Chapter Two - Bricks 

Celes let herself drift off…and she stayed asleep for a while…until she was awake again. She slightly groaned as she lifted herself off of the ground…somehow she had managed to get to the ground? 

Whatever. 

She looked at the others…to no surprise everyone was still passed out…she could tell how early it was due to the lack of proper lighting. She sat there for a while, letting her thoughts wander off….until she was bored. 

Helplessly bored, she let herself wander out of the inn room, past the innkeeper, and let herself wander around Zozo…somehow it wasn’t raining. Rain or no, the air was still thick with humidity. She eventually found herself exploring a random abandoned brick building, smiling to herself when she found a bunch of useful items..including a few potions, and a phoenix down. Celes ended up exploring the entire building…leaving with her found items. 

Walking down an ally, she heard something rustle. Her hands automatically went to her sword, which she drew, holding it out defensively. 

“Who’s there?” she shakily called out. 

Why was she scared? 

She let out a small surprised yelp as she felt something hit her head…hard. White spots started to fill her vision as she turned around, staring at her attacker. A typical thief. She leapt forward, easily slicing the man in the stomach, causing him to hunch forward, crumpling to the ground.

Celes waited till the man was unconscious- she could tell due to the man’s slowed breathing- before patting down the man, slightly disappointed when she didn’t find anything. 

Something- someone else hit her head…

How and why do these thieves keep showing up?

She asked herself, slightly annoyed. When she spun around to see who it was, there was nothing. She felt herself slightly tremble. Rustling. Celes kept spinning around, holding her sword out shakily, yet there was no one there. 

Impossible.
Something hit her head again, and she swayed, the light speck filling her vision yet again, and she felt something shove her against a wall. Bracing for the impact of the rough wall, she scrunched up…yet the impact never came. 

Celes felt the sensation of falling…or was it floating? She didn’t know. 

Warmness cradled her body, comforting her as she slipped out of consciousness. 

Locke sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

“You finally up, sleepyhead?” Edgar called out. “How the hell are you here…and wait- who are you?!” someone called out, and he watched as Edgar’s face lit up- he was already down on his knee, lightly holding Cieria’s hand as he kissed it. “My apologies for teleporting her without properly introducing myself to such a fine lady,” he cleared his throat, “I am King Edgar of Figaro! And you might be?” Cieria pulled her hand away.   So…Edgar just- teleported here. Before I woke up…wait…did he teleport here just now?! Everyone was up, and they looked like they had been up for a loong time. Edgar had even had time to neatly tie his hair back- before, you know,deciding to randomly  teleport to their room. How did he even know where they were?

“How long was I out…and- where’s Celes?” he sleepily asked, unsatisfied when everyone shrugged. 

She probably just went for a walk or something…

But wait, this was Zozo…Zozo! 

She could be dead in a ditch or something! 

He shakily fastened his blue bandana around his head, and fluffed down his hair. Good enough. 

“So…what now?” he asked, unsure of what to do. Celes would be fine…maybe. 

He then heard a scream. 

Nevermind. 

Everyone raced outside, trying to find the source of the scream, and they ended up finding themselves all in a sketchy brick ditch. Locke shuddered when he saw a very familiar sword lying on the ground beside a brick wall, blood splattered on the ground.
“Oh no…” Cieria mumbled, picking up the sword, accidentally cutting the palm of her hand, and dropping it again, and watched as Edgar picked it up, not cutting himself. 

How- Where is she? 

He was just starting to tremble when he felt something shove him against the wall…actually scratch that…shove him inside the wall. 

He saw everyone else floating around him, the same horrified yet confused expression plastered on their faces. 

Then there was falling. 

Cieria felt…grass. Yes..grass…all over her face. She sat up, and brushed herself off, staring at the others. Lying on the ground, she stared at Locke, Lloyd, Celes, and Edgar, who were all still unconscious. She sighed and looked around her..they were in some sort of forest…definitely not Zozo…or wherever the hell they just were.

She heard Edgar groan and sit up, just as confused as her. Then almost simultaneously, the rest of them sat up. 

“Celes!” she heard Locke scream happily, as he walked over to her, almost toppling over her as he hugged her. She just rolled her eyes. 

“I know you must be so excited to see me, Locke, but tell me, why the hell are you acting like a 5 year old?” she mumbled, pushing him off of her. Edgar laughed. “He must’ve hit that head real hard!” he exclaimed, still laughing. 

“Oh…uh…” he just mumbled as they all stared at Locke as if he were insane. “Where are we?” he finally asked. 

No one answered that question. Soon Edgar was leading everyone around mindlessly, hoping to find something. All they saw were trees…and more trees. Celes abruptly stopped, rubbing the back of her lower thigh, which ached- horribly. 

