Born With Magic (Book 1 Of The Last Fantasy Duology)

Chapter 20: Cid, Head Scientist of the Empire

"Please!!!! Why are you doing this to us!?!"

"We have done nothing wrong!"

"HEE HEE HEE! I do declare, you are stubborn little buggers, aren't you?? Submit to me! Submit your powers to KEFKA! MWA HA HA HA HA!!"

"Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!"

"Shiva!!!"

~~~~~~

"Did you just hear something?!?!" Edgar suddenly cried, looking around frantically.

"Yeah... I heard it alright..." Locke trailed off.

"Even over the whirl of the machinery, you can still hear someone scream in here..." Celes shook her head as they marched over the steel floors of the facility. "It doesn't amaze me what-so-ever."

"How big is this place?" Cyan questioned. "Do you know any shortcuts, Celes?"

"The facility is several stories high." Celes replied. "But the only shortcut I can think of is riding the conveyer belts from each section of the facility to another until we find the corridor that will bring us upstairs."

"There is only one!?" Locke cried, and Celes nodded.

"It's for security purposes... I know how to get to the corridor, but it would be quicker taking the shortcut." Celes pleaded. "You guys have just got to trust me on this." Cyan raised an eyebrow.

"As long as it isn't dangerous." He said, and Celes nodded. She looked away from the Returners and took a deep breath, scanning the familiar surroundings. Although she had tried to block the Empire and anything that had to do with it out of her head since the day she was captured by them, she found that all of the secrets they had shared with her were seeping back into her mind, bringing back painful memories, but also giving them the key to finding the Espers... Celes felt her face turn a shade paler as she envisioned a younger version of herself walking down the halls with an escort of two Imperial Soldiers, remembering how the same pair would always be ordered to guard her when she would have to go into the facility for observations by the scientists there that had infused her body with the magic she possessed today. She remembered how she could practically hear the soldiers' shaking knees... she had known they were afraid of her... After all, she could eliminate them in seconds if they did anything to make her angry. And at the time, that was exactly what she would do if she were provoked...

"Celes!" Locke said, and Celes blinked, snapping out of it. She let out a soft sigh and brought a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes for a moment to remind herself that she was no longer here under Imperial orders. She was here as a Returner.

"I'm sorry." Celes said quickly. "I Let my memories get the best of me..." She raised her head and pointed ahead of them toward the center of the room they were in, to a large piece of pulsating machinery below the catwalk they were on. Steam rose out of it along with the sounds of grinding metal, and a conveyer belt rode into it empty, only to come out on the other side with various parts of Magitek Armor that had been freshly deposited on it from the machine. The conveyer belt then rode on under a cluster of metal beams and more machinery, disappearing from sight.

"We'll want to get on that." Celes said. "We'll ride until the end of the track, and proceed from there."

"Are we gonna jump?" Edgar questioned worriedly.

"No need to." Celes said, and walked to the edge of the catwalk. She leaned over the railing and pressed a small button. When she did so, a fairly large crane began to slowly descend down from above them, and Celes pushed the button again when it reached the railing of the catwalk, stopping it.