A.N.: Hello again... Sakaki22: thankyou for all the dots, how very kind, :) Hope this update increases your comprehension. Klepto-maniac0: what Seifer is or is not remains to be seen... no name yet: thankyou for the compliments and I hope you find a Name soon, :). Djinxx: I guess this will make you happy, then.
Just for the record, I wrote this chapter at the end of January in the middle of a patch of predictable end-of-fic writer's block. I guessed at the time that the best way to clear said block was to write something else that was as unlike my normal style as it was possible to get. Welcome to Clouded Night - unusual for me not merely because of the content but because it was first person and was supposed to be a one-shot uncomplicated short story. It didn't quite work like that...
DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy VIII belongs to Squaresoft.
WARNING: Nasty little fight, poor Squall, too much tension, the fallout from last chapter's Melodramatic and Improbable Plot Twist #2. All the nice fun and games we've come to expect, then.
Quistis suddenly broke the silence that had hung round the conference room table ever since Elle and Rinoa had admitted their spectacular failure. "Remember Galbadia Garden?" she asked, her voice bittersweet. "He banned us from ever thinking about him in the past tense. Maybe we should take his advice."
Rinoa nodded, not looking at her. Selphie added, "And if we've given him up for dead we've nothing to lose by going up there and taking a peek. At least now we know where he is." She smiled hopefully, brilliant green eyes flicking from one person to the next. Her mood was infectious and Laguna felt the weight over his heart lift a little. But the SeeDs had lost hope. The signs were there on their faces. Laguna wanted to shake the lot of them, shout at them that Squall was still alive. He might be held by some evil power none of them had ever seen before, but he wasn't yet dead. They were already telling themselves to accept that they had lost him.
People die, life goes on. They're mercenaries. They lose friends all the time. That's how they have to cope with it. I can't think like that. I'll know I'll never get over him.
Kiros was leafing through the spy planes' scan printouts. "There are a couple of possible sites up here," he said slowly. "If a small group approached on foot under cover of darkness we'd have a chance of checking out the way in. Then, another night..." He left it hanging.
"We've got to go for it," declared Zell. "We can't just leave him."
"We're not going to," Laguna retorted. "Could you all start it tonight? It's cloudy enough to block out most of the moonlight."
Quistis nodded, a little uncertain. "We'd need a couple of hours to prepare."
"You'll have them," Kiros grunted, passing her the printouts. "If you go up to this area -"
Someone knocked on the door. As Laguna turned, a harassed-looking aide poked his head into the room. "Sir, two people have arrived claiming to bring a message from Seifer Almasy, for your eyes only. They're causing a bit of a disturbance and demanding to see you."
"Who are they? Soldiers?"
"They don't look like it. It's a man and a woman; the man is dark and heavy-set, the woman is an albino."
"Raijin and Fujin!" exclaimed Selphie, sitting up so straight that the others could see more than her head and shoulders over the table. "You've got to let them in, Sir Laguna. We can persuade them to help us."
"I don't know," Quistis fretted. "They're so loyal to Seifer."
"They trust Squall, though. You remember. Say they can come in, they'll want to help Squall. I know it."
"Anything's worth a shot." Laguna's voice sounded harsh to himself. He nodded to the aide; he needn't have bothered. Almost at once the man was pushed aside by a very determined-looking Fujin. Raijin followed her in, waving an envelope.
"Seifer sent us," he said, turning all round the room before coming face to face with Laguna. "Says you gotta read this, you know? 'S important." He sidestepped a kick to the shins that Fujin was angrily aiming in his direction. The woman snatched the envelope from him and held it out to Laguna.
"URGENT."
Laguna glanced at the letter, at the two names on the front. "For me and Rinoa?"
"AFFIRMATIVE." She inclined her head to Rinoa.
"Why me?" the girl demanded.
"SORCERESS. SEIFER SAYS: BEWARE."
"Of what? C'mon. We all know you can talk properly. Tell me."
She glared at Rinoa, then answered, "I've no idea. He wouldn't tell us what was in the letter, just that you have to watch out when you open it. But this isn't what you think. There's someone or something else involved. Seifer wants to warn you about it."
Zell snorted. "Warn us? Yeah, right. Like he wants to do anything good for us."
The hyperactive blond was next in line for the icy stare. "What do you know?"
Laguna ripped the envelope open. "I know I don't trust him. Rinoa, want a look?"
She came up to his shoulder. "May as well." She scanned it, and gasped.
TO PRESIDENT LOIRE AND RINOA HEARTILLY
I CAN'T TELL YOU ITS NAME BECAUSE I CAN'T EVEN THINK IT IN CASE IT HEARS
ME. YOU NEED TO KILL IT. YOU WON'T BELIEVE ME BUT IT'S TRUE AND YOU'LL
REGRET IT IF YOU DON'T LISTEN. IT WASN'T ME WHO HURT SQUALL. THAT THING
ATTACKED ME AND MADE ME DO IT. I ONLY JUST REALISED WHAT'S BEEN
HAPPENING. IT WASN'T ME WHO DID IT, I SWEAR, IT WAS THE DEMON ACTING
THROUGH ME. IT WANTED GALBADIA, AND WHEN WE DIDN'T TAKE OVER THERE IT
MADE ME TRY FOR ESTHAR. IT LOST CONTROL OF ME BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY OR
HOW LONG FOR AND IT MIGHT COME BACK ANYTIME. YOU'VE GOT TO BREAK IN
AND KILL THE DEMON. RAIJIN AND FUJIN CAN HELP YOU. DON'T LET ME KNOW
WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN BECAUSE I MIGHT TRY AND STOP YOU. YOU'VE GOT TO
KILL IT, I'LL JUST KEEP ON LOOKING FOR WAYS TO CONQUER THE WORLD UNLESS
YOU DO, AND IF YOU KILL ME IT'LL JUST GRAB SOMEONE ELSE.
