ENJOY

Chapter fourteen

Gelda Nebilim squinted at the brightness of the room as she woke up. Brushing away a blond lock from her eyes, she fingered the ivory net of the four-poster bed curtain. No doubt that the plush bedding, the marbled floor and just about everything to her silk peach dress was his choice. Her young lover had an exotic taste and she didn't mind at all. To him, the fact that she was actually eight years older than him didn't stop him from loving her to the utmost extent. Her own feelings were a completely different issue, she didn't have a perfect idea of love and the only reason she complied with him was because of what he gave her. How many replicas out there were so lucky to have someone care about them, someone who would practically go to any length just to keep them surviving?

She began coughing and at that moment she couldn't help but curse him for leaving her here alone. The coughing increased and so did the breathlessness. Soon she was holding on to the bedpost and coughing out blood, she could feel her organs rupturing. Damn it hurt so badly. Where was he anyway? From behind she suddenly heard his panicked voice call out her name and a second later felt his hands steadying her.

"Here" he whispered, scared for the life of his woman. He shoved a body towards her and she grabbed it by the shoulder where she sunk her canines. Her breathing steadied as she kept drinking in the blood she required. She could feel the taste of the fonons in his blood...Rem. She withdrew and almost collapsed on her lover who squeezed her shoulder gently.

"Are you alright, love? I wasn't too late was I?"

"Everything's just fine. What happened about Jade and his friends?"

"They escaped. That Van couldn't even stop them", he fumed inwardly as did she.

"Forgive me" he whispered in her ear, "I would have pursued at least that Anastacia myself had the timing not been so inconvenient".

"Yes". She brushed her hair back and turned to look at him, "But how long? How long can this keep going on?"

"I will find a way to attain the catalyst weapons. From what Van told me, the duke's son-"

"You mean the replica" she stated. He frowned slightly. If his beloved hadn't been a replica that too an imperfect one, he wouldn't have any problems referring to them as mere imbeciles with no history or life…inferior creatures that would bow down to him as their lord and his Gelda would be at his side as his queen. Ah, life….

"-yes him. Apparently he's leading his companions to the Sephiroths to lower the Outer Lands".

"What does that have to do-" she interrupted impatiently.

"This means that they'll be paying a visit to the Absorption Gate". She looked at him, a little confused and then he added, "The core, where the Planet Storm ends. Where the Key of Lorelei can be retrieved". He finished with a twisted smile; he would have the weapon of the god, the power of one who would rule.

She realized why he was so happy; he almost looked like a child who was resisting the urge to jump in joy for having been offered bushel of candy. But then what about her? She couldn't remain incomplete this way and just let him take over everything, let him follow his warped plans and then maybe leave her alone. No she wouldn't allow that.

"They'll be in contact with the field marshal in St. Binah soon", he told her.

"The ones who sealed me away?" she asked, slightly angered. Really, what had she done wrong? It was how she had to live; kill fonists, skilled fonists who had good amount of fonons absorbed in their blood.

He nodded, "from what Noir told me, they have one of the catalysts".

"So you're still using her?" she asked and he nodded again.

"Don't worry love" he said huskily taking her hand to kiss the back of it. "There really is no other woman on Auldrant for me other than you". She laughed. It wasn't as though she cared; really, as long as she retrieved the Rem and Shadow fonons or rather, he managed to supply her with them she didn't really care about men or anything else for that matter.

"I can't acquire the sorceress powers without being a complete being first" she reminded him.

He sighed, "Yes. But it's rather messy having to assassinate fonists. I can't help but worry about your health".

She shrugged, "It was better off when we used that Freya girl for the job". "Saphir couldn't manage anything either?" He shook his head and began pacing the room's length, his navy blue cloak flying behind him.

She surveyed everything lazily and her eyes fixed on to the mirror. She still had the look of a healthy thirty year old despite the fact that she was really in her mid forties. Truly, if it hadn't been for her young man's invention of cryogenic experiment, she might as well have been old and rotten to death.

"I wonder when I'll get to see dear Jade again" she said planning her revenge on him and observed the frown on her lover's face.

"Gelda-" he hesitated, "Do you have to refer to him by his name? I mean, why not just Necromancer? It-it's just that hearing you talk about any other man that way-" he stopped as soon as he was met by nothing but an icy glare from her.

