Yes, I am sorry for the delay! I was unhappy with the story for a while. But I'm back!
Review, pretty please!
Disclaimer: Still don't own FF8
Part IX:
"Squall!"
The pounding on the door was awakening him from the most wonderful dream. Rinoa was...
"SQUALL!"
Rinoa was...
"SQUALL WAKE UP, IT'S IMPORTANT!"
Dammit, Selphie... Squall cracked an eye open. It wasn't all a dream. Rinoa was sleeping peacefully next to him. The IV had been removed and she was recovering. She had woken up once since losing her powers, grabbed his hand and had fallen asleep again. Squall had remained at her side faithfully. Once she had woken the first time, he had finally allowed himself to relax slightly. One thing he was sure of was that she felt... different. He didn't feel differently about her but she herself, felt different, the feeling in the room, the buzz that emanated from her body, was gone. Will that change us?
"Squall, I'm coming in!"
Squall grumbled and pulled himself out of the bed, dashing to the door just as Selphie was bursting in, "What?"
Selphie looked apologetic, "Is she..."
Squall nodded, "Yeah, she's okay, I think. What is it?"
Selphie shook her head, "Sorry, yeah, um... it's Quistis, she's... she's gone."
"Gone? What do you mean?"
"I mean, she's not in her room. Her stuff is gone. She's gone."
Mia...
The past few days had been taxing to say the least. Rinoa's injury had been life threatening, but Mia had healed her with strategically placed albeit risky timing. Mia had successfully inherited the power of the Sorceress from Rinoa. Rinoa herself had mixed feelings. In a lot of ways she felt free, her life had opened up again and she didn't have to live in fear. On the other hand she worried about her relationship with Squall.
Maybe their closeness was merely because she had become a Sorceress? Maybe it was a spell... lust and not love. On top of her concern regarding Squall, she also felt alone. In a strange way, having the presence of dozens of Sorceresses before her made her never feel alone. Not that she was having voices in her head, but it was a presence, like a dull hum of electricity constantly coursing through her body. Now, she just felt cold. At least the IV was out of her arm, not having cold saline coursing through her veins was a start to normalcy.
Rinoa knew that Mia thought she was doing Rinoa a favor. She understood and had seen it in her mind before the whole thing played out before her. The last thing she heard in her sister's mind was You're free..
On top of all of this, the most troubling thing to Rinoa was: What next? The Chancellor was nothing like Vinzer Deling, and Rinoa had a hard time believing that he would go on an all out war to take over the world. On top of that, Rinoa had trouble believing that Mia would support that. Garden's objective was to stop the Sorceress, now that Squall would no longer be in their way, did that mean they would go after Mia no matter what?
Rinoa felt like she was 5 years old again. She felt small, confused and vulnerable, and she had no idea what was right, and what was wrong.
Then, there was also this morning's news of Quistis. The whole group had planned on a meeting to take place at her father's that evening. Ellone, apparently, had decided to come as well, in order to support Squall.
Her reverie was broken by Zell knocking gently on her door. "Rin, everyone is downstairs. You feel up to coming?"
Rinoa smiled, she was more than eager to try walking, "Yeah, can you help me, Zell?"
Zell opened the door, "But of course." He offered his arm to her, gently helping her out of the bed, "Try not to be amazed by my studliness. I don't want Squall getting jealous."
Rinoa rolled her eyes, "Just don't let me fall."
They made their way down the stairs, Rinoa actually walking most of the way down the hallway herself, and only needing 2 balance checks from Zell on the stairs. She entered the living room to find her friends (minus Quistis), Ellone and Caraway.
Squall offered her a small smile, as much of one as he could muster in front of people, and took her arm, "It's good to see you up." He said softly, willing no one else to hear.
Rinoa gave his arm a small squeeze, "I feel a lot better. Weird. But, I don't feel like I'm going to faint all the time anymore."
Selphie bounced up and gave Rinoa a quick hug, "You look the same to me."
"I would hope so," Rinoa smiled through her teeth. This is what she was afraid of. Suddenly she was different... again.
They all took their seats. Squall sitting next to Rinoa and glancing over at her like a hawk watches its nest. No one spoke.
Finally it was Irvine who broke the silence, "Ah, hell, I'm just gonna say it. Am I the only one who thinks it's damn near obvious that we are royally fucked?"
Selphie glared at him, "Irvy..."
Irvine shook his head, "No, no more of this bullshit. I'm gonna say it, darlin. We got a crazy Sorceress, no offense Rin.."
