Chapter 13
Even in ruins, you could catch glimpses of the former glory of the entrance hall. One could imagine what the room would have looked like before its fall. The portraits along the wall were now so tattered, stained and faded that he couldn't tell if most were portraits or landscapes. Debris littered the floor, while the stone steps leading up to the ballroom were cracked and broken, but still useable.
In the centre of it all sat Sora, Kairi and Yuffie. Yuffie's eyes were trained on the grand doorway of the ballroom, her leg jiggling impatiently. Sora's hand was on Kairi's shoulder, as he sat close to her, whispering quietly. As Cloud's group entered the room, Sora's hand dropped away and he stood smiling, but there was something under the surface that made Cloud wonder what echoes they had seen.
"Is she in there?" Quistis asked.
The keyblade master nodded. "I think she's done some redecorating as well." Cloud brushed the joke aside.
"We better get going then," Irvine said, drawing his gun and resting it against his shoulder. "We've got a date to keep."
Kairi and Yuffie stood, Kairi brushed herself down. Yuffie was already on her way to the door.
"Yuffie, Aerith," Quistis' voice stopped the ninja and she turned back to the teacher, looking down the steps at the teacher. "You two try to get to Leon, we'll deal with Rinoa."
Yuffie nodded, remaining quiet for once. Standing there as she was now, so serious and solemn, Cloud didn't think he'd ever seen her look so mature. She waited at the top for the others to catch up with her. There was a slight pause, a short mental preparation, before the group entered the ballroom. Cloud blinked, and then blinked again. He saw what Sora had meant: the ballroom was somewhat more…flowery than he remembered.
Grass and flowers spread outwards, growing through the cold stone, thinning out as they reached the edges of the hall. Unlike in her prison, these flowers were all white, seeming to glow in the soft light of the moon. Vines crept up the pillars, blooming as they reached for the stars. Moonlight streamed through the broken ceiling, bathing the room in a soft silvery light, sending a small shiver down Cloud's spine. At the epicentre of it all lay the sorceress and her knight.
Rinoa's head rested on her knight's chest, eyes closed as if in slumber. Her hand gripped Leon's tightly. Cloud's eyes slid up to Leon's face and his stomach twisted in fear. The older man looked dead. He was far too still and, while he admitted he was no expert healer, he was positive that that pallor was not healthy.
Then Leon stirred, moving his head to the side and Cloud even swore that he saw his eyes flutter. He felt a little weight lift from him, at least Leon was still alive.
Aerith seemed to notice the same thing. She dashed forward, calling out her friend's name.
Cloud's eyes flew back to Rinoa in time to see the sorceress' eye snap open. The tinge of magic was appeared in the air. Springing forward Cloud pushed Aerith to the side, drawing his buster sword. Aerith hit the ground just as Cloud's sword rose to shield himself. He felt the sword shudder under the impact of the spell, and the metal glowed slightly for a moment, heat radiating from the metal.
"Back to play?"
Cloud lowered his sword far enough to peer over the edge. He saw the sorceress straighten.
"What have you done to Leon?" Aerith shifted, sitting up as she called out.
Rinoa tilted her head. "Leon?"
"Squall," Quistis clarified up for the other woman, her hand on her whip. "Rinoa, why are you killing your knight?"
Rinoa's eyes flashed, deepening in darkness and anger. "How dare you," she hissed, raising her left hand. "He is my knight. Why would I kill my knight? I will make you swallow those ignorant words." Like in her prison, the air hummed with dark energy and anger. "You will-"
A hand on her wrist cut her off, making the air calm again. Her eyes widened for a moment as they fell on the limb.
"Rinoa." The woman looked down at her knight who had spoken, his weak voice worrying Cloud more then he cared to admit.
The knight took a quick breath. "Rinoa, leave…them…. Please."
Oh no, Cloud really didn't like how Leon sounded – too soft, too weak for the leader. The man may not talk a lot, but when he did he always sounded strong and certain, a far cry from his present state. The knight took a deep breath that shuddered to a stop too early. Nearby, Cloud heard Yuffie make a small noise accompanied by a small, 'Leon,' as he tried to take another breath.
"Rinoa," Aerith said in her most soothing voice. "Look at him, you're hurting him. If you carry on he won't survive."
"He won't die." The sorceress sounded defensive, and she looked down at her knight, her presence and voice softening. "My knight is stronger then that. My loyal knight won't die so easily."
"If he's so loyal then release him." Irvine's voice lacked its usual light-heartedness as he spoke.
Rinoa's eyes snapped back up, the hard edge back in an instant and she stood.