ALMASY
Rinoa pulled the letter from Laguna's hands and tossed it onto the table, where the others could gather round and read it. "What is this?" she breathed, staring at Laguna, then at Fujin, her face hardening. "Is his mind wandering or something? How does he expect us to believe this nonsense?"
The white-haired woman ran her eyes over the letter. "I'm sure it's true. He was almost scared. Nothing frightens him. He couldn't have been acting, either; he's too proud."
"It's got to be a hoax!" Selphie squeaked.
"It's not!" Raijin fired back.
Xu hissed through her teeth in anger. "When you're in league with Seifer and those men of his, you expect us to believe anything you say?"
"We're not lying," Fujin snapped. "Trust us. Please."
Bingo. "OK. You say you're telling the truth and you want to help us. Where's the hideout?" Laguna gestured to the map of Esthar pinned to the wall.
Fujin instantly pointed to a spot square in the middle of the area the satellites had said the base was in. "There."
"Fine. I trust you."
"Laguna..." cautioned Kiros. He looked again at the map and realised what Laguna meant. Fujin hadn't known Laguna already knew where the hideout was. "Oh."
"Exactly. I do have good ideas sometimes."
Ellone's eyes suddenly widened. "Something's happening."
"I feel cold," Rinoa muttered.
"I don't," Selphie objected. "Are you -"
Every light in the room went dim. Laguna scrabbled for a gun he wasn't wearing. All the SeeDs who were armed had drawn their weapons and were staring round, looking for something to attack, not finding anything. Thank Hyne they were too well trained to panic. Their calm steadied Laguna. His eyes were drawn to the cloudbank outside the window. Surely it hadn't been that dark before - and lightning never flashed quite like that -
The window shattered. A black shadow washed through it, towering upwards, solidifying into a vaguely humanoid shape - but what a humanoid. It had to be at least nine feet tall and three feet broad; it didn't walk on the floor but hovered just above it, like it had carefully studied how to walk without really understanding how gravity worked. Where its head brushed the ceiling the touch charred the roof tiles. Wisps of smoke rose from its head in place of hair. Its face was twisted and malformed, a disgusting parody of debauchery taken to extremes. The thing had a stink as alien as a monster fresh from the Lunar Cry. It had to be Seifer's demon.
The demon raised one of its eight sinuous arms and struck down at Selphie. She threw her arms up to shield her head and cried out as a careless arm tossed her aside into the wall. Laguna gagged at the smell of burning skin.
Quistis's whip cracked. The lash landed square across the thing's chest but it didn't appear to notice. The blonde SeeD hesitated a second, probably wondering why she hadn't hurt it, then instinct took over and she dived under the table, rolling out of the way. The demon swerved and chased after her.
Laguna threw the door open. "Everyone out! Shut it in here!" he yelled. The huge demon stopped pursuing Quistis and turned towards Laguna. It swelled, and a thick purple ray flared out from its outstretched tentacle, heading straight for him. He dodged the strike, letting the sideboard behind him catch it instead. As he got to his feet he glanced back - and realised what the thing was tossing around. Where the ray had touched it, the sturdy piece of furniture had completely compacted in on itself. Gravity magic. Ward and Raijin glanced at each other, then threw a good-sized table at the demon. It hit the thing square in the chest and melted.
"Shit," Laguna muttered, backing out into the corridor. The demon floated after him, ignoring everyone else in the room, paying no attention to the weapons and missiles aimed at it. He could only watch the demon-thing as it reared up over him -
And struck.
"Laguna!" screamed Ellone as he slammed straight into the back wall and fell to the floor, not moving. Rinoa forced herself out of her frozen trance. If physical attacks didn't work -
Her wings spread out behind her. "Flare," she whispered, and she twined the multicoloured energies around her hand into the form of a javelin and flung it at the demon. It roared, inside her head and out, and turned on her. She faced it down. The demon hadn't liked that spell, but it hadn't done much damage. "Try this...Holy!"
Light shone down from the heavens, bathing the area around the door where the demon was standing over Laguna. Droplets of golden rain dripped down onto its head and shoulders. The demon shrieked, pawing itself. Where the spell energies touched it there were burn marks on its body; black blood flooded the floor. The thing was swaying from side to side like it couldn't act. Hmm. Another one of those, I think. Rinoa noticed absently that this was about the clearest-headed she'd been in battle since gaining her powers. Maybe I'm learning.
Rinoa stretched out her arms and gave herself over to the magic. Quistis, standing at her shoulder, aimed her Homing Laser beam straight at the demon's chest. It growled again, a low, ominous sound, but it had had enough. It lashed up at the roof, broke it open and leapt out, flying off into the night.
For a moment no-one moved. Then the tension lifted and everyone started talking at once. Rinoa's wings faded away and she found herself clutching to Quistis to stay upright. The other woman helped her to a chair. "You OK?" she asked softly. Rinoa nodded, not trusting her voice. Her mind was looping the loop and she couldn't work out why. But it was nothing to worry Quistis about.
