Barbed Wire
Part V: Salvages
Selphie:
"This is your last chance, Leonhart, where is it?"
General Carraway's voice traveled from the top of the big monster thingy down to us. I winced at Squall, who was directly under the monster's tail. The stinger was pointed at his throat.
He's asking Squall that "it" again. I still didn't know what they're talking about. I was very close to find out, if only the radio had been kept on during the entire time that lady and General were in Squall's office. All I knew was that the lady stopped whipping Squall and gave her lieutenant some instructions, then Quistis crashed in our captive room and got all of us out. Some soldier shot the radio when they're trying to stop her, so I missed everything after that. We were thinking about going upstairs and rescue everyone when we saw Irvine and Squall dashed in a classroom further down the hall. So we all changed course and met there.
And now we're here.
Blocked off our way. All beat up but nowhere near defeated. No, I won't allow it! We could still fight!
Squall kept silent. I looked around and noticed that it got super quiet around here. Irvine was bandaging Quistis' wound from the acid spit; both of their eyes were fixed on Squall. So was Seifer's. His eyes looked weird, though; they had been like that ever since I saw him. Mai was damping Jen's forehead and wiping away drippy blood. Matt was grumbling while taking care of his wrist; I think he broke it. And I was peeling part of Steve's acid-eaten pants off so I could actually try to clean the wound, then use the last Elixir I had on him. He needed it more than I did. And Zell . . .
Zell?
Hey, where did he go?
"No?" General Carraway asked again.
Squall was trying hard to stay conscious. His skin looked absolutely blue and from every breath he took it looked like he was in pain. Poor baby! "You're going to have to kill me and ask me with Hades." He replied.
Seifer must've noticed how extremely strained Squall's voice was. He started to crawl to him, but stopped when the tail moved closer to Squall's slender throat as a warning. Bad tail. Hmm, I needed to get rid of it. I needed to throw something. Throw, throw, throw . . .
"Is that the case? Well then, you leave me no choice," General Carraway shrugged nonchalantly. "If I can't have the Energy Orb, then no one else will. Simple as that."
Energy Orb? That's what they're talking about. I figured it out now! Yeah!
What's an Energy Orb?
The tail suddenly coiled back up and the monster hissed. Seifer took that moment to dove next to Squall, whose eyes shut closed and collapsed. Seifer caught him, leaving a trail of red on the floor behind.
No no no no! They're going to get killed! I wanted to jump up and do my Limit Break and everything, but I felt myself glued from tiredness. I can't get tired! Not now!
"God have mercy, God have mercy." Mai mumbled as she and Jen came near me and Steve. "Let it be painless and quick. But please no dying. No dying yet . . ."
"Augh, shut up," Jen growled at her. "Take it like a girl!"
The monster hissed angrily again and took a huge breath. If the previous breaths were little and still wrecked us to this state, this one's humongous. Oh Lord, here we go. We're so going to die. I wasn't ready to die yet. I wasn't ready. We shouldn't. I mean . . .
Whoosh.
Augh!
Buzzzzzzzzz. Crackle. Pop.
Huh?
Heeeeyyyyyyyy! Why did all the lights go out? It's dark.
I couldn't see anything. Pitch black is no fun.
The monster suddenly stopped hissing and roared. But it didn't attack. Wait, maybe it requires light to attack. Yeah, because it had to focus on one target and then concentrate all its energy to that target, that's why it could do so much damage to us in the first place. So if there's no visual it pretty much couldn't do anything.
Brilliant plan! Who turned off the main power? Waitasecond, isn't main power's box somewhere in the Training Center? Everyone's here, except . . .
Zell! My Zelly, of course! He must've snuck away and shut off the power like Squall requested. I clapped once, then stopped when the monster roared again.
Okay, monster still here. But it couldn't see us. And we're in no condition to run and stab it or something like that because we couldn't see well and I really didn't think anyone had the energy left. So wouldn't it be wise if we –
"RUN!"
I didn't know who yelled that, but my body obeyed as soon as the message reached my head. I hopped up, bumped right into someone, and grabbed that person's wrist and started to run.
"Hey, where're we going?" It's Mai.
I was about to say "I don't know" when General Carraway's voice cut in again.
"Don't let them get away! Attack!"
Shuffles. Movements. Sounds of glass striking the floor.
Glass striking the floor? Glass . . . Yikes! The monster's just shooting off random destructions now? Move, move!
"Uh, Selph, which way?"
Good question. Uh, we're trying to get outside. Training Center leads to outside. To get to Training Center we needed to go past the monster, which was blocking the entire passageway. So by hallway we couldn't go forward. Backwards was way too long and I didn't trust anyone fighting in darkness against hoards of Galbadians. What's this ledge that my hands' rested on?
