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Awakening Magic

Summary:

When she woke, Terra found herself in the midst of an ever-growing struggle between a dictator determined for world domination and a rebellion seeking peace. The Empire wants her back. The Returners need her help. No longer under the control of the slave crown, she tries to find answers for the many questions clouding the future. How is the Empire conquering kingdoms so easily? What can the Returners do to prevent more bloodshed? And why was Terra born with the gift of magic?

Notes:

12/03/23: I've made a few changes to this retelling/novelization of FFVI. Firstly, I decided a title change was due because my original title won't make sense until the very end of the story. Secondly, I decided to make this into a series of five "books!" And the series name is Looking Down From Cerulean Skies. I am following the events and plot points in the game while adding my own spin to everything.
Why did I decide to make these changes? My beta-reader and I were talking about how I should handle this massive story while I was working on my outline one day and she came up with the idea, making the point that it'll help things stay organized (for my sanity.) Also, splitting it up into separate "books" will help reflect the point of view shifts more effectively.
So yeah! If you're curious about how these are broken down into separate big fics, just think about the major plot points in the game and you'll be able to figure it out ;D I don't want to spoil it more than that!
Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Raid of Narshe

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Narshe, a sleepy coal mining town tucked into the mountains above the Figaroan kingdom, was preparing for the oncoming night ahead. Men wrapped themselves up in their uniforms, with furs and wool scarves draped around their heads to keep themselves warm. Shopkeepers struck matches to light their gas lamps outside their shops, pulled their shutters closed, and locked up for the night. Snow blew down from the mountains in a constant gust, sweeping over the buildings, and swirling in the streets. The citizens of Narshe had grown accustomed to the ever-present chill and frost, and those new to the town quickly adapted since the temperatures dropped drastically at night to well below freezing.

"Gods dammit! Why did we have to go somewhere so damn cold?" a man cried from his seat inside the hulking contraption he piloted. His teeth would not stop chattering no matter how hard he tried to control it. The thick cloak he had wrapped around himself like a blanket wasn’t helping him get warm at all.

"We’ve got to follow our orders, Wedge. The Emperor would be furious if we disobeyed." His companion replied with a pointed look. “Just think about how much of an opportunity this is for you to get promoted. You might get to join the Knights after this mission.”

"I know that sir, but why couldn't that frozen esper have been dug up in a warm place? Like Jidoor?"

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps frozen things are only found in cold climates?" The higher-ranking soldier glared and pulled the bulletproof glass visor lower on his cockpit to help block the never-ending assault from the snowstorm. His gloved hands were shaking. "And Jidoor doesn't even have a coal mine."

"Fine. So, what’s next?" Wedge asked, shivering in his uniform, disregarding his superior's logic, and wishing the weapons developers could have installed heaters in the Magitek Armor.

"We go into the mines beyond the town and take the frozen esper," Vicks pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and squinted at the horizon.

On their ledge, they could see Narshe rather well. The gas lights lining the cobblestone streets looked like stars twinkling in the night. Vicks looked back at the woman accompanying them. Her blank stare reminded him of a doll. A surge of unease ricocheted through his spine as her eyes moved to him for a split second.

"How big do you think it is? I hope we can carry it back to the ship," Wedge looked from Vicks to the woman.

"Well, it can't be too big, otherwise the Emperor would have sent a crane or some other type of Tek." Vicks patted his control panel with a grin in an attempt to drive away the unease in his chest, "Magitek Armor can lift more than you think, so we should be fine."

"Alright, alright! Let's get going," Wedge grimaced and took the lead with a lurch of his armor and a few mutters about how he wished he could feel his toes again.

The woman followed him wordlessly, moving her Armor with a certain grace.

Vicks looked up at the sky, at the fresh dark clouds coming in from the mountains like ink spreading in water, "You can't even see the moon for the storm clouds."

Up ahead, Wedge was trying to start a conversation with the young woman.

"So, why are you coming with us?" he asked, rubbing his hands together to create friction while he steered his Magitek Armor with his knee.

"I was ordered to," she replied in a monotonous soft voice that could hardly be heard over the wind, not glancing over at him.

“How dangerous did Kefka tell you this mission would be?”

She didn’t respond. Her eyes remained fixed on their trek to the town.