Zell and Xu were lifting Selphie into an easy chair. The diminutive SeeD was biting her lower lip in pain, but she didn't complain. Ellone was kneeling by Laguna in the corridor. "He's out cold," she announced. Ward went straight to her and picked up the President like he was a newborn babe, gently carrying him through to the couch. Elle trailed along after them, her eyes wide and frightened.
Selphie was curling her hands round and round in her lap, talking to herself in an undertone and not looking at anything much. Rinoa knew exactly what she was doing and wasn't at all surprised. Xu - who hadn't battled alongside her - seemed concerned; Zell reassured her with a glance. "She's OK. Believe it."
Laguna twitched and opened his eyes just before Selphie fired off a Full-Cure. "Do I have to get up?" he groaned as the spell energies revitalised him.
Ellone smiled at him, an oddly intimate expression. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself." She pushed at his shoulder. He smiled back and wormed his way upright. The smile left his face when his gaze turned to the hole in the roof.
"Anyone seen anything like that before?" he asked.
"Short answer, no," Kiros answered, glancing upwards.
Selphie squirmed, looking uncomfortable. "It didn't look real. It was like it didn't even know how to live here. Like it didn't belong."
Then Rinoa's mind stopped circling and part of it exploded. The part where the Guardians were. Diablos opened his wings and leapt out of her mind, flying through the hole in the roof and hanging up there in the Esthar sky. (I didn't summon you!) she protested. (What are you doing?) He didn't answer.
"Rinoa! Why did you call him?" Quistis shouted.
"I didn't. He's angry..."
Then Diablos roared. His scream of fury and defiance rang over the city, echoing through the deserted streets all the way to the suburbs. (Him!) he bellowed inside Rinoa's mind. (He does not belong in this world. He has no right!)
(Umm - what is troubling you, Diablos?) Rinoa tried.
(The Lord of Hell is here. Asmodeus himself. He seeks power to aid him in his fight against my former Master, Mephistopheles. That is forbidden!) The devil sounded out of all reason angry. (There are rules governing transactions between the infernal and material worlds. If all were free to take advantage of your life energies as they wished, your world would fall away and we would perish too. He walks on dangerous ground.)
"What are you two talking about?" demanded Ellone.
"Diablos says - oh, Hyne - he says Hell's real. I think. He says he knows what's happening. Give me a minute." (Could you explain to me what he's doing here? I am only mortal. I have never had occasion to learn the rules.)
(You are not 'only' mortal, Sorceress,) he hissed, slime coating his words. Rinoa suddenly realised where she had experienced the 'taste' of this Asmodeus's mind before. Diablos' mind felt just as unpleasant, just as rotten. (You have power my Master would kill for, were he here to claim it. The Princes of Hell gain strength from life energies freely donated to them. Asmodeus seeks a kingdom on this world so that he can order willing sacrifices to feed his endless hunger. He enthralled the leader of the Galbadian rebels to personally command his venture. When the rebellion failed, he turned the group's attention here. He wants the country. Your knight matters nothing to him save that he is the offspring of the current ruler.)
"Diablos says," Rinoa tried, her voice trembling, "that that was a powerful devil called Asmodeus that's charmed Seifer into stealing it a country."
"Well, it's not having this one," Laguna retorted. "Can you ask your Guardian how to kill the thing?"
(You cannot kill him,) Diablos answered shortly. (But you can weaken him so he cannot persist in material form. Only magic can hurt him, and you cannot affect him at all if he is within the body of another.)
(So if he possesses Seifer again we can't do anything?)
(You would have to kill this Seifer, or render him unconscious. Then Asmodeus will be forced from him and will seek another vessel. If you attack him then, you can prevent him from occupying another soul. If you force him back to Hell, he will not leave. My Master and his allies will attack him while he is weakened and will destroy him permanently.)
(Thank you.) "We've got to drive it out of Seifer first. By killing him."
"Great," Zell muttered.
"Hey, no problem," Selphie shrugged. "We just go to the base, blow Seifer to smithereens, then zap Asmodeus."
"NO," snapped Fujin. "NO KILLING."
"Yeah, Seifer didn't mean to do anything, ya know," Raijin added. "It was kind of a mistake."
"Well, I guess we could knock him cold," Selphie amended.
Quistis looked at Fujin. "So how many soldiers would we have to wade through before getting to Seifer?"
"A couple hundred."
"And how big a chance is there that someone would threaten to kill Squall if we attack Seifer?"
"About a hundred percent," she answered in the same vein.
"Then we can forget about going after Asmodeus at all."
(You cannot!) Diablos roared. (He must die, or his plan might succeed!)
"He's not happy, right?" Laguna checked, pointing to the Guardian Force storming around the sky over the Palace.
"Kind of. He says it's fairly important that we kill it." Something clicked. "Seifer and Asmodeus'll be waiting for us to go after them, or him, or whatever. But right now they won't be expecting anyone to try and rescue Squall, because Seifer told us to kill Asmodeus. We could get him out more easily than ever. So we should go get him, then when he's safe out of the way we'll have a clear shot at Asmodeus without worrying about anyone using a hostage screen."
(It will suffice,) the Guardian Force grumbled. But his anger was diminishing. He turned head over tail one more time, then folded his wings and dived back into Rinoa.