"None taken."
"Anyway, crazy Sorceress with the most powerful politician on the globe. Yeah, I'm just gonna go ahead and say let 'em do their thing. This is not a battle we are gonna win."
Squall shook his head, "She's an unstable Sorceress with a politician. Not an army."
"She also has Seifer, and probably Quistis..." Selphie added.
"And Galbadia."
All heads turned towards Caraway, who chose to enter the conversation at that time, he continued, "I'm not going to fail her again. Mia is my daughter, Galbadia isn't going to fight her. I'm not saying we will fight FOR her, but we aren't going to fight against her."
Rinoa looked over at Caraway and for the first time in a long time actually SAW him Dad... "I won't either." Rinoa said softly.
Caraway smiled as much as a man as stoic as him could at her daughter, "The same was true for you, you know."
Rinoa nodded, then turned towards Squall. In the end, Garden would follow Squall. But what would he decide?
Squall stayed quiet. Galbadia... Do we wait to see if Mia becomes aggressive? I'm sure she will try to get to Esthar. The Chancellor no doubt will want to get there too. I wonder what Cid is thinking.
Rinoa nudged him, "We can't hear you think." She then added softly, "Not even me, anymore..."
Squall nodded, "We need to talk to Cid. I... I want to see what Mia does. I'm not sure what she's planning. I assume she will go into Esthar, I'm just not sure how hostile she is."
Selphie hmmed, "Mia's not violent."
Irvine, Squall and Zell simultaneously coughed.
Selphie shook her head, "no, I mean, she's not unnecessarily violent. She's an assassin, she kills people that need to be killed. She's not a soldier. I can't really see her starting a war campaign."
Irvine nodded, "She has a point. She works alone on a small intimate scale."
Selphie continued, "I wish... she never gave any indication. I mean, I know she loved Sir Laguna but... I wish we knew what she was thinking."
An idea suddenly came to Rinoa. She looked over at the one person in the room who had yet to speak, "Ellone. Send me to her. Put me in Mia's mind."
Ellone bit her lip, "Rinoa... she's a Sorceress, she'll know you're there and... what if-"
Rinoa cut her off, "Mia won't care if I'm there, just... trust me. Send me, Ellone."
Squall nodded, "Me too. To Seifer."
Ellone sighed, "Okay, may as well lay down comfortably..."
Squall found himself looking through the eyes of Seifer, at none other than Quistis Trepe. At least that was partially expected. Still, Quistis leaving Garden in the middle of the night was a shock. Quistis, the epitome of rules, regulation and discipline. She, had deserted. Then again, Quistis had been doing some background work on Cid prior to coming to Deling, maybe Quistis had been on to something that was going on in Garden?
"You shouldn't be here, Quistis..." Seifer murmured softly.
"I don't care. W ho said a Sorceress can only have one knight?" Quistis pushed past Seifer, "Where's Mia?"
"I should have known you'd find us. I'm sure she already knows you're here. She's in the office, come on."
Quistis smiled shyly at the other blonde, Seifer smiled in return, "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here."
They made their way into the Timber Maniac's building where Mia and Seifer had set up temporary headquarters while the Chancellor was away doing "diplomacy".
Rinoa, meanwhile, found herself in Mia's mind. It was busy. She could tell she wasn't alone, the hum of past Sorceress dwelled within there, a hum that Rinoa had become accustomed to when she had the powers. It had taken time though, which was part of the reason Rinoa had stayed in a coma so long. Rinoa wasn't sure how Mia would be able to take it, especially as fragile as she was. Mia was sitting in the editor's chair in the office of the Timber Maniac's building. A man, clearly military, was handing her a beautiful gold bracelet with stones adorning it. Odine Bangle...
Mia reached for it without hesitation, toying with it between her hands, "Beautiful. This is lovely craftsmanship..."
The confused looking SeeD (or so Rinoa assumed), nodded, "Um, yes, a gift for the Sorceress."
Mia's eyes flashed, "From Garden? How generous."
It was at that time that Quistis and Seifer entered the room. Quistis reached for her whip, but Seifer put a hand in front of her, motioning her to be quiet.
Mia smiled brilliantly at the SeeD, handing the bracelet back to him, "Go ahead and put it on us, SeeD." She held out her wrist, "We would never refuse such a beautiful gift."
"Mia..." Quistis warned.
Mia held up a silencing hand as the bracelet clicked shut. The air in the room changed and felt dry. Mia gasped and Rinoa noticed that the hum in her mind was immediately shut out, "Do you know... they called me Dragon." She began, seemingly random.