Fountain side! Water fountain! Circling water fountain!
"This way!" I said to Mai, quietly. Then I flipped over the edge and slipped in the water. She followed soundlessly.
Poo poo poo, uh-oh, stuff's falling in the water with us. It's behind us. And moving.
"Mai, swim as fast as you can!" I murmured to her. Then I started to swim like crazy. The water's not that deep, but it's manageable for swimming.
Ouch! Something grazed my left arm and the water stun my skin now. Faster faster!
"Ow!" Mai choked on some water. She's not that far back. Good.
Uh, where's Jen and Matt and Steve? I figured Seifer and the rest had gone to carry out that other plan they told us. But we Trabia Garden students all needed to get to the Training Center. Here's Mai. How did they get past the monster? Where is the monster?
I didn't like this total darkness idea too much now.
Splash splash splash. Huh? That's not me or Mai. "Who's down here?" I hissed back.
"It's the rest of us!" Mai exclaimed. A little too loudly. More roar from the big bad beastie. I heard Jen shush her from behind.
So we're all swimming furiously now? You know, if I wasn't scared out of my wits for fear of my short life being cut even shorter, this whole situation was pretty funny. Swimming in the Garden fountain was unheard of. Unless you count . . . uh, no.
"Um, Selph?" Mai again. "Where's the Training Center?"
"Right after the dorms!" I replied.
"No, I mean, where do we stop?"
Oops.
"HEY, YOU PEOPLE! THIS WAY!"
It's Zell's voice. Yeah! I immediately stopped, causing Mai to bump into me. I jumped over the ledge and raced toward the sound. I vaguely saw a door connected with a hallway, glowing green. Training Center!
And gunfire and more glass shards. Need to move faster still! My legs' tired.
"Wait up! Where are y'all?" Steve hollered from behind, which only invited more gunfire and more roaring. The monster thingy hadn't move, though. It couldn't move?
"Right here!" Mai called back. Wet floppy sound grazed the floor. We're all soaked to the bone. Water's cold.
We smashed into the Training Center's lush hallway. All were stumbling and pretty much out of breath. I looked back and saw Mai had slowed down next to Steve and helping him along, because he was limping pretty badly. Jen's head was bleeding again. Matt's arm was awkward looking; left wrist definitely broken. My own feet were killing me, especially my ankles. We're a nice lot.
Oof, I stumbled as my feet gave out under me. Yikes, hard linoleum incoming.
But instead, I landed right into Zell's arms. It was like a big human cushion and it felt very . . . nice. I looked up and saw him smiling. "You okay?" He asked.
I nodded. "Uh-huh." I then looked back at my friends. They were all right behind me. I turned back to Zell. "Let's go."
"Yeah, let's seriously get out of here. I'm discovering that I certainly am allergic to Balamb, in all senses." Jen huffed.
"Hey, be nice," Mai told her. "But you're right in a way, we need to seriously get out."
"Well, come on, it's right ahead." Zell gestured further into the jungle. We all followed him closely toward the Secret Area. Whee, I'm getting out!
We zoomed past the vegetation, straight to the SA. Zell pushed open the grey door and the humid night air greeted us full blast. It felt soooooo great! I took in a deep breath. Being cooped up in one building for a whole day is like living without sunshine. The sun had just sunk below the horizon. Pretty!
"Yes! Freedom!" Mai exclaimed loudly.
"It's . . . a balcony. So how do we do this?" Jen questioned. "We jump?"
I looked at her. Yeah, of course. Jump. It's not that high off the ground. The Garden wasn't flying.
"Let me make one small suggestion, though," Steve looked down from the ledge. "We should partner up. We're all in bad shape, and this jump is kinda high. Just in case, you know, Imp."
"Imp?" Zell frowned.
"Like, you never know when they'll pop up and if they do, they're quite deadly." Mai translated. "I agree. So you're my honored partner, Jee."
Steve beamed. Aha, I knew there's something going on with those two! Tee-hee.
A hand closed on mine. Zell. He dragged me up the ledge and we looked down at the ground. Once we jump down, the Esthar soldiers were just a few meters away from the parameter. We could definitely hold off those patrolling Galbadians far enough to be greeted by friends.
"Ready?" Zell asked.
"As I'll ever be." I replied.
He grinned and leaned over, placed a light kiss on my temple, and hopped off the ledge. I felt myself being tugged, and gladly followed down.
Wheeeeeeeee!
Quistis:
I stumbled into the dark halls, feeling my way with my hands tightly around the curve of the walls. I knew the Dormitory was ahead. Room number, what was it? 148. That's right. It should be somewhere further to the left . . .
