Inked Eidolon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
inked_eidolon) wrote2010-01-10 12:40 am
inked_eidolon) wrote2010-01-10 12:40 am
Entry tags:
Forging - Final Fantasy VI
Title: Forging
Fandom: FFVI
Characters: Terra, Kefka, Leo, Celes
Rating: PG
Summary: The raising of the Empire's Magitek Elite.
Author's Note: Takes place pretty much pre-game.
"Do I have parents?" said the little girl, drawing the point of the sheathed dagger around to make pictures in the sand of the training ground.
"They abandoned you," said the man in colorful clothing, staring at the top of her head with an expression of growing impatience despite the gentleness of his words. "They didn't know what you were, and it frightened them. But we aren't like that. We care about you."
She looked up at him, and the man instantly arranged his face into a beatific, almost motherly expression. "Now, Terra, stop drawing pictures. I need you to set that man on fire for me," he said, pointing towards a straw training dummy. She slid the dagger back into her belt and nodded, standing up and setting her five-year-old face into an expression of determined concentration as she summoned up the magic that burned inside her.
"Fire!" It blossomed from her hands and struck the dummy on the arm, the rest of it landing on the dirt and fizzling out.
"No! Not good enough! You didn't kill him!" the man screamed. The girl shrank back. "Here," he said, jabbing his finger at the dummy's chest. "In the heart. It's the biggest part of him, now hit it!"
***
Lieutenant Celes halted at the sound of a scream. "What was that?!" She started to stride off down the corridor that it had come from, but General Leo's hand on her shoulder stopped her. "General?"
"It's not your concern, Lieutenant," he said. Celes looked up at the wooden expression on his face. Leo was one of the Empire's top generals, and most definitely her commanding officer. But she also knew that she would stand with him as an equal one day. She might only be twelve, but as a Magitek Knight she knew that she would be commanding troops alongside him for the glory of the Gestahlian Empire.
"It sounded like a girl," she said--suspicous of his apparent apathy, but not allowing that to show.
"I didn't say it was nothing to worry about," said Leo, a dark look coming over his face. "Report to your platoon, Lieutenant. When I get there, I want to see them drilling like Imperial soldiers." He strode off down the corridor. Celes hesitated, watching him before turning and marching off to obey his orders.
That evening when she returned home, Cid was not there. He didn't come in until almost ten o' clock, shuffling into the greenhouse with a weary look on his face. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, just... a long day at the lab," he said, picking up the pruning shears. "Tell me how your training went today, Celes. Do you think you'll be promoted soon?"
***
The sixteen-year-old girl sat and stared at the wall with blank green eyes. "Terra?" said a voice filled with barely-restrained glee. "Stand up."
She stood.
"Turn around."
She turned around.
"Jump."
She jumped.
"Oooh, dear dear, you were supposed to say how high," said Kefka, walking around her with a smirk. "But I suppose you lose those little dramatic touches when we resort to methods like this, don't you? We'll just have to be specific--oh, and don't forget to breathe. I could do that, you know. If I told you to stop breathing, you would."
She said nothing.
"Stop breathing, Terra."
Kefka watched, a chuckle slowly bubbling in him until it burst out wildly. "Uwe-he-he-he-he! Oh, it does work, it works perfectly!" he crowed as Terra began to sway, her face turning blue. "Oh it's too much! Start breathing again, you idiot, I can't have my half-esper dying on me now!"
The door opened and a familiar, hated figure walked in. Not any special hatred, a bit like the hatred he got when he found out that he'd stepped in something nasty. "Kefka--what in god's name is going on?" said General Leo. He stared at the blank-faced girl with the metal-and-leather circlet around her brow. "What are you doing to her?"
"Oh, Leo, you're such a bore. Look!" Kefka put his hand on Terra's shoulders and marched her forward so that Leo could get a better look. "I know you like to give her little presents, so I got her one of my own. The newest piece of Magitek equipment, made just for her!"
"What is it?"
"It's called a slave crown," said Kefka, pronouncing the name with relish. "With that on her head, she won't have any thoughts but the orders I give her. I've just been testing it out. Would you like to see a demonstration?"
"No," said Leo. "Why would you do such a thing?!"
"Oh, you know, she's at that tricky age. You start looking at boys, you start wanting to wear pretty dresses... you start to ask questions about things," said Kefka. "And we just can't have that out of our little Magitek Elite."
"We've had her since she was old enough to walk!" Leo glared into Kefka's eyes. Mad eyes. He had been brilliant, Leo thought, one of the Empire's finest minds. Now look at him. "Do you really think she'd turn against us?"