The SeeD stared at her, shocked at how easy it had been, too shocked to remember to reach for her weapon and contain her.
Mia placed a hand on the SeeD's cheek, staring into his eyes, "You are so young..." She traced her finger along his cheek and over his lips before sensually running it along his arm towards her body, where she began to un button her blouse. The SeeD stood, bewildered. Mia shrugged the top off, the other 3 occupants of the room entranced. Even without the Sorceress power, she was casting an enchantment on all of them. Mia turned around, the dragon tattoo on her back in full view, "Beautiful, isn't it?"
The SeeD nodded, in awe. He was supposed to try to kill her, wasn't he? Right? Right. He was here to assassinate her! As he reached for his gun he was stopped as an excruciating pain split down his arm. The man looked to find a small puncture on the inside of his upper arm. It wasn't bleeding much, but the pain... it was like fire was cascading down his entire arm and through his finger tips. It was relentless. On top of that, he couldn't move his hand, it was limp and unresponsive.
"Brachial nerve...whoops," Mia murmured as she wiped her pin on the man's uniform jacket after pulling it from the SeeD's arm, Mia continued, the man less threatening now that his gun arm was out of commission, and the pain would most likely prevent him from doing anything any time soon, "Do you know how many men would see this tattoo and realized who they had just let in their house? The fear is incredible... when they realize the pretty girl is the Dragon, sent to kill them. The moment they realize there is absolutely nothing they can do. That they are going to die."
Mia's eyes clouded over as she traced the tip of her hair pin along the SeeDs cheek and lips, where her hand had been a moment before, "The things people would tell me before death, you have no idea... and the eyes. They say it all."
The SeeD gulped audibly as Seifer and Quistis watched, unsure of what Mia was going to do next.
Mia smiled and quickly whipped her pin into the other arm as the man screamed, now paralyzed on both sides. He hadn't even seen her move. Mia smiled at him, "Don't worry, I won't kill you... you won't be much of a SeeD without use of your arms anymore anyway."
"Wh..What?"
"Since I'm letting you live though, SeeD, I need you to do me a teeny tiny favor."
The SeeD was now on his knees in pain, arms dangling helplessly at his side. She had done this... and the bracelet was on. He had missed his chance.
Mia crouched down and grabbed the man's jaw, turning his face towards her, "Go tell Cid what you saw. That I don't even need to be the Sorceress to destroy every single one of you SeeD... you go back to Garden and tell him, I'm coming." With that she grabbed the SeeD by the collar and pulled him up to a standing position, shoving him towards the door. He scrambled towards the exit for dear life, past Seifer and Quistis.
Mia held her Odine bangle adorned wrist towards Seifer, "Get this pathetic thing off." She then added more loudly, "And you, little SeeD. You better run fast, no telling what I'll do when I get my magic back."
Seifer walked towards Mia and unclasped the Odine bangle from her wrist. The air changed again, and Rinoa felt the buzzing begin in Mia's mind again, "Ah... we feel so much better..." She said before looking towards Quistis, "Welcome home, Queen."
Quistis smiled, "I'm with you, Mia. I'll keep you level, just like I promised."
Mia smiled, giving the girl's hand a squeeze, "We hope you heard that, Rinoa..."
Rinoa and Squall awoke with a start, being pushed from Mia's mind. Mia had indeed, known they were there and did not care. Mia was coming after Garden. With Quistis, who knew every single in and out of Garden, backing her up. They hoped that Quistis and Seifer were there to also keep Mia in check and maybe, JUST maybe sort this thing out without chaos. Then again, the Chancellor who Mia was backing was currently at the World Council declaring himself an autocrat. Maybe he was a benevolent dictator...
One thing was for sure: Garden was in trouble, Cid was as good as dead, Galbadia would give their army to defend Mia, if needed, and Rinoa, in no way wanted to hurt her sister.
Things were at least going to get very interesting. Squall, for once in his life, had no idea where to stand.
A/N: Okay, a few things. First of all, I'm back on this fic. YAY. I know where I'm going. So I will update soon, I just wanted to give a little something. I am thinking of going back and editing (hard core) some previous chapters that I'm not super happy with.
Regarding the "we" and "us" that Mia is using, yes when she has her Sorceress powers she refers to herself as a "we" (her and the other Sorceresses of past) so when the bangle was on she is "I" again. A little Lord of the Rings, but hey...
Reviews are always welcome...