A rapid succession of gunfire forced me to stop wandering and clung to the surface. Bullets grazed past me, missing by millimeters. I etched forward, only to feel a deep pain invading my left arm. Oh!
Someone grabbed my wrist from behind and yanked me suddenly into an open doorway. Open? Before I could protest, I was already in the room and lying on the floor. He landed on top of me and whispered in my ear, "Boo!"
Ugh, I groaned. Irvine. "Get off me. You scared the living daylights out of me!"
He chuckled. "I yelled 'run', dear, not 'run toward the gunfire which can promptly kill you.' "
"Oh, shut up."
"Quistis? Irvine?"
We both jumped and Irvine flew off at the sound of that interruption. I heard him fumbling with something and a second later, a faint light glowered in the room. The flashlight beam landed on Seifer's blood-soaked form, with a still unconscious Squall beside him.
"I knew there's a reason that door's open," Irvine grumbled. "Isn't this a nice big coincidence?"
"Nice thought, Kinneas, I left it accessible for you." Seifer smirked and got up. He walked to the door, punched in a few numbers, then the door clicked. Ah, Squall's bypass code to everything. It suddenly occurred to me that Seifer knew more than anyone, save Squall, about the Garden.
The idea was . . . comforting. I almost smiled, until I realized what I was doing and stopped myself midway. Now was not a time to be pleased about.
"Girl, your arm's still bleeding," Irvine informed me quietly.
Oh, well, that could be taken care of easily. Once I find some light, that is. "Can we have more light?"
"No, the Galbadians would –"
"Of course,"
Irvine gazed at Seifer questioningly. "Isn't the power totally gone?"
"We have a very sufficient back-up system, which the Galbadian bastards will never find." Seifer smirked again. "You just have to know the code to use it."
At that, he walked to the code box again and typed in something else. Immediately, a faint but very satisfactory light came on in the room. The brightness disturbed Squall, who woke up and rubbed his eyes.
I looked around the room now. It was a regular double dorm room, belonged to two male students, apparently. I took off the jacket I wore, exposing the layered bandages on my chest. I dumped all my items on the floor. Time for some doctor business. We all have to patch up before venturing further into our mission.
"What're you doing?" Seifer came and crawled next to me. More like dropped; he was tired. That and there was a huge gash in the middle of his torso. The blood had already clotted.
"Playing doctor, what do you think she's doing?" Irvine dumped all his remaining items on top of my pile, along with the bandages he brought. I was very glad that he brought enough gauzes and things. "Yours, too." He said to Seifer.
We had more items left than I had thought. At least for now. I removed a small scalpel and a tweezer from my belt, then proceeded to take out the bullet that lodged in my left arm. It wasn't deep, so I got hold of it quite easily and started to remove it. The pain was bearable, but I still received astonished looks from the men in the room. It's kind of funny that they're this squeamish.
"Do you always do things this way?" Seifer asked.
"Of course, I'm the doctor's assistant." I shrugged as I put the bullet on the floor. "I'm used to this."
I looked around for an Elixir, but Irvine took my arm in his hands. He poured the Elixir fluidly on my wound. The pain disappeared and my skin closed, leaving nothing on the skin but a bluish bruise. I smiled and kissed him on his nose. He moved and captured my mouth with his own. I was lost in the kiss for a minute before I remembered how wrong the timing was. I pulled back, still smiling, and started to gather up some items.
"Take care of Seifer. I'll care for Squall." I instructed Irvine.
He raises his eyebrows. "Why should I shoulder the responsibility for this dimwit?"
"Don't value yourself so high, cowboy, it's not like I'm whooping with joy." Seifer frowned.
"Because," I cut in before their insults start again, "Squall's case is more severe. And judging from you two's bickering, you're both fine."
Seifer scoffed. Irvine smiled a little; he understood me. My big sister attitude for Squall made me determined to find out what was wrong. He hadn't spoken this entire time, probably not even in his own head like he usually does. That itself spelled trouble. I inched next to him and dropped the items by his feet.
"Here," I handed him a Remedy. "Drink this. You look terrible."
"I feel like shit," he retorted, snatching the bottle from me and downed it in one gulp. The black tint on his torso lightened and faded into normal skin color. Detoxified. That's taken care off. Good.
"Lie on your stomach," I told him.
Squall looked at me and raised one eyebrow. If I hadn't know that he's gay and in love with someone, and I wasn't in love with someone myself, and the circumstances were different, that expression could be misinterpreted into a sign of seduction.
His eyes, however, were still blank, like empty glass. I sighed at that thought. "Lie on your stomach and let me get the arrowhead out."
This time he looked surprised, "You saw that?"
"No," I told him truthfully, "Irvine told me."