"She's half an esper! Who knows what she'd get it in her mind to do? Besides, this makes things so much easier. Don't we want our soldiers to obey orders without question? With this little device, she's perfect!"
"It's cruel," said Leo, but he knew he wouldn't win an argument against Kefka, especially with a reason like that. You couldn't beat the logic of a madman. And twisted as it might be, there was logic. Even with all of Cid's research and the experiments in the Magitek Research Facility, there was still so much about espers and magic that remained a mystery. What had happened to Kefka after his infusion was proof enough of that, wasn't it? Leo grabbed at a counter from there. "What if this treatment makes her volitile? She could go out of control and we would have to kill her to stop her."
Kefka appeared to consider this. "Maaaybe she will," he said. "Or maaaybe you're just clutching at straws. The Emperor likes this idea, you know," he said, and Leo cursed inwardly. "He loves it, in fact, because I explained to him exactly how this works. Being the Court Mage, I'm an expert on magic. But I'm sure that if one of his generals who refused to even consider magic infusion and won't use Magitek unless ordered could come up with a good scientific argument to change his mind."
Leo looked at the girl. She had shown no interest in the argument going on over her head. She just stood there, like a wooden doll. She had been a curious child, quiet, hesitant to ask questions or say things that sounded different... things were done to her, he didn't know what, so he had tried to make her life easier in small ways. A doll, a cup of tea, a conversation. There was no trace of anything now. "What will happen to her mind?" he asked.
"That doesn't matter, as long as she can still cast magic. Which I am going to test now. You run along and go hit things with swords, Mr. General, and leave her to me."
***
Three Magitek Armor units crunched through powdery snow as a cold wind whistled down from the mountaintops. "There's the city," said one of the soldiers.
"Hard to believe an esper's been found frozen there a thousand years after the War of the Magi..." said the other.
"Bah! Probably just another wild goose chase," said the first with a dismissive wave of his hand.
The second man looked uneasy. "I don't know..." he said, with a glance back to the young woman in the third Magitek unit. "They wouldn't have let us use her unless they were confident that the information was good."
"Ah, yes... our witch." The first soldier turned his armor around. "I heard she fried fifty of our Magitek armored soldiers in three minutes. Kinda makes your skin crawl, don't it?"
"Relax. With that thing on her head, she's a mindless puppet. The girl won't even breathe unless we tlel her to." He moved back down the cliff, towards the direction of the city. "We'll approach from the east. Move out!"
Fandom: FFVI
Characters: Terra, Kefka, Leo, Celes
Rating: PG
Summary: The raising of the Empire's Magitek Elite.
Author's Note: Takes place pretty much pre-game.
"Do I have parents?" said the little girl, drawing the point of the sheathed dagger around to make pictures in the sand of the training ground.
"They abandoned you," said the man in colorful clothing, staring at the top of her head with an expression of growing impatience despite the gentleness of his words. "They didn't know what you were, and it frightened them. But we aren't like that. We care about you."
She looked up at him, and the man instantly arranged his face into a beatific, almost motherly expression. "Now, Terra, stop drawing pictures. I need you to set that man on fire for me," he said, pointing towards a straw training dummy. She slid the dagger back into her belt and nodded, standing up and setting her five-year-old face into an expression of determined concentration as she summoned up the magic that burned inside her.
"Fire!" It blossomed from her hands and struck the dummy on the arm, the rest of it landing on the dirt and fizzling out.
"No! Not good enough! You didn't kill him!" the man screamed. The girl shrank back. "Here," he said, jabbing his finger at the dummy's chest. "In the heart. It's the biggest part of him, now hit it!"
Lieutenant Celes halted at the sound of a scream. "What was that?!" She started to stride off down the corridor that it had come from, but General Leo's hand on her shoulder stopped her. "General?"
"It's not your concern, Lieutenant," he said. Celes looked up at the wooden expression on his face. Leo was one of the Empire's top generals, and most definitely her commanding officer. But she also knew that she would stand with him as an equal one day. She might only be twelve, but as a Magitek Knight she knew that she would be commanding troops alongside him for the glory of the Gestahlian Empire.
"It sounded like a girl," she said--suspicous of his apparent apathy, but not allowing that to show.
"I didn't say it was nothing to worry about," said Leo, a dark look coming over his face. "Report to your platoon, Lieutenant. When I get there, I want to see them drilling like Imperial soldiers." He strode off down the corridor. Celes hesitated, watching him before turning and marching off to obey his orders.
That evening when she returned home, Cid was not there. He didn't come in until almost ten o' clock, shuffling into the greenhouse with a weary look on his face. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, just... a long day at the lab," he said, picking up the pruning shears. "Tell me how your training went today, Celes. Do you think you'll be promoted soon?"