"Do not presume to tell me how to deal with my knight." Her deep voice trembled. No sooner had the words left her mouth then a Firaga spell erupted before her and shot towards the cowboy. The man dove forwards, rolling out of the way, leaving his hat behind. As he rose to a kneeling position he swung his gun up, levelling it at his attacker. There was a click as the safety was released. He may as well have pointed a rose at her for all the effect it had.
"Are you going to shoot me?" Irvine's gaze didn't waver. Rinoa blinked and there was a slight shift in her. "You'll shoot me." Her voice was softer. "Right Irvy?"
The shift was enough to loosen the resolve in the man, and he never fired. Yuffie took advantage of this shift. Moving forward she fired four throwing stars at the sorceress in quick succession. Rinoa shifted back in a moment, holding up her hand to the weapon. A metre away from her they halted, suspended in mid-air. They hung there a second before she gave a harsh jerk of her arm, sending them flying back towards them.
Cloud quickly stepped in front of Aerith, once again using his sword a make-shift shield. There was a dull clunk as the star hit the sword before landing uselessly in the flowers. Quistis also acted quickly, dashing forward, her whip cracking in front of her; once, knocking a star to the ground; twice, flicking another into the air. Tifa was there in an instant, using the kneeling Irvine as a step up. She ignored his half-hearted objection, and leapt up, plucking the weapon as it sailed lazily upwards. She landed gracefully amongst the flowers. Yuffie ducked the one that came towards her, her shuriken already in her hand. Leaping up and forward, she let it fly.
"Cloud." Aerith's voice behind him drew his attention. "Help me get to Leon."
Cloud watched as Yuffie's weapon flew back at her, and he wondered if Aerith was insane; she wanted to get to the centre of the sharp flying objects. Yuffie took hold of the shuriken as it whizzed past her, the momentum sending her stumbling back several paces.
"That's not a good idea right now."
Sora and Kairi joined in the fray, dodging the throwing star that had left Tifa's untrained hand.
"Leon will die if I don't help him."
Cloud's hand tightened on his sword handle. "And you can't help him with a missile in your head." He wanted to help Leon, he really didn't want his friend to die, but leaping into death would do nobody any good.
A star narrowly missing Sora, grazing his cheek and leaving a red streak in its wake.
"I'll be careful," she assured him, already edging her way to the side.
Cloud let his sword drop low. "That may not be necessary."
Beside his sorceress, Leon was on his knees, gunblade in hand. He swayed slightly before his hand tightened on his weapon. Cloud felt the short raising of dread, praying to whatever higher being that might be listening that this didn't mean they'd have to fight Leon as well.
(&)
It had taken Leon a while to work out that Rinoa wasn't talking to him. It had confused him, only catching Rinoa's half of the conversation as his mind slowly worked to figure out what was going on. He found little comfort in the fact that his friends were here; after all, they were fighting against his wife. Whichever way this went, he would lose.
He'd tried to save them, asking his sorceress to leave them alone, to let them go, but it was hard to form a convincing argument when one couldn't breathe properly, could hardly think, and one's limbs felt like lead. He felt worse then ever when his plea fell on deaf ears. Just another failure to add to the list.
His only comfort was that he was with her again, that he was still her knight. He'd hidden away from his duty for eight years. He'd ignored her calling him to rescue her or to kill her. To kill her. That was the one command that he had never been able to follow. Even when she lay screaming on their bed, or when the darkness finally consumed her. He had always had hope then.
What did he have now? Her; his sorceress. She was still here and so was his duty, his place, the two most important elements in his life. It was his life, or it should have been.
The sounds of fighting registered in his mind, his surroundings becoming clearer, and he sorted through his mind. This was wrong, this shouldn't be happening like this. He shouldn't be lying here listening as his friends fought with his wife. They shouldn't be fighting, and they wouldn't have been if he'd fulfilled his role properly in the first place. All he had wanted was Rinoa, for her he'd happily taken on the role of her knight, and all the duties that came with it. He'd done it for Rinoa and nothing had changed since that evening on the balcony when he'd agreed to this life.
Yes, there was Rinoa, and that's all that mattered any more. Where there was a Sorceress there was her knight and the bond between them. His hand groped about in the grass. And what was a Knight's first duty?
His hand fell on the gunblade. It was to his Sorceress.
He rose to his knees, the heavy weight of his weapon in his hand as his world spun around him. A knight's first duty was to his sorceress.
His grip tightened on the handle as his world righted itself, the fog in his mind slowly being replaced by resolve. His first duty was to his Sorceress.
Turning, he swung the blade upwards, plunging it through the stomach of his wife, his Rinoa. A knight's first duty is to his sorceress; not the darkness inside of her.
Leon pulled the trigger.
End of Chapter 13