He nodded slightly, then complied. I winced when I saw the numerous scars on his body, and the dried blood around the hole where the arrowhead had sunk. I took my scalpel and chipped away the blood clot, which caused fresh blood to again start flowing. That couldn't be helped. I then took my tweezer and was prepared to use the same method to retrieve the arrowhead as I did to the bullet.
Except this time, when the metal sunk into the wound, Squall audibly gasped out loud. His whole body tensed. Knowing Squall, that pain must've been severe.
But it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be any more painful than what I had gone through, which really wasn't much if you ignore my companion's expressions.
"Fuck!" Irvine suddenly exclaimed. I paused and immediately withdrew my tweezer. "I should've suspected it! I should've!"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Seifer frowned. He was half bandaged up and holding a bottle of Potion for Irvine's arm. It's evident he heard Squall's gasp, even though we're on the opposite end of the room, and was as concerned about it as I was.
"It's Anaconda. The arrows they shot at us are Model 7T1 Anaconda, Series F." Irvine's eyes met mine. "Once struck, the head stays in no matter how you pull the arrow. The head then connects with the central nervous system, drain the host's life essence. That's why when launched it was aimed directly toward the spine. In this case, thank gracious, the arrow missed it by several centimeters. But, any attempt to remove it would tug at the nerve cord and cause tremendous pain; purposely designed that way. Quistis, you need some anesthetics. You really do."
Which we did not have any access to. "Irvine, you know there's no way I –"
"Just get it out."
Squall's flat voice sent chillbumps down my body. He sounded as if it's the most boring topic in the world. He was not just ignoring his body's signals; he was downright abusing them. He wanted to feel pain. Why? Why?
My heart wrenched. I love him like a brother, and he was as close to family as I could get. Now it's like he's destroying himself. What was he trying to prove? That he is stronger than what the world had done to him? What had the world done to him?
My mistake, what had happened in the so-called interrogation room? I knew Carraway chained him in there and asked him for the Energy Orb. But in what way, I did not have a clue. Irvine, should.
I shook my head and took a deep breath. I am a doctor. I had a duty to fill at that moment. Not pondering emotional causes and effects. The physical needed to be healed first.
"Come on, we don't have all night," Squall frowned at me. All right, all right.
I blotted everything away from my mind except my goal – to get the arrowhead out. I reinserted the tweezer into the open wound, deep. I was well aware the tremor that passed through Squall's body. I ignored it. What else could I do?
My tweezer's tip touched something hard. The tissue and bones didn't feel that way. Another solid grip confirmed my guess. The arrowhead seemed to have a life of its own, though, for it planted firm and would not move. I fused my eyebrows together, tightly pressed the two pieces of metal against the escaping triangle. Slowly I withdrew my hand, hearing the gurgling sound of tissue depart, seeing the sudden surges of blood spraying on the floor, feeling the raw disgusting pain that's tearing up my own heart, and ignoring all of them.
Ignoring the apprehension that this was hurting Squall like ripping the notochord straight out of his spine. Ignoring the fact he was breathing, no, wheezing because of that pain. Ignoring the fact that he was still silent, as if he wanted to hold all the sensation inside. And his shiny back from the cold slick sweat. And the blood dripping from his mouth, onto the floor in front of him.
Ignore it. You're a doctor. You need to. You have to.
I finally tore the stubborn piece of intrusion away from the flesh and dropped it on the floor. Blinking away the stray tears, I opened an Elixir and poured it on Squall's back. I gently turned him around and pulled him into a sitting position. His hair was plastered on his forehead from sweat. I wiped away some wetness with a bandaging cloth. Then I looked at his face. Any relief that came from the removal of the arrowhead vanished without a trace.
I realized I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't stand the absolute nothingness in his eyes. I couldn't stand it! I offered the roll of bandages to Seifer from across the room. "Here, I . . . I . . . just take this."
I practically ran toward Irvine's side after Seifer got the roll. I was nauseated, I was frightened, I was confused. Irvine wrapped me in a hug and whispered comforting words in my ear. Why was I so taken aback? Something in Squall's eyes, lacking in them. I was totally obsessed with his dead look. It haunted me.
A word perked in my ear when Irvine said it. I pulled back and stared at him. Say that one more time.
He repeated it. So softly that only I could hear it. I think he intentionally did not want Seifer to know.
It was not his place to tell him.
It was Squall's.
Or Seifer's own mind's.
We could do nothing but wait. And watch. As Seifer approached Squall, who didn't even acknowledge his presence, not even when Seifer started to wrap the bandages around him.
I understood then.
I disentangled myself from Irvine. I leaned against the cool wall and watched the other two.
We needed Squall back.
