Dissidia Final Fantasy: Unus Mundus

Chapter Six ~ The Clown's Knowledge (Celes)

Everyone in Figaro Castle had been in a panic since everything started. The world was changing around them, and no one had an explanation for it. Three men had gathered in the throne room of the Castle to discuss the strange phenomena, three close friends—King Edgar Roni Figaro, Cyan Garamonde, and Locke Cole. 

"What of Narshe?" Edgar asked Locke. "What's its condition?" Locke lowered his head and sighed sorrowfully.

"It was almost like it was swallowed by the earth..." he said quietly. "I have no idea how, but I managed to escape before it could get too bad."

"And the others?" Cyan asked in a panic, unintentionally advancing on Locke. "Arvis? Strago? Relm?" A wave of sorrow came over Cyan, shortly before a burst of anger. "What if this is Kefka's doing? Only he would have that power, wouldn't he?"

"We finished him off quite some time ago," Edgar replied. The three men went silent and bowed their heads before Edgar continued to speak. "I'm terribly sorry to hear about what happened in Narshe, Locke, I truly am. But what are we going to do now? Something beyond us is at work here. Think back to what happened just a few years ago. Our old enemy Kefka managed to bring the world into ruin. Yet after spending so much time trying to restore the world to what it once was, this happens." As soon as he stopped speaking, the door to the throne room burst open, and a blonde woman in a green, one-piece outfit and a white cape walked in with great haste. Edgar's attitude almost completely changed when she came in. A grin spread across his face as he crossed his arms and looked up and down the woman's body. "Well, hello there, Celes! You're looking absolut—"

"Save it, pretty boy," the woman, Celes Chere, said abruptly, shoving Edgar out of the way as she quickly approached Locke. "We've got a big problem."

"We've got a lot of big problems right now," Locke said to Celes.

"I know that, but..." Celes got closer to Locke and whispered. "Terra just completely vanished, out of nowhere." Locke's eyes widened with shock as he backed away to look at Celes.

"That is a big problem," he replied. "Where did you last see her?"

"She was asleep," Celes said. She looked at Edgar and Cyan, who were both staring at she and Locke, so she sighed and turned around to talk to all of them. "Long story short, Terra's gone, and we don't know where she went."

"You don't think her Esper form took over...!?" Cyan asked. Celes shook her head.

"Terra has far better control over her Esper form now." She placed a hand on her hip as she spoke. "She wouldn't have just left. One minute, she was there, I look away, then the next minute, she vanishes, like she was never there or something."

"Uwee-hee-hee... I wouldn't wager on that, my dear!"

At the sound of that familiar voice, everyone's hearts seemed to skip a beat. Out of nowhere, the clown himself, Kefka Palazzo, waltzed on into the throne room of Figaro Castle. They brandished their weapons, and Kefka simply laughed.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that, if I were you," he said. 

"What are you doing here?" Cyan asked with a stern but still terrified expression. "I thought you..."

"You thought I was dead, right?" Kefka grinned and crossed his arms, floating into the air and laying as if he were on a bed. "Well... while I will admit I was dead, a certain lunkhead went and, shall we say... messed around with time and space?"

Celes glared at Kefka with absolute anger, remembering their history, but she was also fazed by his words. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Does this have to do with Terra's disappearance?"

"You mean the little monster? The one who's convinced she's innocent of her crimes?" Kefka laughed. "You should be glad she's gone! If it wasn't for that, we'd all be dead right now. I don't know about you guys, but I quite like being alive."

"Answer us, dammit!" Locke exclaimed, running towards Kefka with a dagger in hand, but Kefka faded away and reappeared behind Locke.

"Peek-a-boo!" he giggled, kicking Locke to the floor. Kefka floated around the throne room as Locke got back up. "Even if I wanted to tell you, I'm in the same boat as you people. I have no clue as to what's happening; only that a certain someone not from our world combined all the worlds into one." Kefka looked up at the ceiling in confusion. "Now, how would such a lunkhead like him manage to do that...? Maybe I should ask him for advice."

"Combined all the worlds...?" Edgar whispered. 

"Well... that's probably not the best way to put it." Kefka floated back down to the ground and skipped around the throne room with his hands behind his back. "It's more like he combined all the time eras in our one world. So, locations and people from other time periods are showing up all of a sudden, which also means that people and places are disappearing entirely."

"That explains the disappearance of Narshe," said Locke. "Well, what are we gonna do about it?"

"Hell if I should know," Kefka chuckled. "But there are some historical figures I'd love to meet. Major inspirations of mine, you see. Well, being me doesn't mean I'm free." Kefka jumped up and spun in midair. "Goodbye! Uwee-hee-hee!" He floated upward and disappeared entirely. Everyone looked up at where he disappeared in fear.

"Kefka's back," Celes began, "Terra has disappeared, and the world is somehow messed up. If Kefka meets some of the awful people we've learned about in history, then all versions of the world are gonna be in danger. What are we gonna do?"

"First thing's first," said Edgar. "We're gonna need to at least figure out where Terra is." He armed himself with a crossbow and looked at the door to the throne room. "Something tells me we're about to enter another war."