"The Third Sorceress War, Act III: Terra Incognita"
9. Deliverers
(Declamation, IX)
Selphie's skin crawled at the feeling of warm, running water – each droplet trickling down raised a different hair. She ran the shower for what seemed like hours. The water, the shampoo and the soap gently washed away the gin, the sleepless days, the lack of sunlight and the state of constant delirium. Her mind started to slip back into order as the water trickled down and pooled at her feet, and she was finally able to think clearly, despite the headache.
She finished her shower with a feeling of revitalization. She wiped the water vapor from the mirror with her hand and looked at herself. Bloodshot eyes, sunken and with circles around them, sunken cheeks... she looked beaten.
Not yet. There'd be time to go over herself. It wasn't what she wanted to do. She returned to the room and, treading over the pages strewn across the floor, reached the comm-station. She sat down, feeling the water dripping off of the strands of her hair. She tapped through the menus and located the call list. She called up Ellone's room. For a few moments, the phone icon on the screen rotated, and then, Ellone's face appeared on the screen. She looked tired, tired and miserable. She glared at her for a few moments, as if trying to make sense of this sudden call.
"Selphie..?"
"Hello, Elle."
"Where were you?"
"In my room... in our room."
"How are you now?"
"Seen better days. You look terrible."
"I've seen better days, too."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
Selphie hesitated.
"Elle, I wanna try again."
Ellone sighed in relief.
"I was getting worried about Brea."
"Brea?"
"She's the only one constantly going under. All the others only tried once."
Selphie bit her lower lip. She, too, had only tried once and what she had experienced... she had emerged having drawn her conclusions and with no intention of going under again. She shivered at the thought of someone repeatedly subjecting herself to that.
"I wanna try." Selphie repeated, "Try again and make it this time."
"I'm not sure if we will... I'm not sure that I can."
"I have to try, Elle. I took what I saw as proof that he was dead. I never considered another possibility. I owe it to him to try again."
"...okay. I'll be down in fifteen minutes."
"I'll see you."
The screen went blank.
Selphie got up and went to the wardrobe. The articles of clothing that she put on slowly draped over her a sense of grounding. Fresh underwear, her undershirt. The white, button-up shirt. And then, her uniform, the uniform of the Lieutenant General, the Second War veteran, a soldier in the Third War. When she finished securing her tie in place, she felt at home.
She got out of her room and felt that the hallway, simple as it was, was alien to her. The strange colors (turquoise and gold, just like the rest of the palace), the peculiar way that it seemed to go on in both directions, the chillier temperature... She felt needlessly exposed. She didn't want to keep Ellone waiting so she made her way down to the kitchens first and acquired her usual sandwich, not wanting to go down on an empty stomach on top of her hangover. However, something had changed. The ingredients were the same, the taste was approximately the same (it was less watered down by copious amounts of gin) but it was somehow texture-less, tasteless. She ate half of it before deciding that throwing up all over the carpet wasn't such a good idea, and discarded it at the nearest garbage bin.
Selphie went down to the lab and found them waiting. Ellone was sitting on her recliner, rubbing her temples. Kiros, Ward and Mir were all in attendance, but there was also a woman there. Her white, well-starched outfit and Estharian red cross told Selphie that she was a nurse.
Upon seeing her, Kiros and Ward smiled gently in greeting, and Mir saluted her. Selphie could only answer with a weak smile. The anticipation of what was to come made her hands cold.
"Elle... are you okay?" Selphie asked as she settled into her place.
"It's just a headache." Ellone said, "It's nothing."
Ward let out a hum.
"It isn't nothing." Kiros said, "Today will be your last attempt for a while. You need to rest, Elle."
"I'm fine." Ellone said, "Can we please just get on with this..? I didn't get much sleep last night..."
Selphie thought that she hadn't gotten much sleep any night lately.
"Are you ready?" Ellone asked.
Selphie leaned back and the recliner shifted until she was almost lying down completely. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her heart was pounding. She thought of Squall.
"I'm ready." She said.