And only Seifer could do it.
Seifer:
"What the fuck is your problem!"
I exclaimed as he pushed me away. I finished half of what I was bandaging, but he ripped the cloth off when I was going above his stomach. He would not let me go anywhere near his upper portion. What the fuck!
He didn't answer. That's a surprise. I grabbed his arm so he faced me, and said again. "Squall! What's wrong, besides the obvious?"
"Why do you care?" He scoffed.
Why do I care? Why do I care? Ha, what kind of fucked up question is that? "You . . ." I was speechless for once. Okay, he needed to snap out of it. Now.
He's been like this ever since I came back from the dead. There was this . . . mechanical feel to every single thing he had done to me after that. The bandaging. The protecting. The ordering. All fucking monotonous routines. And it's driving me crazy!
Something's missing here. Something I'm missing. Some minor detail that you just skim over because it blends well with the surroundings but nevertheless is discernable if you actually notice it. I checked Squall over from head to toe for the nth time. Bruises and scars. Nothing but those and . . .
Then I saw it.
A strange looking mark on Squall's neck. No, not completely strange, familiar. I had a hunch what it was, but if that really was it then it certainly wasn't me who had done it. I cocked my head and reached toward his neck.
He slapped my hand away immediately and scrambled up in haste. Bingo. Heh, he's not getting away from me this time. I clamped my other hand around his wrist and dragged him back down. He kicked, not viciously but nevertheless kicked, at my leg. I caught his ankles and pushed it away. He wouldn't stay still, so I just climbed on top of him and held his legs down with my own.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Quistis getting up. Probably to stop us. But Irvine made her sit down again. I was glad. This fight was inevitable.
Squall was getting mildly frantic. His fists landed on me from everywhere, except where I was bandaged. I smirked inwardly. I grabbed his wrists and shoved them away from his body, down on the floor like I did that night on the wall. Was it only three days ago? Felt like ages.
Without warning, Squall somehow picked up his knee and slammed it into my groin. I gasped in pain and loosened my grip. He used that chance to half sit up from under me and pushed me with all his might.
I wasn't going to let him leave. Oh, no, sir, once he get out of my grip he'd be gone. I won't have that. Plus, that hurts! Seifer Almasy does not take a hurt like that without responding. So I picked up my fist and slugged him across the face.
The impact was pretty heavy, for he was knocked around and had to brace himself with his hands. Angrily he turned back, and I slugged him again, this time to the other direction. Two solid knocks probably got some wind out of him, because the next thing I realized I was staring at his eyes again. He was just lying there, dazed. Not fighting back. His eyes on the borderline of shock, full of anger.
But the fury did not last long. Squall blinked, seeming to gather his bearings. He shook his head, closed his eyes, then reopened them. I think my breathing stopped when the blue light poured again onto me. His eyes were stormy.
Not vacant glass. Not brick walls. Stormy. Emotions swirled around those piercing pupils in intricate patterns that I knew so well. They washed away the emptiness and brought back the sea of life. Relief flooded into me. I let go of a heavy sigh, and grinned. I released his hands and put my forehead onto his bare shoulder.
He's back.
God Damn it took a long time.
I slid off of him. Squall's lips were stained with blood, caused by me, evidently. He smiled bitterly, "Well."
"Don't EVER do that to me again." I told him. "Do you know how worried I was? You jumping around trying to fucking kill yourself while I watched. It's worse than me being dead!"
"I'm sorry," he apologized quietly, avoiding my eyes. I extended my hand, gently tilting his face toward me with my fingers, making him to look at me. My fingers traced down his jawbone, and landed once again on that strange-looking bruise.
Squall flinched. I thought he was gonna freak out and back away, but he sighed and closed his eyes, permitting me to do what I wanted. I inspected the wound more closely. I saw darker areas resembling teeth patterns in the midst of the swelling. My eyes narrowed and I grinded my teeth.
I'm not naïve. Hell, I ran the Galbadian Army once before, I certainly knew what a really bored G-soldier do in his spare time. And sometimes he do it even if he's not bored, but for the fun of it. Whichever motherfucker did this probably did it just because he can. Bullshit.
"Where else did they touch you?" I asked in a surprisingly calm voice. I even astonished myself. I mean, I thought I'd scream that out in rage. Nope.
"Nothing happened." He answered indirectly.
"Bullshit. I don't want to find this the hard way, Squall."
He rolled his eyes. "Nothing happened, Seifer. Irvine came and got me right after they –"
"Right after they?"
"Would you just let it go!" He kicked me completely off of him. "Why are you even asking me this? What, you worried that I won't be pure enough for you or something?"
"No! I just think I deserve to know."
"Well, you don't."