"And you guys can help us get Squall," Selphie added, smiling at Fujin and Raijin. "You can get us in and tell us where to go and cover our tracks and -"
"It won't be easy," Fujin warned. "There's only one way in and it's heavily guarded. And you'd have to pass at least twenty people going down to the cells, and the same number going back up. You'll have to fight your way in and then you really will have him being used as a screen. You'd never make it."
Laguna suddenly grinned. The expression made him look ten years younger. "Never say never. How did you guys get here?"
"We drove."
"Car?" When Raijin nodded, he went on, "How big's the boot?"
Ward caught his eye and smiled. "He says he knew you'd come up with something," Kiros translated.
"Oh, I'm perfect, me."
"What have you thought of, Sir Laguna?" Selphie asked.
He just smiled and turned back to Seifer's posse. "Is there a heat sensor at the front gate?"
"No," Fujin answered slowly, "but there is a weapons detector."
"Then here's what we'll do. You guys're going to drive straight back and tell Seifer I'm coming to talk to him. Make it sound like we're going to use that as a screen to get into the base. But you're going to have a surprise stowed in your boot - two or three of us, who'll go in, steal some weapons, sneak downstairs and get Squall out. When I get there, I'll keep Seifer busy while the infiltration team slip past the other way with Squall. When he's safe, we'll come back in and have a go at that demon."
Kiros was shaking his head frantically. "What are you on? Seifer won't let you take anyone else in with you. If he realises what's going on he'll kill you."
"He won't risk that. And if he takes me hostage, at least you'll know what's happened this time." He glanced round the room. "Any better ideas? No? Then, we got any volunteers?"
"Me," Selphie said at once. "Infiltration's my favourite."
"I'll go too. I don't need weapons," Zell declared.
"Will your gloves get detected?" Quistis checked. Fujin nodded. Zell shrugged.
"I'll wrap tape round my hands. Won't work so well but I won't hurt myself."
"If there isn't an antimagic field I don't really need a weapon either," pointed out Rinoa. "And I'll be able to trace Squall through our link." Ellone's head shot up. Quistis opened her mouth and shut it again. Rinoa tried to send them a signal to stay quiet. Nobody needs to worry about me. I'm pregnant, not incapacitated.
"Antimagic field," snorted Fujin. "The base is temporary."
"Then there isn't a problem." She tried to avoid looking at Elle and Quisty. "We'll go for it. You two tell us the layout of the base," and she turned to Raijin and Fujin, "and then Zell, Selphie and I will get set up and meet at the Palace entrance in an hour. The rest of you should try and get there about half an hour after we do. We don't want to be hiding out for too long after we've found him." She rose and went to the door.
But she could feel Kiros' eyes on her back. "Wait." She paused with her hand on the doorknob. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," she shrugged.
"That's a lie and we all know it. What's wrong, Rinoa?"
"Nothing. I already said."
"So why are Ellone and Quistis jumping like they've got Bite Bugs down their underwear?" Xu put in.
"Umm - they have?" she suggested. She and Kiros shook their heads in unison.
"Come on, Rin, what's the problem?" asked Selphie, getting up to have a better look through the hole in the roof.
No way could she avoid it now. She might as well encourage them to lighten up about it by being deliberately dismissive, no matter how frightened she was of risking herself. "There isn't a problem, Sefie, I'm just pregnant, that's all."
Selphie actually stopped moving. Xu jumped so high her glasses fell off. "You're what?" gasped Zell.
"Pregnant. Going to have a baby. It occasionally happens when men and women have sex. And will you all stop looking at me like that? I haven't lost the use of my legs and arms. There's nothing stopping me going to rescue him."
"Nothing," scoffed Ellone. "You take one blow in the wrong place and you'll lose the child. Then what'll you tell Squall?"
"It's not going to happen, Elle, so stop worrying. We need my magic. Specially if we're going to do anything about Asmodeus." Just a mention of the devil seemed to persuade her a little.
"You still shouldn't be on the inside," Quistis protested.
"The idea is we won't get into any fights."
"How likely is that?" But she stopped and shook her head. "You're right that you'd be invaluable. But -"
"You think I haven't thought about this? It's a risk I'm willing to take." I am. I really am. This honestly doesn't frighten me at all. Listen to yourself, Rinoa.
Selphie smiled tentatively. "It's cute and all but you two've got really bad timing, you know that?" She started scratching the back of one calf with her other foot like a child, the smile falling from her face. She almost looked unsure. "D'you have to come, Rin? I mean, we'd like you along but - I don't know."
"You don't. I do. I know exactly what I'm doing. You've got to trust me, Sefie."
"I guess." She still seemed uncertain but she was starting to perk up again. She was probably imagining herself babysitting.
Rinoa sneaked a look at Laguna. He wasn't happy. If he was remembering Raine and how he'd abandoned her twenty years ago... "Should I start cheering or crying?" he asked quietly, his green eyes wide. Ellone leant over and kissed him.
"Stop that. I know what you're thinking. It wasn't your fault." He closed his eyes for a second and let her soothe him. Rinoa smiled. Hyne knew they were good for each other. She'd seen something starting to build between them two years ago and had spent the past six months continuously amazed that they continued to do nothing about it. She was very glad they'd finally admitted their feelings for each other. Especially now, when Laguna was feeling so vulnerable.
Laguna shouldered Ellone off and turned back to Rinoa. "Don't go. Please? Look, I know what you want, but I can see Squall getting back here and not being too happy with us when we tell him how you got killed."
"Do you want him back at all?"
"That's nasty. Don't you trust your friends?"
