest main wall of the building. It spun dangerously in the air and instead of making that clanging noise that metallic objects made when they hit the ground, it produced a kind of crash much similar to concrete being demolished by a sledge hammer.

The training sword, stuck to the wall like a fired arrow hitting the truck of a tree.

She saw this, and she began to cry. She was afraid. She needed to see a doctor immediately. Her denial of the strange occurrence was at its end. She needed to see Cid first.

Celes exited the Training Facility through its backdoor, running.

**********

Cid was asleep when the call from the front desk came in. A buzzer woke him up. He groggily rolled over to his side to look at the clock--still two hours left before sunrise. He groaned irritably and rolled off his bed. He grabbed his robe that was thrown carelessly on a chair and wrapped it around him as he headed for the door to his luxurious suite that was only provided to the valued science team members.

Grumbling, he pushed a button beside the door and asked, "This had better be good!"

"Sorry to bother you, professor, but--" a voice said from a small speaker just beside the button that he had pressed.

"Who is this?" he asked irritably.

"This is Tom at the front desk, sir."

"Oh, hello, Tom! What seems to be the emergency?" Cid asked in a more pleasant tone of voice. He was friends with Tom.

"Sir, Lieutenant Chere is here with me, and she wishes to see you immediately. She said it's some sort of emer--"

"Let her in!"

**********

The time is precisely timestrike five and forty-nine counts. She was hysterical. In my arms she cried, mumbling about sleep and nearly killing somebody. I could not quite comprehend the rest of her words. She seemed confused… almost delirious but I observed that she was not feverish. I feared that it may have been some kind of an anxiety attack, perhaps triggered by a bad dream.

I had taken her in my suite. I had the fire going, and she sat close to it sipping the tea I had given her. The drug that I put in her tea seemed to be taking its effect quite nicely. She had calmed quite a bit but was still silent. I took her vital readings with my portable med kit from the Lab. Increased high blood pressure, higher than normal breathing, and an extreme heightened sense of awareness despite the drug that I had given her. Before she was trembling, hyperventilating, and feeling dizzy. She didn't seem to be experiencing derealisation or depersonalization closely related to an anxiety disorder. I will need to gather more data from her using the equipment in the Infirmary.

"What are you writing?" Celes asked from the chair close to the fireplace. Her voice was hoarse from crying.

Cid closed his journal and put his pen down on the kitchen table. He was completely out of Celes's sight and had a considerable distance between himself and her. "How did you know I was, Celes?" Cid asked curiously.

"I could hear the pen scratching on paper," she answered calmly. She didn't sound suspicious. It was simply a signal for Cid that she was ready to talk. "So what are you writing down?"

Cid stood up from his chair and walked to her. "I was writing down my initial observations," he said truthfully.

Celes looked at her quizzically. "Why?"

"I want to make sure that I don't miss anything when the Infirmary Med Officers start asking questions," he explained.

Celes stared back into the fire. Her hands were still trembling slightly.

"Are you cold?"

"No," she replied in an unintentional whisper.

"Are you ready to tell me what happened?" Cid asked as he sat on a chair directly in front of her.

"I can't sleep."

"Are you tired?"

"No," she said shaking her head slowly. "That's the point. I am not tired. I'm not tired even when I am supposed to be dead exhausted right now. I ran laps, I climbed the rope several times, and I sparred. And yet, I don't feel tired at all. In fact, I can do them all over again, and I still probably wouldn't feel tired afterwards. I don't know what's going on, Cid! It's not normal. I know that it's not normal."

Cid regarded her seriously. "I believe you. But whatever this is, I'm sure it's not a cause for concern. We'll find an explanation for--"

"I almost killed somebody today," Celes interrupted. "I was angry and afraid. While I sparred, I almost killed Brett."

"Brett?"

"A trainer. While we sparred I unleashed my anger onto him. I recall every second of the fight from beginning to end. I can count the exact many times I held back just in time before I could seriously hurt him or kill him… or kill them."

"Them?"