Okay, not getting anywhere. So I backed off and tried a different strategy. "All right, all right. But at least let me finish bandaging you up."
He seemed to buy that and relaxed. I picked the roll of cloth back up and started where I left off. My eyes never left his neck though. I let my gaze travel down from where the bruise was and through his body. I paused in my excuse of bandaging when I noticed another set of teeth marks on his nipples. Looked deep enough to cause bleeding. I seethed.
Squall sighed softly. He took the white cloth from my hands and finished off the bandaging quickly. I secured the ending, still fuming inside. He pondered for a moment, then leaned over and put his chin on my shoulder. "Look, just forget it." He said in my ear. "It's the past. You can't change it."
I placed my lips on his tender neck and started a string of kisses along it. Soon he turned and we started playing tonsil hockey with our eyes closed. This is what we should've been doing back in that classroom however long time ago, when he first revived me. Not waiting this many battles after and stuck in a little dorm room. It's quiet, though, so it wasn't that bad.
I realized suddenly how tired I was. How tired he seemed. We both needed to go somewhere and . . . well, give in to whatever our body was screaming for us to do. And not worry about the Galbadians outside. Or how to get out of here alive. I wanted so badly just to roll him on the dorm bed, strip him naked, and make love to him. Right then. At that exact moment.
He tasted good. Even under the faint blood flavor from the cuts in his mouth he still tasted like the way he did every time I kiss him. Addictive. Sweet. I could never get enough of it.
"Ahem."
The moment, however, was disturbed from a light cough originated from the door. I stopped and withdrew my tongue, then glared at Kinneas, who was smirking his little ass off. "Um, glad to see y'all made up and all, but, there's still this little problem of people trying to kill us and if they find us here, they certainly will."
Squall smiled. He gave me a quick kiss on my cheek, then stood up. He walked over to Kinneas and offered a hand to him. "I'm sorry. About everything that I had done for the past hour or so. You, too, Quistis."
"Yeah, it's cool. Just don't do it again or I think we're all gonna have strokes by the time we step out the door." Irvine took his hand and stood up.
"You okay?" Quistis asked. "Physically."
"Yeah," he answered. "I'm fine."
I stood up, too. I walked up to them and put my arm around Squall's waist. I leaned over his shoulder to raise my eyebrows at Quistis. "And what have you been doing while we were occupied, huh?"
"Watching a really good romantic movie with a really good friend." She crossed her arms. "And wondering which way should I go to get to room 148."
"Augh," Squall replied. "and this 'friend' of yours also happen to be a good – ow!" he twitched suddenly. I looked right and saw Kinneas pinched his arm. He was holding a shirt in his other hand.
"Hey, now, only I'm allowed to hurt him." I warned Irvine. "Don't touch my boyfriend."
"Your boyfriend started it." Irvine replied. "Here, put this on. You need at least some sort of protection. And you," he turned to me, "still need to get fixed."
"I do not." I let go of Squall so he could slip on the shirt. "Where did you get this shirt anyway?"
"Closet." He pointed to the back. "And yes you do, I wasn't finished with that roll of bandages on you, yet."
Oh, the big gash on my stomach. Okay. Yeah, maybe I could use a few extra padding there. Just a few. I had forgotten about it.
"I'll do it," Squall volunteered.
"Uh, no, if you do it, it may take us another hour to get out." Irvine replied. Damn him. "Plus, I think Quistis here need to check you up again. Mother hen."
"Am not," she pouted. But she did take Squall aside to the other corner of the room so they could figure out how to distribute the remaining items. Irvine took the bandage and started to wrap me up.
"Squall wasn't lying." He said to me in an almost inaudible voice. "Nothing happened."
Ah, so that's why he wanted Squall out of the way. Clever. "Oh?" was all I said.
"Yeah, but he had shut off his mind anyway when he got spooked. And he did get spooked. Hence the rest of his suicidal battle strategies. But all there was were the bruises you saw. Nothing more."
"Why are you telling me this?"
He smiled slightly. "Thought you might want to know. So now you know you can stop trying to make him tell you about it. He wouldn't want to remember."
I gave him a look as Irvine finished safe-ending the cloth.
"Don't give me that look. You know why."
"Why?" I know why?
He shrugged. "'Cause we're family and family stick together."
And 'cause you cared about Squall more than you dare to say. Yes, Kinneas, you do.
Squall:
"We have three Elixirs, one Megalixir, four Potions, and two Hi-Potions left. Along with a couple Remedies. Oh, and here's a Protect Stone and a Meteor Stone. Anything else you got?"
I looked at the small pile of items on the floor. We hadn't got much left to spare. "Um, no. I think this is it."