"Of course," and she glanced at Selphie and Zell. "But say if we get in and find he isn't where Raijin and Fujin say he should be. I'll know before we've gone too far into the base, and I'll be able to lead us straight to him." Hopefully. "And if that demon realises what we're doing and goes at us, I've got the best chance of stopping it." She didn't add that her powers weren't exactly reliable. Because doing so would mean she started to doubt.
She needed to go. She knew it even if she wasn't sure why.
For once Laguna seemed lost for words. Rinoa turned from him to Kiros, who looked about as happy with the whole situation as Quistis. "I need to go," Rinoa said softly, catching his eyes. He nodded, half-turning away.
"I understand. Don't ask me to like it but I admit it's the only way I can see us rescuing him."
"It'll do, then." She ran her eyes round the room. Nobody spoke. She looked back at them all for one more second, then opened the door and walked out.
Fifty-five minutes later, Rinoa climbed off the Palace lifter, stopped on the concourse and smiled to herself. Selphie and Zell had turned up for the rendezvous as planned, but Quistis wasn't the only one accompanying them. Selphie was standing on tiptoes, waving her hands about expressively, head tilted backwards so she could look into the face of the six foot man with long red-brown hair who was leaning against a pillar in what he thought was a suave attitude. Quistis was alongside Selphie, hands on her hips. Zell was leaning on a pillar in exact imitation of his friend, admittedly because he couldn't stop laughing.
"You're silly, and mean, and idiotic, and annoying..." Selphie squeaked.
"Sefie, love -" Irvine protested.
"And you guys wanted to put me on the sick list." They turned round when Rinoa spoke. Selphie and Irvine both looked ridiculously relieved to see her. They both wanted another supporter. "Irvine, what are you doing out of bed?"
"I got discharged!" he protested. "Doc said I'm fit enough to leave, so I reckon I'm fit enough to go on a night flight with you all. Guys, I'm not asking to go sneaking around after Squall, and I don't want to get into the middle of a fight with a demon. I just think you'll all feel grateful for a sniper sitting on the Ragnarok's ramp to cover your asses when you all come running out of there."
"And you'll stow away on the Ragnarok if we don't say you can come," finished Quistis. He had the grace to look embarrassed.
Rinoa sighed. "You know, Quisty, he's probably right. We could use him in Laguna's backup squad."
"So long as we're sure he doesn't do anything other than play sniper," she retorted.
"Hey, I'm not going to! And will you stop talking about me like I'm not here."
Fujin and Raijin's car drew up outside the Palace. The one-eyed woman stuck her head out of the passenger window. "We got it all nice and comfy for you. Do we have to wait, or will the rest of you really be off in half an hour?"
"We'll make it. Flying's quicker than driving, anyway." Quistis cocked her head at Selphie and Irvine. "You two want to make up?" They glared at each other, and then Selphie jumped into Irvine's arms. He held her just off the floor and kissed her.
"Watch the ribs," he said through the kiss. Selphie moved her hands up without replying.
After a minute or two she wriggled loose. "We can do some more of that later. You two, wave us off."
Rinoa screwed her nose up. "The boot smells of dead fish."
"Yeah, I go down the lake sometimes!" Raijin said defensively. "What's the problem?"
"All the way to the base - never mind." Rinoa scrambled in and tried to make a nest in the blankets. Not even to herself would she admit she shouldn't have come. This was for Squall and for their unborn child. If it was a mistake, it was one she had to make. She sighed to herself and made room for Selphie.
The cell was spinning round, slowly starting to tilt up onto its end. If there had been anything in Squall's stomach he'd have brought it back. "Help", he moaned.
(I'm trying. Nothing's working.)
(What's happening?)
(You spent the last twelve hours out cold because Seifer hit you over the head. I'm not surprised you don't remember. You've got concussion.)
Squall closed his eyes. Some of the nausea retreated. (Which way's down?)
(Why?)
(I need to go get a drink. It'll make me feel better. I can't tell which way the floor is, though.)
(You couldn't walk even if you weren't falling over sick.)
(I'll crawl then.)
(Stubborn as hell, that's you. OK. I'll tell you when you open your eyes.)
He peered at the world through his lashes, letting as little light through them as possible. (This good enough?)
(Down's that way.) Raine somehow indicated a surface that Squall was certain was at a forty-degree angle from the way gravity was pulling him. Appearances had to be wrong. He trusted his mother. Gingerly, he slid his legs off the bed. He wasn't in pain but Raine had been right; he couldn't put any weight on his right ankle. He'd forgotten why. She wouldn't remind him if he asked. He closed his eyes again and went down onto all fours.
"Come on, Leonhart," he urged himself in the whisper that passed for his voice. "Three feet. You can crawl three feet, easy." His body felt so heavy. Such a strain to drag the useless thing along. All for the sake of water that would only prolong his life. But if the sick feeling would just go away he wouldn't really mind living, because Raine was with him.
(Sweet boy.)
(Nobody's ever called me sweet before.) Two feet.
(Rinoa?)
(Almost nobody.) One foot. He stretched out his good hand, but couldn't quite reach the switch. "Another - pace..." and he fell against the wall, energy almost gone, his hands crawling up to the knob. Water trickled into the tray, overflowed, poured down the wall. Squall opened his mouth and just let it run in. He couldn't kneel up high enough to do anything else.
(I feel better now,) he announced after a few minutes.
(I can tell. But you're weakening, Squall.)
