Celes slowly opened her eyes, the light hurting them after being in the dark for so long. It took a moment for her to adjust and remember where she was. She was in Cid’s cabin, on the small island they had been stranded on for the past year. Cid had found her after Kefka had destroyed the world and taken care of her ever since.
Slowly, she sat up, her muscles protesting after being unused for so long. She looked around the room, taking in the piles of junk Cid had been using to build… something. Ever the engineer. He must have been working on it even while she was unconscious.
The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Cid was going to die soon. He had been sick for a long time, and there was no way he would survive much longer. She had been in a coma for over a year, and in that time Cid had taken care of her. He had been her rock during the darkest times.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about losing him. He was the only person left in the world that she cared about. But she knew that he was at peace with his impending death. He had told her many times that he only wanted to make sure she was safe before he died.
Celes got to her feet, a determination burning in her eyes. She would make sure Cid’s sacrifice was not in vain. She would find a way off this island and make sure that his death was not the last thing she ever did.
She found Cid sitting asleep in an old rocking chair on the other side of the room. He looked so peaceful, like he was already half way to the other world.
Gently, she shook him awake. “Cid, I’m awake,” she said softly.
He opened his eyes and smiled at her. “I knew you’d come back to us, my girl,” he said. He coughed, weakly. “I’m afraid I’m not feeling very well.”
“Cid, you’re not going to die,” said Celes, her voice breaking. “I won’t let you. I’ll take care of you. I promise.”
“I know you will, my girl,” he said. “You’re a strong one. You always have been.”
Cid slowly got out of the chair and into the bed. Celes pulled the covers up to his chin and kissed his forehead. “Don’t worry, Cid,” she said. “I’m going to take care of you. I promise.” Celes found an old fishing rod sitting against the wall outside the cabin, and headed to the beach to fish.
Celes was determined to catch a fish for Cid, no matter how long it took. She cast her line out into the water and waited. The sun was setting, and she was getting tired, but she refused to give up.
Finally, after what felt like hours, she felt a tug on the line. She quickly reeled it in, and sure enough, there was a fish on the end. She whooped in triumph as she pulled it in, feeling like she had just won a battle.
She raced back to the cabin, where Cid was waiting for her. He was awake, and smiled when he saw the fish. “You did it!” he said.
Celes beamed at him as she started to prepare the fish for dinner. “Of course I did. I promised I would take care of you, didn’t I?”
The days passed by much the same. Each morning, Celes would fish at the beach, while Cid worked on something in the basement that he refused to discuss. Each night, they would sit by the fire and talk. They talked about their lives before the world ended, and their hopes for the future.
Cid’s health continued to decline, but he insisted on working in the basement as much as he could. “It is a present, child, and maybe some hope as well.”
One night, as they sat by the fire, Cid coughed violently and collapsed. Celes rushed to his side, but it was too late. He was gone.
Celes wept over his body, her heart broken. She stayed there for hours, until she finally fell asleep. Celes buried Cid the next day, on the beach where he had spent so many hours fishing. After many days of loneliness, she went to the cliffs on the north shore. Cid had told her that, one by one, the other survivors had succumbed to despair and hurled themselves off the cliffs to their doom. It was a bleak reminder of the hopelessness of their situation.
She returned to the cabin and wrote a note to whomever would happen to see it. The next day, she returned to the cliffs and looked out over the wide ocean. The world was dead. All her friends — perhaps dead. And she would join them. She leaped from the cliffs, finally free of espers and empires.
The world was not done with Celes, as she woke up on the beach below the cliffs. Something had saved her. She didn’t know what it was, but she was alive. Death having rejected her, she returned to the cabin, where she found, on a shelf, a note from Cid, addressed to her.
“My dearest Celes,
“If you are reading this, then it means I have passed on. I am so sorry to leave you alone in this world, but I know you are strong enough to make it on your own.
“I have left you my greatest invention. It is a raft, and it will take you away from this island. I have also left you a map, showing you the way to safety.
“I love you, my girl. Be safe, and never give up hope.
“Your friend,
Cid”
Celes wept as she read the note. Cid had left her a way to escape. She didn’t know how he had known, but he had known that she would try to kill herself. He had given her a way out.
Celes went to the basement and found the raft Cid had built. It was sturdy and well-made. She also found the map, showing her the way to a nearby town.
Celes put the raft in the water and set sail. She had a new purpose now. She would find her friends, and together they would rebuild the world.
In my game, Celes managed to save Cid, but Da Vinci had another fate for him. I ran this story through GPT-3 a couple times, asking it to expand on it and make it more dramatic. It might have been able to use another pass. It’s not super clear in the story, but Celes has been in a coma for a year. I’d made it clear in the prompt that set up the situation, but I guess it had trouble with that. In the game, if Celes is unable to save Cid, she jumps from the cliffs to her death, but wakes up, mysteriously unharmed. I knew GPT-3 would never generate that sort of situation, so I had to write that in deliberately.