Quistis smiled bitterly. "Well, let's split this and get out of here."
I then turned toward the other two. Whoa, is it me or they're getting friendly? Usually you can't put those two in the same room without somebody throwing a fist. And even then, they tend to stay on the opposite ends. I raised an eyebrow in interest.
Quistis nudged my arm. "They're just talking about you, nothing else."
"Me?" How did she hear them? Probably some GF ability.
She slightly shook her head, her short hair slid across her shoulders. Why did she cut her hair? Things were so hectic that I did not even wonder about that until now. "Irvine cares a lot about you, you know. He respects you more than anyone else. Why did you think he stopped you and Seifer that night at the Triangle?"
"He told you about that, too?" I was thoroughly surprised. We were just messing around, it wasn't even my idea. The Elixir I was packing slipped from my fingers.
Quistis caught it in one quick motion. "He knew you were just freaking and he respects you too much to let you do that. You or Seifer." She looked at the other side of the room distractedly. "He needs to tell people stuff sometimes." She turned again to me. "A little less like you would be better."
"Jealous?" I teased.
"Ha ha," She laughed out loud. "I said respect, Headmaster, and it means only 'respect.'"
"Ah," I nodded knowingly. I stuck the last Remedy inside my pocket. Just then I turned my gaze toward the door and noticed that the other two men were staring at me and Quistis intently. "Problem?"
"They're jealous of us, can't you tell?" Quistis' voice turned into amusement. "They're scared we're going to run off with each other and desert them here."
Seifer rolled his eyes. Irvine grinned and walked up to us. "What you got left for us?" He asked Quistis.
"For you, a Remedy, two Potions, a Meteor Stone, and the only Megalixir. I don't trust either one of them with it and I can't carry it. I have bigger things to worry about." She gave him the items.
"You don't trust me?" I pretended to be offended.
She gave me a look. "I need someone who's relatively emotionally stable so he could preserve a calm mind as when to use this as a last minute resort. "
"And you think Kinneas is emotionally stable." Seifer snickered.
"Better than you'll ever be." Irvine replied. Here we go again. I scoffed and stepped toward the door.
"We better go," I said. "Time is still running."
Fortunately they all agreed with me because it was very true. We checked ourselves one more time to make sure we had at least a half-half chance of making it out alive. I wrapped the shirt tighter around myself. The wounds were hurting quite piercingly now. I let a flicker of a frown cross my brows.
Seifer didn't miss it. He used the opportunity of passing me my gunblade to lightly squeeze my hand in assurance. I returned it, knowing he wasn't much better off than I.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Irvine took some liquid out of his pocket and gave it to Quistis. She looked quite surprised, but she smiled afterwards and drank it. It looked like lysander fluids, but I wasn't sure since I didn't examine it in detail. I shrugged it off. I didn't have time to worry about why Quistis would need lysander.
"Which way is to room 148?" Quistis asked me.
I thought for minute. "Left, 3 doors down."
"Five doors down," Seifer corrected me. "Forgot my room number already?"
"Wait, this is your room?" Irvine glared at Seifer. "That's why the shirt I picked up looked kinda familiar. So Seifer, you don't need an override code to use this room, right?"
"Shut up, shut up." Seifer mumbled. Override code? My master override code? Since when did Seifer know that?
"Did you steal my code from me?" I narrowed my eyes. Didn't matter if he's my boyfriend, no one can have my master code except me. Seifer with that code spells trouble with capital letters on everything including the shadows.
"No, I was . . . "he scratched his head. "You know, bluffing a little."
I rolled my eyes. Him and his ego. I was relieved that he didn't really have it. I cocked my gunblade and slung it over my side, "Okay, people, let's go."
Quistis slid next to me. "We're going to make it, right?" She quietly whispered. I felt her shaking slightly.
"Yeah," I assured her. My fingers worked deftly on the control pad and the door hissed open a second later. What welcomed us was the dark and empty hallway. Empty's good.
I crept beside the cold wall. A couple of steps further the door hissed closed. We're all out. I waited a few moments for my eye to adjust to the total blackness. Then I started running.
And tripped on some thin wire that's been strategically placed by the G-soldiers. Smart. I felt myself tumbled on the floor, scraping my knees. Soldiers swarmed us. Gunfire rang in my ears. I rolled and slashed without aiming. I hit someone and heard his yell of pain.
"Watch out!" Quistis screamed. I couldn't see what was happening, but I saw the large fire wave nonetheless. I turned immediately and covered my head. A burning sensation swept past me, triggering my wounds to amplify in pain. I looked ahead, focusing on the increasing numbers of soldiers. We're going to have a tough fight. But we couldn't go back. What door was it already?