"I was… dissatisfied with the sparring exercise," she said with disgust. "I challenged the others present to fight me. Two at a time… then three. They didn't stand a chance against me. I could've killed them all. They didn't even touch me. They didn't come close. Look, Cid!" Celes said motioning for him to look at her legs and ankles. "Lead weights! I climbed the ropes and I fought all of them with the weights still strapped on me! I may have injured some of them back there and… it's just not normal, Cid! I feel… I feel…"

Celes's eyes started to get misty.

"What do you feel, Celes? Tell me exactly how you feel," Cid encouraged.

Celes paused and slowly stared back into the fire. "I feel… invincible," she said almost inaudibly.

Cid frowned. Celes stood up slowly and paced around the room, pondering very carefully.

"I'm afraid and yet… I fear nothing at the moment. I can't explain it. I could face a hundred enemy soldiers and still not care. I could be in death row awaiting my execution and still remain calm. And yet here I am, trembling at the mere thought of it. I do not understand it! Why is this happening?"

"I don't know yet, Celes, but I promise you that we'll get to the bottom of this. There could be numerous possible reasons."

"Like what?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Um… well… like a chemical imbalance in your body causing your brain to release certain neurotransmitters that make you more active and alert."

Celes made a confused look. "Cid… I don't feel tired at all!"

"Feeling tired and being tired are two different things, Celes. You said you ran laps and did strenuous exercises. I'm willing to bet that your body is very tired right now, but your mind makes you believe otherwise."

Celes calmed. "You think so?" she asked softly, seeming to accept that answer.

"It's a possibility. The question of why, however, is a different matter. Are you on any medication?"

Celes blinked and looked at Cid in disbelief. "Cid… you know me."

"I'm just making sure, Celes. I'm merely trying to rule out external factors. What did you eat?"

"The last thing I ate was the chicken dinner at the Common Refectory. You were there with me."

"But you said that you started feeling very active yesterday morning. What did you have for dinner the day before yesterday?"

"The same food they serve in the mess hall. The weekly menu does not change. We had potatoes and grilled beef… or so they claimed," Celes muttered the last part of the sentence with a derisive snort.

"I have already given you a mild tranquilizer. It should help you relax a bit."

"Was that what you gave me? I hate tranquilizers."

"I don't have to give you any more until we hear from the doctor. I'll take you straight to Dr. Deregasi. He's the best doctor in Vector and a good friend of mine. He'll take care of everything."

"I've heard of him. Cid, I can't afford him."

"I can. He owes me a great deal," Cid said with a smile. "Now let me just get dressed, and we'll be off. And do take those weights strapped on your legs off. Try not to exert too much energy. Your body can only take so much strain."

"Cid, I need to tell my commanding officer about this."

"We'll do it in the hospital, dear."

Celes sat back down to remove the straps off her legs and ankles. She barely felt the weights there. Much of Cid's presumptions about the whole thing didn't make sense, but she didn't blame him. He was not a medical doctor. She hoped that Cid's friend would better explain everything to her.

Cid left her alone and before going to his room to change, he made a quick stop in his kitchen. On the kitchen table lay the small notebook and a pen. He opened the book to the last journal entry and quickly scribbled a few lines.

"I feel invincible."

These were her very own words.

Could this be the start of the C-cycle?

**********

"Adrenaline levels are extremely high and dangerously unregulated by normal standards," summarized Dr. Deregasi. "And yet, her brain is managing the strain quite well. It's extraordinary!"

Cid listened intently as Dr. Deregasi read from his charts. Celes was in the next room, running on a conveyor belt at a jogger's pace. Wires stuck to her skin at various spots on her body, connected to the jogging machine itself to read vital readings. Such as heart rate, breathing, and more. They could see her through a glass window. She could see them also, but she could not hear their conversation.

"Richard, I want to know if she's in any danger," Cid said.

"It doesn't appear so, Cid. According to these readings she's in perfect health. The brainwave activity seems very stable. Her heart rate and breathing are normal. The only abnormal thing that I can detect right now is her unbelievable stamina. It's off the chart! I don't know why just yet, but we'll soon find that out after we move on to the more advanced equipment in the building."

"I see," Cid said flatly as he stared through the glass window. "What are the possible causes of this?"