The sixteen-year-old girl sat and stared at the wall with blank green eyes. "Terra?" said a voice filled with barely-restrained glee. "Stand up."
She stood.
"Turn around."
She turned around.
"Jump."
She jumped.
"Oooh, dear dear, you were supposed to say how high," said Kefka, walking around her with a smirk. "But I suppose you lose those little dramatic touches when we resort to methods like this, don't you? We'll just have to be specific--oh, and don't forget to breathe. I could do that, you know. If I told you to stop breathing, you would."
She said nothing.
"Stop breathing, Terra."
Kefka watched, a chuckle slowly bubbling in him until it burst out wildly. "Uwe-he-he-he-he! Oh, it does work, it works perfectly!" he crowed as Terra began to sway, her face turning blue. "Oh it's too much! Start breathing again, you idiot, I can't have my half-esper dying on me now!"
The door opened and a familiar, hated figure walked in. Not any special hatred, a bit like the hatred he got when he found out that he'd stepped in something nasty. "Kefka--what in god's name is going on?" said General Leo. He stared at the blank-faced girl with the metal-and-leather circlet around her brow. "What are you doing to her?"
"Oh, Leo, you're such a bore. Look!" Kefka put his hand on Terra's shoulders and marched her forward so that Leo could get a better look. "I know you like to give her little presents, so I got her one of my own. The newest piece of Magitek equipment, made just for her!"
"What is it?"
"It's called a slave crown," said Kefka, pronouncing the name with relish. "With that on her head, she won't have any thoughts but the orders I give her. I've just been testing it out. Would you like to see a demonstration?"
"No," said Leo. "Why would you do such a thing?!"
"Oh, you know, she's at that tricky age. You start looking at boys, you start wanting to wear pretty dresses... you start to ask questions about things," said Kefka. "And we just can't have that out of our little Magitek Elite."
"We've had her since she was old enough to walk!" Leo glared into Kefka's eyes. Mad eyes. He had been brilliant, Leo thought, one of the Empire's finest minds. Now look at him. "Do you really think she'd turn against us?"
"She's half an esper! Who knows what she'd get it in her mind to do? Besides, this makes things so much easier. Don't we want our soldiers to obey orders without question? With this little device, she's perfect!"
"It's cruel," said Leo, but he knew he wouldn't win an argument against Kefka, especially with a reason like that. You couldn't beat the logic of a madman. And twisted as it might be, there was logic. Even with all of Cid's research and the experiments in the Magitek Research Facility, there was still so much about espers and magic that remained a mystery. What had happened to Kefka after his infusion was proof enough of that, wasn't it? Leo grabbed at a counter from there. "What if this treatment makes her volitile? She could go out of control and we would have to kill her to stop her."
Kefka appeared to consider this. "Maaaybe she will," he said. "Or maaaybe you're just clutching at straws. The Emperor likes this idea, you know," he said, and Leo cursed inwardly. "He loves it, in fact, because I explained to him exactly how this works. Being the Court Mage, I'm an expert on magic. But I'm sure that if one of his generals who refused to even consider magic infusion and won't use Magitek unless ordered could come up with a good scientific argument to change his mind."
Leo looked at the girl. She had shown no interest in the argument going on over her head. She just stood there, like a wooden doll. She had been a curious child, quiet, hesitant to ask questions or say things that sounded different... things were done to her, he didn't know what, so he had tried to make her life easier in small ways. A doll, a cup of tea, a conversation. There was no trace of anything now. "What will happen to her mind?" he asked.
"That doesn't matter, as long as she can still cast magic. Which I am going to test now. You run along and go hit things with swords, Mr. General, and leave her to me."
Three Magitek Armor units crunched through powdery snow as a cold wind whistled down from the mountaintops. "There's the city," said one of the soldiers.
"Hard to believe an esper's been found frozen there a thousand years after the War of the Magi..." said the other.
"Bah! Probably just another wild goose chase," said the first with a dismissive wave of his hand.
The second man looked uneasy. "I don't know..." he said, with a glance back to the young woman in the third Magitek unit. "They wouldn't have let us use her unless they were confident that the information was good."
"Ah, yes... our witch." The first soldier turned his armor around. "I heard she fried fifty of our Magitek armored soldiers in three minutes. Kinda makes your skin crawl, don't it?"
"Relax. With that thing on her head, she's a mindless puppet. The girl won't even breathe unless we tlel her to." He moved back down the cliff, towards the direction of the city. "We'll approach from the east. Move out!"
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