Room 144. One more door and it'll be it. Irvine's Exeter sounded next to my ear and I jumped. Everyone else had gotten ahead of me somehow. I then turned around to see what he was shooting at.
Or rather, who. Carraway's wife triumphantly stood a few paces behind me. She was smiling at something. I was about to turn and fight a road to number 148 when I heard her calling my name.
"I wouldn't go that way if I were you." She projected her voice evenly. "Someone's missing."
What?
"Ohmigod!" Quistis gasped beside me. I saw a figure stumbled in between the woman and me. Seifer! She got a long rope around his neck. Not again. Not AGAIN!
"I see you brought him back. Well, this time I'm going to make sure he does not come back. You dare to test me?" She raised her hand, holding a gun. "I'll also make sure he dies a painful death."
I took in a breath. Quistis threw down her Protect Stone. A shield formed around herself. What was she planning? I looked questioningly at her. She simply looked at the circles of soldiers around us. Irvine was incredibly calm, too. His eyes were locked on the woman. Aiming, I realized.
Bang! The gun in the woman's hand fired. Seifer yelled in pain as the bullet went through his right leg. He crumbled to his knees as blood splattered in black spurts. "Enough time!" She hollered. "Decide now!"
My eyes narrowed. I held the Lion Heart tightly. Both Irvine and Quistis were ready for my answer. They knew what it was, they just had to hear it. A signal.
"No!"
Irvine's gunshot ran out just as Quistis started to glow. The bullet from the Exeter went through the woman's chest, dead center. She gurgled and her breath hitched. Quistis turned as she charged up her Shockwave Pulsar. I jumped and somersaulted next to Seifer, just as the shockwave passed me and knocked down the large swarm of soldiers. I sliced the rope and began to haul him to his feet. He pushed me off.
"Go!" He told me. "I can't walk and I'm too heavy for you, go!"
"You seriously don't believe I'm going to let you stay here and die from poison gas, do you?" I ignored his plea and put one of his arms around my shoulder. I wasn't sure I could pull this off because he was right about the heavy thing. Whatever! I needed to at least try.
"Squall, you crazy shit, quit it!" He grimaced in my ear. "Go!"
His weight suddenly became much lighter. I looked over and saw Irvine sliding on his other side. "I got him," he told me. "Get ahead and clear a path."
"You sure?" I was hesitant.
"Yes. Come on, Headmaster!" At that, I let go of Seifer's arm and started to clear a path for them. Quistis had vanished, probably already in the room with the backup plan going. The soldiers were littering now; her Shockwave Pulsar destroyed the majority.
"You're both crazy psychos . . . "
"Shut up and just lean on me, Seifer," Irvine said impatiently. "I'm not paid enough to save both of your asses."
They'll be all right.
I dashed toward the door with what energy I had left. My leg felt like its been filled with lead. I could use some water right now. Ignore that. I licked my cracked lips, aimed my gun to bring down a few soldiers from this sector. They probably had reinforcements on the way. I looked back and saw the two figures coming steadily.
I crashed into the room, startling Quistis from her position on the far wall. "It's me, it's me!" I said quickly. She sighed in relief and put down a gun, apparently picked up from some Galbadians.
"My gosh, I could've shot you, Squall! Everything's ready. Where's . . .?"
"Right here!" Irvine's voice clashed through with me from the hallway.
Quistis nodded. She punched in several buttons and the door jammed shut. Double guarded. She then pulled open a side door behind the bookshelf. Streams of vanishing sunlight poured through. Scent of grass and the woods tingled my nostrils.
Beautiful.
I felt my head being grabbed and soon a pair of hungry lips gave me a full kiss. He broke it a few moments later, his eyes glittering green. I smiled. Then I turned to the outside, where Quistis was motioning for us to hurry. She's grinning.
We're finally out of this dungeon. I didn't know 24 hours could feel this long. We shuffled out the small side door. Quistis turned, pulled the door shut, and typed in another code from the outside. Total lockdown. Every entrance was locked.
No one leaves or enters.
The Galbadians would have five more minutes of life. Then all would be gone. How many lives were that?
I had no more time to wonder when the guards around the Garden started to shoot at us. I spun around and ran. I didn't bother with return fire; my gunblade was out anyway. I simply ran toward the woods. Behind me, three shots ran consecutively into the empty sky.
I didn't stop. To think. To act. To do anything. I didn't stop running until I saw the flashes of Estharian uniforms appear from behind the trees. I didn't stop until I made sure I cleared the field.
Then I dropped. Stone on the ground. I lay on my back, staring at the early evening sky, littered with faint stars. My eyes shut close. And I slipped from consciousness with my heartbeat slowing to an agreeable frequency.
I really needed a vacation.