"Okay, well, what's that thing on your head?" he asked, pointing at the flecked jewels that caught the fading light from between locks of mint green hair on her brow.

"I do not know what you are speaking of," The woman turned her head a fraction in his direction.

Vicks came up next to Wedge, "That's a slave crown Cid's been developing. I know that you're a lower rung on the ladder, but I thought you'd know that at least."

"A what?" Wedge quirked his eyebrows, not even bothering to disguise his confusion.

"A slave crown. It's a device that rips away the wearer's free will and makes them follow any orders given. I don't know much more than that, but that's what Kefka told me during the briefing. She will follow any of our orders."

"But she's the Imperial Witch, right? Shouldn't that mean that she's powerful enough to fight back? I mean, from what I've heard…" Wedge trailed off, his eyes moving to the thin woman pressing buttons on her control panel, not even shivering despite her sleeveless dress.

"She can't fight it, you idiot! That's the point of the slave crown, to have complete control over a person. Can you imagine what would happen if she didn't have that thing on her? She could torch the entire Empire and kill everybody." Vicks didn’t let his gaze settle on the Witch as he spoke. Instead, he let it linger on the buildings that were much easier to see by then.

Wedge looked at the Witch again as if trying to make sure that she was not about to rear back and attack them like a rabid monster, "So the rumors are true!"

Vicks let out a sigh, “Why would anybody lie about such a thing?” With a shake of his head, he finally looked at the Witch. The rumors made his stomach churn.

Her green hair curled like lamb's wool, and her pale skin hinted at how little sunlight she had seen, now rosy from the cold.

Despite her being the dangerous Imperial Witch with the blank eyes of a doll, she was a pretty woman. She shouldn’t be a soldier. The draft for the Imperial military didn’t apply to women. She should be enjoying her youth and courting young men.

The group neared the gates of Narshe steadily. Vicks and Wedge both scanned the perimeters for any guns trained at their heads or ambushes coming down from the treeline on either side of the town. The wind howled fiercely in their ears and the heavy footfalls of their Magitek Armor echoed into the night.

A man shrouded in scarves and furs was leaning against the front window of a building outside the gates with a book in hand. His head snapped up at the approaching sound of heavy metal footfalls and scrambled inside. When the door slammed shut, Wedge read what the sign hanging above the door said as they passed it by.

"The library is outside of the town? Strange," he commented, scrunching his eyebrows together in thought.

Narshe guards stood at attention just inside the city gates with their rifles resting against their shoulders, all gaping at the oncoming small division of Magitek Armor. One guard in a darker uniform stepped forward from the group, shouting, "What in goddess's name are Imperial troops doing here?"

"Don't answer any questions. Dispose of interlopers. We have a job to do," Vicks told his comrades as they approached the gates.

Wedge nodded and pressed forward, earning a bullet in the hull of his armor. It pinged off, not even making a dent as he rushed the guards. His hands flew over his control panel and his Tek quickened its pace and snapped shut the glass dome over his head.

"Stop this at once!" The leader of the guards demanded, firing another round of bullets at the oncoming machine.

"Narshe is neutral, you pig!" Another guard shouted as he aimed his gun.

The Narshe men swung their spears and shot their guns, trying with all their might to hold off the Imperial soldier. None of their attacks did any damage, and upon realizing this, they were being gunned down by a fire beam.

The tang of burning flesh filled the air, making Vicks wince as he reached the bloody smears on the cobblestones. Small pieces of sinew, gore, and other unpleasant things were scattered across the entrance from where the guards were blasted.

The echo of a scream lingered in the frigid night air, sending chills dancing up and down their spines. Somehow, no matter how long one had been in the military, the sound of death was still unnerving in its finality.

Going north through the streets of Narshe, the party encountered more guards, who all protested their arrival, all trying to fight for their town, all dying painfully.

Vicks and Wedge watched as their companion in arms became the killing machine that Kefka had claimed her to be. The Witch cast spell after spell at the Narshe guards, never ceasing in her assault. She fired her Tek missiles without emotion, lay waste to lives with her charged-up energy beams, and crushed bodies underneath her Magitek Armor.

Luckily for the town, she only attacked those who provoked her. She could have easily leveled the place.

