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

Chapter 21: Terra, Daughter of Maduin, and Child of Miracles

A crash of glass and metal brought Locke back to reality, causing him to avert his gaze from the Magicite around his neck to his surroundings. The Magitek Research Facility was in shambles from all of the fighting. Fire had begun to engulf some of the machinery, and sparks flew from the broken glass tubes, causing them to rupture even more then they had been previously, turning them into sparking, melted masses of glass and steel. Chunks of the ceiling began coming down also, each engulfed in flames as it struck the cool steel floor. The floor was vibrating, and Locke felt as if they were in a combination of both an earthquake and a hurricane at that very moment. Cyan and Edgar ran to his side, each man grabbing one another's shoulder to keep from falling down. However, Cid was frantically running back and forth, obviously trying to fix what he could, but not doing a very good job at it. He stopped at long last and turned to the others frantically. The Returners had no idea what Cid had in store for them...

However, instead of challenging them to a fight, Cid pointed to his right, to a corridor not previously seen before because there had been a glass tube blocking it.

"This is a disaster!" Cid cried. "Your fighting has caused all the capsules and machinery to rupture! Come quickly, over here!" Cid began to run off towards the corridor, and Locke and the others turned to each other.

"Can we trust him?" Cyan questioned dryly. "Because I think I have had enough surprises regarding people's morale and character for one day." The sting of the words hit Locke full force, but he had to shake them off and go with his instincts.

"We gotta go you guys, or else we'll never make it out of here alive." Locke said. "If Cid tries to pull anything on us, we've got the Espers to protect us, right?" Locke held up the 6 new Magicites they had received, and handed two to Edgar and Cyan, who slipped them over their necks immediately.

"Locke is right, lets just get the hell out of here." Edgar said quickly, and was the first to run after Cid. Locke and Cyan followed, covering their heads with their arms from falling debris until they had reached Cid and Edgar. They were standing on a platform, and Cid was anxiously awaiting to throw the switch that was next to him. Locke and Cyan stepped on the platform too, and Cid threw the switch, causing the platform to vibrate a moment, but then it began to lower at a pretty smooth pace, taking Cid and the Returners away from the chaos of the Magitek Research Facility. Soon they were submerged in a dark metal elevator shaft, their only light coming from the dull red and blue safety lights that they passed every few feet down. Cid let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against a railing, taking a deep breath.

"So... it looks as if Kefka were using me... using the Empire as well." He began, and Locke, Edgar, and Cyan all turned to him, wondering where this was going.

"What have I done...?" Cid sighed. "The life-energy of those Espers..." He began to ramble to himself, looking down to the ground. "But you've helped me come to a decision! I'm going to talk to the Emperor and have this stupid war stopped!" Locke raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything in reply. Edgar and Cyan both looked at each other, and exchanged looks of disbelief.

A few moments later, the platform stopped, and the team stepped out into a dark room, seeing nothing except for a small mining cart and a set of tracks running from underneath it and down a long tunnel that Locke could only see a few feet of before it was completely submerged in darkness. Cid stepped off last and turned to the others, taking off his glasses, which appeared broken in one frame, beginning to rub the lenses with a small handkerchief he pulled out of his pocket.

"....Celes..." Cid began, and Locke felt his heart freeze in his chest.

"... I've known her since she was a baby... I raised her as if she were my own daughter! But she was forced to become a Magitek Knight, and has done some awful things. If I could talk to her now... I would have to apologize for the way her life has turned out."