Celes, the second woman in our story, shares many similarities and many direct opposites of Terra. Like Terra, she has the ability to use magick and was also raised by the Empire. Celes, though, was not born with the gift of magick, but artificially infused with it by Cid, the head of Magitek research, who also became her father figure. Also in contrast of Terra are the nature of her abilities, as her initial element of choice is ice. Not only raised as a Magitek Knight, but also trained in combat and the use of the sword, she quickly rose through the ranks to become an Imperial General...all before the age of 18. As the Empire pushes across the continents, burning, destroying, and overtaking any towns that dare oppose them, she begins to realize that what Emperor Gestahl is doing is gravely wrong. It is after she leads a seize on Maranda that she realizes she can no longer follow such orders. She is then jailed as a traitor and beaten to the point of unconsciousness by soldiers. Locke stumbles across her in some underground holding cells as he is escaping the captive town of South Figaro. Reminded of his beloved Rachel, he releases Celes and takes her with him, promising to take care of her. When she first joins The Returners, she is confident, skeptical, sometimes cold as ice. Celes even says that she's no 'love-starved twit', but it is obvious as the story progresses that she begins to have feelings for the hero in thief's clothing. He, in turn, begins to see some of her gentle inner beauty when she masquerades as Maria, the great opera singer.