The voices of the men who had died lingered in Vicks' and Wedge's minds, humming low and eventually sounding like white noise coming from a malfunctioning radio.

"Not even Narshe is safe anymore!"

"Please! Stop this! We haven't done a thing to the Empire!"

"You Imperial scum! We will not end up like Tzen!"

"The Empire is full of monsters!"

They reached the mines at long last and found only one opening at the end of a long series of wooden stairs littered with mining tools. Flurries of snow rushed inside the cavern from the strong winds and disappeared into the darkness. What with the abandoned mining materials, rusty hooks knocked crooked that once held pickaxes and torches long blown out, the mine appeared all the more menacing.

Wedge swallowed hard, staring into the depths, and asked, "Sir, do you think that this is the correct mineshaft?"

"I'm not sure, Wedge, but it looks like it’s our only option. Our informant told us that the creature was found in a new mineshaft. Do you see any other caves around here? I don't." Vicks gestured around them at the absence of any other mineshafts in the immediate area.

"Maybe we should have the Witch lead us inside," Wedge suggested, pulling at his cloak to wrap it tighter around himself.

"Alright, she'll be put on point," Vicks made a motion forward with his hand to the woman, who promptly pulled ahead of the men, waiting for another signal.

"Okay, let's get this over with!" Wedge tried sounding enthusiastic and followed the sorceress inside.

Vicks’ heartbeat quickened as if his body sensed something he did not. He chalked it up to anxiety of the unknown, and punched a few buttons on his control panel, making his armor stomp inside the cavern.

"Dammit! The torches are out! Does anybody have a light?" Wedge asked examining a burnt-out torch while fingering his empty pockets as if a match would magically appear. Vicks shook his head after checking his pouches and the storage box near his feet, only finding medical supplies and some rations. They both looked to the Witch who had been staring blankly at them, awaiting more commands.

"Do you think you could cast a fire spell on this?" Wedge asked, lifting the glass shield over his head and grabbing a torch to hold out to her. She blinked slowly, as if processing the request, and held her left hand out to touch it. Then, a flame appeared in her palm, brilliantly orange and crackling, and caught the wood. As soon as the torch had a nice blaze burning, her spell went out with a puff of smoke.

Wedge smiled at her before he started lighting the torches on the rock walls, watching the cavern gradually grow brighter with flickering warm light. Shadows appeared, bobbing, and flitting across the rock flooring, casting strange and obscure shapes throughout the mineshaft.

Now that the group could see where they were treading, the Witch led them through a few short caves that were so narrow that they had to pass through in a line. Rats skittered across the ground, escaping the metallic footfalls and hiding themselves inside little nooks and crannies to chatter at the odd trespassers who were disturbing their peaceful home.

At the end of a long passage, there was a wooden gate barricading the next section of the mine. On the barricade were many complicated locks and gadgets to prevent intruders from getting into the next section.

"This must be where they're storing the creature," Vicks commented, inspecting the barrier for any locks that he recognized.

"Yeah, I've got an idea. You two move back!" Wedge instructed with a grin on his face. His companions did as he asked, and he moved his Tek away from the gate a bit, then rushed it, bashing the wooden planks to splinters from the force.

"Nice work," Vicks said, coming to stand beside his comrade.

"No problem! Like a measly fence could keep us out."

As the soldiers were going into the next room, a Narshe guard dashed out from behind a stone pillar roughly cut out of the bedrock.

"Stop right there! You aren't getting the esper that easily!" he yelled, brandishing his spear at the intruders.

"Move outta the way, or we'll go through you!" Wedge threatened.

The guard yanked a whistle out of his scarf and blew it. The piercing sound echoed shrilly off the cave walls.

Then, an enormous pale-yellow snail with mean red eyes at the top of its eyestalks slithered its way toward them at a pace that was much faster than common snails.

"Whelk! Defend the esper! Defend Narshe's pride!" the guard shouted as he ran out of the passage to get out of the way, and possibly alert the town elder of having to use their last defense.

"Shit! The asshole ran off!" Vicks cursed, realizing that they may have even more guardsmen after them now.

"I think we have something more important to worry about!" Wedge shouted, pushing buttons on his control panel furiously.

Vicks turned his Tek towards the retreating guard and fired a bolt beam at him. The beam struck and the guard fell with a heavy thump on the ground, smoking.