Dr. Deregasi shook his head as he thought. "Something like this is definitely external. An ingested or injected chemical agent, perhaps. A type of steroid?"

"She told me she did not and does not take anything of that sort."

"I doubt that very much. It's possible that she took it without her knowledge. Wrong prescription maybe?"

Cid shook his head. "She's not on any medication, Richard."

"Vitamins?"

Cid thought carefully. "Quite possibly. The Army include the pills to go with their food. Do you suppose there's been a contamination?"

"If there was we'll know soon enough. I will check with the army's medical director for records as soon as they've opened their main office. In the meantime, I would like extract a blood sample from her."

"That can wait, Richard. She wants to rest," Cid stated.

Dr. Deregasi chuckled in disbelief. "Rest? Are you kidding me, Cid? According to these readings she's not at all tired."

Cid regarded his friend seriously. "Trust me, friend. She is very tired. Not physically. Not even mentally. But she is tired. She wants to sleep. Give her something, Richard."

Dr. Deregasi nodded silently in perfect understanding.

"Let me prescribe a stronger tranquilizer drug. Anything less won't have any effect on her."

Cid nodded in return. "Thanks, old friend. And I don't want you to mention your findings to her directly. In fact, I want you to report to me only about this. Keep it to ourselves."

Dr. Deregasi was taken aback at the request. "Cid, you know very well that I cannot do that. It's in violation of--"

"I'm asking you as the Head Director of Science, Richard," Cid said sternly.

Dr. Deregasi's eyes widened. "Is… is this official, Cid?"

"As of now, friend," he answered as he walked past him to exit the room. Cid entered the observation room where Celes was and smiled. "Celes, you may stop now."

Celes pushed a button on the machine, and it slowed to a stop. Then she started plucking the wires off her, and then she dismounted from the conveyor.

"So what's going on, Cid?" she asked anxiously. "Is something wrong with me?"

Cid held up his hand and said, "No reason to fear anything, Celes. Dr. Deregasi just informed me that you are safe. We still don't know the exact cause of this change in your body, but he'll be doing further testing much later during the day. I will be present at that time."

"Does he have a guess, at least?"

"We both suspect a contamination of the daily vitamins that the army prescribes in the mess hall. A steroid of some type. We will ask your prime medical officer to hold an investigation today. But the important thing is that you're safe."

Celes sighed in relief.

"Dr. Deregasi will administer a tranquilizer now so you can sleep. There is a private room for patients. You'll be comfortable in there. Or would you rather take the tranquilizer on your own in your quarters?"

Celes thought for a few seconds before answering. "I'm supposed to meet my commanding officer for training today. We have a new batch of trainees eager to take part in this anti-rebellion campaign."

"I'm sure he'll understand. I'll have Dr. Deregasi write you a note. Doctors' orders come before the general himself, you know."

"But, Cid, I dislike tranquilizers. I don't have to take it, do I?"

"I thought you said that you wanted to go to sleep."

"That was before I knew what was going on. You did say that I am safe, right? I mean… would I still be in danger if I went on my normal routine today?"

"I strongly urge against that, Celes. We still have to do some testing."

"What for?"

"Well, for one thing, if this were an overdose then we need to know."

"But if this really were an overdose, then don't you think that I should burn it out of my system?" Celes argued.

"Well, yes… but I… er…" Cid fumbled for the right words, but he just didn't have them. What she had said made complete sense. "We have yet to identify the drug that did this."

"Don't you just need a blood sample for that? Go ahead and take it."

"I think it's going to take more than that, Celes. We need you on the equipment we have here and--"

"Well then let's go! Let's do the tests now. I don't care how long it takes or what it involves, but I am not going to take that tranquilizer to sleep," she said stubbornly.

Cid knew that she wasn't about to give up. She reminded him of her mother so much. "Very well, Celes. But the equipment that we're going to use will need to be prepared. You may… do what ever it is you want to do but please do be careful. Don't overexert yourself. Your judgment may be impaired so don't be fooled easily by this sudden boost of endurance. I expect you to be back here at noon."

Celes smiled. "That's perfect. I get to skip the boring lecture. Just make sure Dr. Deregasi signs my permission."

"I'll personally make sure that he does."