(Not my fault. Don't scold me, Mother.) He almost laughed in hysteria. (I'm ill, aren't I?)
(You mean you only just noticed?)
He felt something like a gust of wind flow across his mind. Raine's attention turned away from him as if she wanted to see where the wind had come from. He whimpered as his wrist started to ache - just a little, but he couldn't cope with even a pinprick now. (What is it?)
(Something's happening. I don't -)
And then she was gone from his mind.
NO! Squall screamed out loud as the pain and the loneliness crashed into him and sent him sprawling. (Mother, come back! What did I do? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, don't hate me, come back, please! Please...) But there was no answer. Just the endless echo of his own thoughts bouncing around his crumpled mind.
She's gone. She left without saying goodbye. She must have noticed what I really am. She's realised I deserve the pain. I deserve to be alone in here.
He wept until his eyes were raw, until he lost the strength required for tears, until crying could no longer distract him from the agony Raine had abandoned him to. He couldn't move. His body was twisted, broken past repair. And there was no reason to move anymore. There was nothing left to live for. Nobody liked him. He'd thought Raine did, but if she had liked him she would have stayed as she'd promised.
Maybe if I just stay here nobody'll bother me. Down here in the corner, I'm easy to overlook. I can just stay here till I die. His cowardly eyes started running again. I just wanted to be the kind of person people liked. Is it because I want them to like me that they all go away? Am I not allowed anything I want? Even little things? Am I too bad even for that?
I must be. She's so gentle and kind. She would only leave someone terrible. Maybe it's a good thing she's gone. If she stayed near me I would contaminate her. I love her too much to let that happen.
He stayed there in his corner. The cell could have been the size of the grand ballroom in Laguna's palace and it wouldn't have made any difference; he was locked in a deadlier prison than Seifer's, a mobile one, one surrounding his heart. He was the captive of his own desolation and guilt.
After a little while the door opened and someone started kicking him. He didn't move; he just lay there and hoped the person would go away. When he tried to open his eyes all he could see was a rainbow sunset sky. Distant drums drowned out his tormentor's curses. Stupid Squall. Shouldn't have hoped. Shouldn't have prayed for anything. You know your prayers can never be granted. He started to sob again. This time they were not tears of pain or fear or embarrassment. The truth was simpler. He was nothing but a boy alone in the dark crying for his mother.
The car slowed down. Selphie closed her eyes so she could hear better. It sounded like Raijin was chatting to a gate guard. Then the engine revved again and they drove on. Zell's elbow stopped digging into Selphie's side and Rinoa started breathing again. Selphie hadn't noticed she'd stopped.
She felt the car drive down a ramp - down into the car park, she thought. It braked again; this time they backed into a parking space and stopped properly. Selphie heard Raijin and Fujin unfasten their belts and climb out. One of them closed the door at the same time as the other one unlocked the boot. Selphie told herself to stay still and quiet until they'd gone and she could be sure she couldn't hear anyone else walking around.
In the end she was certain they were alone. She pushed the hatch open and crawled out, shaking her stiff arms and legs. She crouched down and crept forward. She'd been right; there was no-one here. She reached up and beckoned for Rinoa and Zell to join her.
The boot made a noise when Zell closed it. Selphie looked around to see if anyone was coming. When nobody showed, she checked Raijin had left the car in the place he'd wanted, the spot in a corner that the security camera couldn't see, then crept off with the others into the corridor Fujin had told them to use.
When they were far enough away for the camera not to hear them, they stopped. "Can you feel where Squall is?" Selphie whispered.
Rinoa screwed up her nose. "No. I can tell he's somewhere around, but no more than that."
"Then let's go to where he should be." Selphie pushed Zell into the lead. He tiptoed on down the dark passage, Selphie and Rinoa behind him.
Selphie wasn't frightened of small spaces but she felt like the walls were closing in on her anyway. The air smelt stale, which didn't help. She put her hand onto the rough stone wall; it was damp, unpleasant to touch.
Seifer's men had moved into a cave network a lot like the one she'd found further south. They'd taken stonecutters to the walls and floors, and they'd added doors and stairs and electricity and sanitation, but that was it. The whole place was so irregular it hardly made sense to talk about it having floors. Still, that was the way she had to think. They'd come in on the ground floor, most of the living quarters were in the basement, and Squall was locked up in the cellar, the area at the bottom of the cave network. Selphie felt so sorry for him. Irvine had talked to her about his imprisonment, about how afraid and alone he'd been. Being shut up in a dark, damp room for so long you'd thought been forgotten was one of the most horrid things she could think of. She couldn't imagine how Squall was feeling now. But with any luck, she would soon have the chance to cheer him up.
Selphie closed her eyes and pictured the map Fujin had drawn for them. She couldn't remember it perfectly but she knew they had to go through at least three busy areas to get to Squall's prison. Rinoa and Laguna had made it sound like they wouldn't get spotted at all, but Selphie knew better. The trick would be to avoid everyone until after they'd got Squall and after Laguna had turned up to get Seifer's attention. Then at least they wouldn't have too many armed guards to worry about.
After a minute or two Zell stopped suddenly. Selphie opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, but just in time she heard what he had. There was someone ahead of them, walking down the corridor, whistling slightly. A soldier.