"At least we don't have to worry about him now." Vicks returned his attention to the giant snail monster right as Wedge sent a fire beam at it.

The overgrown snail roared, eyes glowing more as it continued to slime its way closer, unperturbed by the attack.

"What's with this thing anyway? A giant snail? What will towns use next to protect them? Caterpillars?"

"This is the monster Kefka and Leo briefed us about, remember?" Vicks yelled over the snarling creature.

Wedge shot another fire beam at the monster, "A creature that eats lightning, right?"

"Yeah! And it stores the energy in its shell, so don't hit that part, alright soldiers?"

The Imperial Witch fired a Tek missile at the snail, and Wedge gave a quick nod, before shooting another fire beam at it. The Whelk slammed itself into Vick's Magitek Armor, almost hurling the machine over backward. As Vicks righted himself, he was astounded at how fluidly the Witch could maneuver her armor. She had the precision of a machine as her hands flew over the buttons and levers.

The Witch shot missiles over and over at the snail, never letting up, and finally, with one more energy beam, the creature exploded. Yellow ooze splashed onto their Armors and dripped from the walls with shattered pieces of its shell skewed about.

"Ugh! Gross! Look at this!" Wedge cried, trying to fling goo off of his arm.

"Forget that. You can get a bath back on the ship. Let's get the esper and get out of here," Vicks said, going past the despairing man, ignoring the fact that pungent snail slime was dripping from his helmet and face.

By the time Vicks and Wedge reached the shard, they saw that the Witch was already there, standing in front of the ice, staring intently at the chilling creature.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Vicks asked, looking first at the Witch, then up at the being. It had the body of a large tropical bird, whose feathers were long, silky, and colorful. Its eyes were black and unmoving, but a look of terror was filling its expression, as if it had tried to escape, fleeing from something terrible in flight, but was caught in ice.

It was like a snapshot of the past, an old fossil drug up from the planet's crust, the emotion in its expression crystalline.

Wedge came up on the other side of the Witch. Now all three were looking up at the esper.

The Witch climbed down from her armor, and stepped closer, as if in a trance.

"What are you doing?" Vicks asked again but received no response. The strange feeling inside of him grew, consuming his thoughts, and making fear rise in his throat.

"Hey! You know something, don't you?" Wedge asked, trying to grab at the Witch to keep her from approaching the esper.

She started glowing with a strange blue light. Then they saw that the creature started glowing at the same time as her, flashing a bright blue light that resembled lightning out from the core of the ice.

As her fingers touched the surface, a spark of lightning fluttered out of the creature and into her head, causing her to release a pained moan. She did not fall; instead, she wrapped her arms around what she could of the ice and pressed herself against it.

Then, lightning welled up again, and flashed into Wedge, blinking him out of existence.

"Wedge? Where did you go? What's happening?" Vicks screamed, clutching his head tightly, his heart beating frantically. Another bolt of lightning sparked and came at him faster than he could even think to move.

"Some people aren’t meant to live long."

"..."

"Child, it seems that something is preventing you from speaking to me properly. But that is alright. I shall see you again...soon. I promise."

She looked up at the esper's eyes and saw that they were looking back, blinking. Speaking to her.

"You're too weak for me now, but you will return to me soon. You're very special."

Another bolt of lightning shot out of the ice shard and struck her between her bright green eyes, hitting the slave crown, and then destroying her Magitek armor.

The bolt flitted up and down her body, knocking her back onto the frigid ground below the esper.

Her mind blanked out, her body convulsed, and for the first time in ages, she dreamed.

Notes:

Hello and welcome to my spin on a Final Fantasy 6 novelization! I initially started writing one back in like 2011-2012-ish on ff. net but scrapped it because golly I didn't plan that out at all. So here we are! I'm approaching this as an actual novelization instead of a game text to fanfic thing so we can see the scenes in between points in the game and to make silly 90's video game logic make sense as a story. I hope this was a fun read and let me know what you think! (And if I missed any mistakes of course! Things can always slip through the cracks while editing.)
Update 11/7/23: I did a few revisions to this chapter, just fixing wording and the like since this was first published in 2014. I've been working away on the newest chapters and thought it would be a good idea to clean this chapter up a bit!