There was more walking. 

And more. 

Until they finally stopped, all gaping at the sight. What sat in front of them was a busy road, full of tiny little train-like vehicles, and towering buildings. Locke gulped as he took in the sight, before allowing himself to slightly saunter forward. 

Something blurred in front of him, and he felt something grab his arm and jerk him back. There was a squealing noise, and then there were the mini-trains- as he called them- splayed in various positions on the road. 

“You could have been run over, you idiot!” Cieria hissed, letting go of Locke’s arm. 

Heart still racing, he sputtered something unintelligible. 

“What?” Cieria asked loudly. 

“What the hell are those- mini train thingies?” he asked, his heart still racing. 

“You mean cars?” Lloyd added. Locke looked at him, surprised- he barely had heard the man talk..and now’s the time he chose to speak? 

“Yeah…cars…” he idly mumbled, closing his eyes. The group sat there, watching the ‘cars’ zoom past the busy road, until it was fairly dark outside. There were no more ‘cars’, which meant that Cieria declared it safe to cross the road.’

They slowly walked through the town- more of a city- until Cieria led them to a very tall building. 

“Hilton Hotels” read the sign.
“Hotel?” Celes asked. 

“Like an inn….” Cieria answered quickly and quietly. Lloyd was the first one to enter the room, as everyone else slowly followed behind him. 

There was a lady who sat behind a desk, with messy black hair, pulled back in a bun, wearing a wrinkled black uniform. 

“Welcome to Hilton hotels, how may I help you?” she drawled, her voice monotone.

Edgar proudly stepped forward, flashing a smile at the lady. He leaned forward and read her nametag, which read “Darla” 

“Well hey there, Darla…we need a room…hey, did you know I happen to be the king of Figaro?” he asked, waiting for a response. The woman just narrowed her eyes at Edgar, before letting out a long sigh, as she typed something into the computer. “Would you like a regular room, or a suite?” she asked, still staring at the computer. “What’s that magic white box thingy that lady’s typing into?” Locke whispered. Cieria said nothing but stiffened. “Why would a room be ‘sweet’?” Edgar asked, his face scrunched up in confusion. The lady just wrinkled her nose, before sighing again. “You know, you sure sigh a lot…” Edgar drawled. “Oh, and we’ll take a ‘regular’ room, please.” he continued, ending the sentence with a flashy smile. The lady just glared at him. “Ok sir…will that be cash or card?” 

“Oh, I don’t think I’ll need to pay for that, darling, I’m a king,” Edgar said. He was now leaning on the counter- attempting to woo the lady. She let out a frustrated sigh, and just glared at him. “Listen sir, I don’t care if you’re the king of Lala land, you still need to pay.” He sat there blankly for a moment, before pulling out a bag of gil. “Ah, this will do! I have a few thousand gil in here…” he mumbled, setting it on the counter. The lady looked surprised for a moment, before snatching the bag, opening it. She frowned. “Sir. This is- I don’t even know what the hell this is…whatever…you need to pay in the morning though…” she said, clearly frustrated as she speedily handed him a card. “What am I supposed to do with this?” he asked. She looked like she might strangle the guy. “Your key, sir?” 

“Ooooh! Thank you, Mademoiselle.” 

“That was really…uncomfortable…” Lloyd said, as they walked to a strange metal box. Locke leaned forward to touch the doors, and jumped back as a soft ding sound filled the air, the doors opening. “I’m not even going to ask…” he mumbled. They all sat in the elevator for a while, unsure of what to do, before Celes hesitantly stepped forward and pushed a button. Cieria explained to all of them that the ‘magic metal box’ was actually an elevator, and that the little plastic key thing would unlock the door if you waved it in front of the little black boxes on the doors. Or- that’s what Locke got from the speech.

The door opened, revealing a hall lined with doors. Locke snatched the key from Edgar, and excitedly went to each door, holding up the key to the little black box, just as Cieria had told them. 

How did she know all this stuff? 

He went down the entire hallway, and sadly looked at the floor when he realized that the key didn’t work. Back to the magic metal box thing. The cycle continued for a while, until they were on floor 12, when Locke loud out a sound of triumph, as the door swung open. “Amazing job, Locke,” Celes sarcastically said. “It only took us 2 hours to find our room.”

Locke could almost feel the disappointment settle in the room….there were only 2 beds. And Locke and Edgar had claimed both of them before Celes could even think of sleep. “How polite of you two…” Celes said, rolling her eyes. “Oh..uh..you can take it..I didn’t mean to…” Locke mumbled. Celes sighed and lied on the cold hard ground. It didn’t matter…she was so tired…she drifted off to sleep.