Zell looked like he was about to go and ambush the guy, but Rinoa caught him before he could move. She slipped ahead of him and waved a hand. Her lips moved but she didn't make a sound. A cloud of golden faerie dust floated away from her fingers, blowing round the corner like it was caught in a breeze. The soldier's whistling stopped and Selphie heard a thud. She poked her head round the corner. The soldier had fallen over in mid-step. Zell sneaked up to the man, took his gun, stared at him for a moment then hit his head hard. He didn't wake up, as he should have. In fact, he slept even more deeply than ever.
Zell handed Selphie the gun. She turned it round in her hands for a moment. Irvine had taught her to shoot; she wasn't nearly as good as a cadet gun specialist, but she could use the things, and she could tell the difference between kinds of guns too. This one was a machine-pistol, easy to use. She fixed it to her belt.
Zell took the soldier's uniform off and dressed himself in it. "How do I look?"
"Daft," Rinoa snorted. "He's four inches taller than you. And your shoes don't go with the uniform."
"I can't wear his, they're four sizes too big!" Zell pulled the soldier's left boot off and held it next to his foot, proving it. His face lit up. He tugged out the bootlace and used it to tie the soldier's hands. The other lace went round the man's feet, and Zell finished by gagging the guy with his socks. Selphie nodded, satisfied with what he'd done. It wouldn't hold for long but it was better than nothing.
It took them another ten minutes to find the back stair Seifer's posse had told them to use. There weren't many people in this area of the base; the SeeDs were nearly caught several times but nobody actually ran into them. As they crept down the staircase Selphie noticed how scared Rinoa was looking. Selphie felt very sorry for her. After all, she'd come here expecting to see Squall's mind at once. When she knew he was here it must be very strange for her not to be able to tell exactly where he was. Selphie remembered how Rinoa would look up at a door just before Squall came through it, how she would beam at him and receive his own shy smile in return. She loved him, but more than that - she depended on him in a way Selphie could never depend on Irvine. Maybe there's a reason for that. Squall's the most dependable person I know.
Selphie stopped mid-thought and listened hard. "Someone's coming," she whispered, "from that corridor." She pointed to a passage coming off the landing halfway down the staircase. The other two stopped as soon as she warned them; Zell pushed Rinoa back upstairs. Selphie scurried up, passing them. Zell followed more slowly. He didn't need to worry about being seen.
Rinoa and Selphie pressed themselves into the back wall of the stairwell. Zell passed them, going back the way they'd come, so the soldiers would think he was one of them, on patrol. After he'd let his footsteps die away to nothing he crept back to the women; the three of them listened hard.
"This the last one?" Selphie heard a man ask. Another person gave an affirmative-sounding grunt. Something clanged downstairs. "Does the commander think there'll be a break-in?" They'd been discovered? Selphie drew her gun.
The other man snorted. "No enemy high-up would walk into our base without having something up his sleeve. Loire must be covering for a break-in. But after we've closed off this staircase they won't be able to get all the way downstairs without going through two cordons."
Zell mouthed a bad word. Rinoa clenched her fists so hard her nails cut into her hands. Selphie tried not to overreact. So Laguna's plan had worked perfectly. Seifer didn't know they were there; he was still waiting for a break-in, not a break-out. But he'd started setting up so early that he'd caught them anyway.
The soldiers went off, talking about nothing much. Rinoa and Zell relaxed. Selphie put a finger on her lips, waving to the others to stay where they were, and tiptoed down the stairs with her back against the wall. She peered over the banister. They could still go down one floor but not the two they needed. A gate blocked the way to the bottom floor, the floor Squall was imprisoned on. A little black box was attached to the gate's padlock. It would probably raise an alarm if anyone tampered with anything down there.
Selphie crept back up to Zell and Rinoa. "We can't go all the way down," she whispered. "Can you remember if there's another way?"
Rinoa nodded. "It'll be guarded."
"Doesn't matter now. C'mon."
They went down one flight. Zell looked at the alarm but didn't do anything to it. When they entered the next corridor he moved into the lead again. Rinoa and Selphie stayed close to him. "Maybe you should pretend to capture us," Selphie whispered to him.
He shook his head. "I'd have to take you to Seifer. He'd recognise me." Too bad. Selphie consoled herself by deciding it had been a good idea anyway. She looked at her watch. They'd been here twenty minutes. Laguna was due in another ten. If they hadn't been stopped by those soldiers they could have rescued Squall by now. There really wasn't long left before their backup would have to come and go again. Laguna couldn't stay talking to Seifer forever.
Zell had memorised the map just as carefully as Rinoa; he led them through the barracks with no trouble at all. There didn't seem to be a single man off duty. Maybe that shouldn't be surprising. After they'd got into the storage area they started seeing people in ones and twos. Even Zell stayed out of sight when that happened. Seifer's company was so small that his uniform wouldn't fool anyone for long. The real soldiers would know everyone in the base.
After a couple of minutes they reached the room with the other staircase in. Selphie listened hard and decided there was no-one in there. She was about to open the door when Rinoa put a hand on her arm. Selphie gasped; Rinoa's hand was trembling. She pulled Selphie away from the door, threw a storeroom door open and dragged Selphie inside. Zell chased after them. "What -" he started.
"Shush!" Rinoa whispered, putting her ear to the door.
Selphie did the same - and heard someone come into the main room beyond. "No-one here, Seifer," Raijin reported.
"Good," Selphie heard Seifer answer. "I still don't like this. Something's wrong. You're sure Loire will honour the deal by coming unarmed?"
