She tied you to a kitchen chair...

[lockpick]

[The shifting of the continents had done a number on the landscape. Paths that had been clear were prone to landslides, stable caves more likely to collapse unexpectedly. Locke knew that, and he was always careful to pick the path of least resistance when he was traveling. Unfortunately, there were never any guarantees.]

[He came to slowly. Locke couldn't remember all of it, but he didn't need to open his eyes to know what had happened. His head was killing him. Distantly, he could feel himself bleeding at the temple. Worse, it was strangely hard to move. He took a careful breath. Celes would-]

[Celes. That was enough to shock him into action. He took another breath, deeper this time and thinking more clearly, and attempted valiantly to open his eyes.]

Comments

[aria_di_celes]

[Most of what he's said sounded like something you might hear from a crackpot roaming the streets, claiming about the end of days coming, but he looked so serious, so earnest.

She tore her eyes away from him, chewing on her lower lip. It was a small gesture, but a break in her cool, controlled demeanor.]

Just get us out of here. I need to see the truth with my own eyes.

[lockpick]

[He almost looks like he wants to insist on proving himself. Instead, he sighs, shoulders hanging low, and turns back to where he was trying to dig them out of the cavern. He works in rigid silence for a while. But eventually, he begins to hum a tune under his breath. Low and steady and mostly on key, if not entirely cheery. And he only breaks it when he breaks through the rockslide.]

And there we are.

[Triumphantly, and a little muffled. If Celes looks, she'll see him leaning through the narrow passage he'd cleared.]

There's light up there. We might be in luck.

[aria_di_celes]

[She didn't say anything as he worked, just waited and listened to the song. It was familiar somehow, she didn't know what it was from, but it felt like she could hum the tune along with him, though she never joined in.

When he finally called back for her, she leaned in. It was a tight squeeze, but sure enough there was a cool breeze coming from where Locke was waiting.]

...So are you going to tell me your name?

[Here's her attempt at light conversation as she worked to follow him through the path he'd cleared.]

[lockpick]

[It's narrow, but Celes would fit through with no problem, especially once she'd handed their things over to Locke before squeezing through herself. He takes the supplies in one hand, and offers the other to her to take to keep herself from falling. Now they're getting somewhere.]

[His good cheer takes a blow, though. It runs through him at her question, fingers twitching together, brows knitted. ...Oh. Right.]

[A heartbeat of silence, then:]

...It's Locke.

[aria_di_celes]

Locke.

[Did the name sound familiar? If there was any hint of recognition, it was lost in her voice. She eyed the outstretched hand, and all but ignored it to pull herself up on her own.]

How long have we known each other?

[She didn't know how much of his word she could trust, but for now, it was the only thing she had.]

[lockpick]

[He withdraws his hand only after she's safely through. Doesn't hand his bag back to her, just slings it over a shoulder (though she still has his weapons.)]

Uh-

[But he stumbles over that, because the calender got a little fuzzy after the world ended and they'd spent a lot of time separated and the very situation that had him answering questions like these was enough to shake him to the core.]

Two years? Almost three, maybe.

[aria_di_celes]

[She simply raises an eyebrow at that, but doesn't speak up to call him a liar. If he was lying, he'd have to be pretty gutsy to claim that long, especially since it meant that she was missing several years worth of memories.]

That's a long time. Do we often go traipsing around caves like this?

[lockpick]

I did say we stopped to do some treasure hunting.

[He gives her a weak imitation of his usual smile before he turns toward the dim light and the fresh air and starts to lead them out of the cave.]

Sometimes we go traipsing around other places as well.

[aria_di_celes]

Seems like I've turned into quite the adventurer.

[She doesn't say much more as he leads her out, and, indeed is stopped speechless the moment she steps from the cave. She wasn't an expert on the Veldt, but she was fairly sure it was supposed to be a vast grassland not... this rocky terrain they were stepping out on. In the distance, she could see the water which... she wasn't sure, but it didn't look as blue as she remembered it. And behind her, over the peeks of the caves that had just come out of, an impossibly tall tower loomed over the peeks of the mountains. She knew for sure there was no building like that on the Veldt... or anywhere else in the world. She's never seen a structure so tall, it made the Emperor's palace look like a toy house in comparison.

When she spoke up again, most of the confident general was gone, and her voice was a mix of awe, and concern.]

...Where did you say we were again?

[lockpick]

I like to think you always had it in you.

[Mildly teasing, if subdued by circumstance. When they reach daylight, he hangs by the mouth of the cave to watch her reaction. Carefully. As if seeing the state of the world might knock something in her memory loose.]

Serpent's Trench. A few days out from Mobliz.

[aria_di_celes]

But... the Serpent's Trench-

[She didn't need to finish her sentence, anyone with half a brain would know that the Serpent's Trench was under water. There was no way they could be standing on it. Yet, Locke's words sounded honest, and with the large tower behind them, and the loss of her magic...

Suddenly she felt a little lightheaded, and the look she gave Locke was a wary one.]

Maybe you should tell me what's going on.

[lockpick]

[Anyone with half a brain would know that. It's just...not all that accurate anymore. He pushes himself off the mouth of the cave and gives her a small, sad, sympathetic sort of smile.]

Yes, but while I do- [As he speaks, he shrugs off his bag again and drops it to the ground. There isn't a lot of daylight left, and here is as good a place to stay as any, as long as they stayed clear of anything that might collapse again. And both of them could probably stand to sit still for a while.]

D'you mind if I have a look at that?

[With an abbreviated gesture toward the cut on her temple. It was hard to tell how deep it was through the blood in her hair.]

[aria_di_celes]

[She reached up, touching the wound on her head tenderly before nodding and walking over to take a seat on a grassy spot not too far from where Locke had dropped the bag. The blood loss or just the confusion of what was going on was setting in and sitting down sounded like a good idea right now.]

I tried to patch it up but without my magic... and there wasn't much to work with down there.

randomly, two months later

[lockpick]

[He drops down in front of her, close and crosslegged. Hesitates a moment, then reaches up carefully to pull her blood-stiffened hair away from the wound.]

I would have helped if you didn't tie me up.

[There isn't any real heat in it, but the humor is weak as well.]