"Yeah," Raijin answered, sounding unhappy about something - probably about lying to Seifer. "And no-one's got a cat's chance in hell of getting down here, ya know. Not with the main stair blocked like it is."
"I'm sure." The two men moved away but they didn't shut the door behind them. Selphie could still hear them talking. "I'll be taking some men out of the cell bay. I'll want them in the main hall when Loire gets here."
"Why? Ya think he'll pull a fast one? Have his mates crash the party?"
"Yes. They'll come in to try and get to Squall. I want them to have to think about something else. If Loire doesn't come up with something good to show me he's not just here for decoration, I'll have a gun to his head before he can blink."
Selphie caught her breath as Raijin said, "I don't think that's a good idea, Seif. I mean, attacking the guy 'cause you don't like what he says -"
"I think it's a great idea, thanks, Raijin," Seifer interrupted in a tone that meant 'this conversation is over'. "If he's fool enough to try it on, we'll get him. No escape."
The voices faded away to nothing. Rinoa wriggled away from Selphie and whispered, "The way they were talking the route downstairs is blocked."
Selphie found the light switch. "The way Seifer was talking," she retorted, "Sir Laguna's going to get jumped as soon as he gets here. We can't let that happen!"
Zell gave her a little shake, which from him was quite forceful. "Cool it. If we can't get out of here, we can't do nothing for Squall or Laguna."
"Wait." It was Rinoa, standing there with such a strange look on her face. "I think I know how to work out what we can and can't do. Elle didn't mean to, but she showed me..."
She closed her eyes. Her wings opened. Selphie hesitated, told herself she didn't need to be scared of her friend, and reached out and touched the edge of the nearest pure white wing. The feathers were so soft she could hardly feel them. Then Rinoa opened her eyes, and the wing melted away from Selphie's hand like the powder snow that she'd played with in Trabia when she was little. "I understand," she said softly.
"Rin?" Zell prompted.
"Huh? Oh, that." She shook her head, looking almost annoyed with herself. "By mistake, Elle showed me how to use my powers to touch other people's minds. I know where Squall is -"
"Oh, yeah!" Zell erupted, then looked around guiltily and calmed down.
Rinoa held up a finger in warning. "I know where he is because there's a barrier round his mind. I'd attract the attention of whatever put it there if I tried to shift it. There's one round Seifer's mind as well."
"So Asmodeus probably put them up," Selphie suggested.
"It feels like it. Anyway, there's lots of other minds - people - round where Squall is. There's way too many to fight. We can only get down if I can put up an illusion to hide us from them. I know I could hide myself, but I'm not sure if I can manage you two, and I don't fancy going down alone. Specially if he's too badly hurt for curative magic to heal him properly. I can't carry him, not without using a Float on him at least, and if I did that I couldn't keep up the illusion." She scowled, then went on, "Seifer's waiting for Laguna; he's got a few soldiers with him and lots more in hiding in the area. They're kind of trigger-happy."
Selphie stamped her foot. "We've got to warn him."
"That's the other thing. The Ragnarok just landed outside. I can talk to Elle, get her to warn everyone, but I think Laguna's left already - hold on -" She closed her eyes again, this time staying silent for only a few moments. "She hears me. She's telling Laguna he's going into a trap. He's got Ward and Quistis with him, and they're armed. Kiros and Ellone will follow if there's trouble, leaving Irvine to guard the ship."
"So what can we do to help?" Zell looked from one woman to the other like he was expecting some brilliant plan. Selphie didn't know what to say. There were so many things they had to do -
And so very few that they could do. "I know!" she said, pulling the other two into a huddle. "Listen up. We can't do anything about Squall right now - yeah, Rinoa?" She nodded. "OK, then," Selphie went on. "The problem is all the people in the way. So we get them out of the way - by attacking the people who are going to attack Sir Laguna. That gets him off the hook too. We go for them, we get all Seifer's people's attention upstairs, then we double back downstairs and get Squall out once everything's under control up here."
"If we can't get downstairs to Squall, how can we get upstairs to Seifer?" Zell challenged her.
"I don't know. Rinoa?"
The sorceress thought for a moment, head tipped to the side, eyes closed. "We can't," she said slowly after a moment. "But what we could do is hide just outside the room and jump on them when they go for Laguna."
"Then let's do it!" Selphie said impatiently. She marched out of the storeroom and opened the door into the stairwell. Rinoa caught her up and Zell slipped past her. Selphie heard a couple of soldiers moving around above her, then she heard Zell exchange a word of greeting with the other people, and then she heard the unmistakable sound of one man hitting another. She hurried upstairs. Zell was breathing as lightly as ever, pulling the unconscious bodies of two men into a side passage out of the way. He caught her eye and grinned.
"Want to switch clothes?" he whispered. She nodded and helped him strip the two. Rinoa caught them up and, like Selphie, hurriedly changed. When they were done they slipped out of the side passage. Behind a door up ahead of them, Selphie could hear people moving around quietly. That had to be the soldiers waiting to attack Laguna.
Rinoa touched Selphie's arm. "They won't pay attention to us," she whispered to the two SeeDs, "but we won't really be invisible." Selphie nodded. She pushed open the door.
About twenty men were standing around in the next room, all carrying weapons. The ceiling in here was quite high. The way the roof sloped suggested the room beyond was even bigger. The door on the back wall was open a crack. She could hear voices coming through it. One was Seifer's. The other was Laguna's. Selphie closed her hand round her gun and waited for things to start happening.
(to be continued...)