There he went with his possessiveness again, she thought. Wasn't this enough proof of the fact that he simply wanted to rule her over? Take over? If she wasn't in this weakened state, she might as well have tried putting up a fight with this sorcerer. But then, she would get the Rem and Shadow fonons soon. So maybe once she did…she could try ditching him, leave him to his twisted plans and go forward for all the destructive purposes that life had in store for her. Hmm, not a bad idea…

"I don't want to stay here anymore" she told him. True, he had transformed a part of this crag into something homely but she needed something more. The sense of annihilation and adrenaline pumped through her. It had been quite long since she had handled any blade or cast one of those powerful artes that her original had been able to.

He was surveying her, a little anxious. She seemed to be getting restless and he wished there was something more he could do for her. He still couldn't believe that that Jade had tried to dispose of his Gelda. True, he had wanted the original since he had first seen her at Daath in that Oracle Knight uniform but did that make any difference? His Gelda looked the same and he still wanted her more than anything he had before.

He had seen the replica being sealed away by that Field Marshal, had then seen her almost on the verge of death and that's when he had put his latest ideas into action. Even though her body had remained frozen over a long period of time and he had tried to find a remedy, he hadn't been completely successful. After seven years at twenty one, he had unfrozen the body of his much loved woman and realized that he could keep her going without the catalysts in another way. It was an obsession that drove him crazy…she was his world and her very presence blurred his senses, like now.

She felt him come closer behind her and then closed her eyes as he massaged her shoulders gently and spoke her name lovingly in that caressing tone. Her strap loosened and he ran his lips along the back of her neck. She knew what was going to proceed. Hell, this happened almost all the time and truly, it was one of the things that she enjoyed with him. All the pleasurable moments and every heated feeling had become like a drug and maybe that was one of the other reasons why she wasn't ready to leave him just yet.

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Guy couldn't help but look out the window every now and then. They were actually flying! He didn't know how the others were so silent and unresponsive about it but if he tried saying anything about it, Jade would just silent him with a look. He glanced at the pilot and couldn't help but smile at the skill with which Selphie managed the craft with a concentrated look on her features. She was as anyone would say….cute. Very.

Anya couldn't help but sigh at the silence. It bothered her. At least Elena was safe with grandpa; she would soon be back in Midgard. Sure, she didn't just expect them to start being on friendly terms right away but what about her best friends? She glanced at Rin who looked away immediately at the opposite direction.

"Sasha" Anya slowly called almost expecting that cold glare that was capable of making anyone want to dig the ground and bury themselves. The brunette in question turned to her.

"Hmm?"

Anya sighed and asked directly. "Do you want me to tell you everything myself?" Sasha nodded and then faced her, so did Rin.

"Ask me something" she told them, "I don't know where to start from".

"Okay", Rin started after tucking a strand of dark hair away from her tanned face.

"Why didn't you tell us about being adopted? How did you just meet up with this famous Head of Garnet City?"

"Yeah" Sasha continued, "I mean he has grandchildren already. Why would he want to adopt any more?"

"Whoa!" Anya almost smiled at the sudden outburst of questions, "Firstly, I didn't just meet up with grandpa". She could feel the others' eyes upon her but she ignored them. "My parents died when I was around fourteen" she said softly. Her best friends looked slightly ashamed at their recent attitude.

"I-I really don't know what happened because I kind of-" she hesitated and then said it, "I lost my memory of everything before Valeth took me to grandpa". She paused and then continued.

"I don't know how or why, but Van took me to an orphanage after that. Lezard saw me practicing a bit of karate I knew and just took me to visit Laguna for my admission at Garnet City. At the time he used to live alone so he took me in after a few days of watching me at school. Valeth informed me about my parents' death but things were well enough so I didn't have that much of a hard time".

"You knew Master Van?" Luke asked earning a glare from almost everyone but Anya nodded.

"But a month later, grandpa's daughter, Zell's mom died and then grandpa took them in so we started living as a family. Their parents were divorced" she added to clear out any questions left.

She didn't tell them about how the affair had started. It was simple really; he had done everything to make her recover from her previous distressing experiences and she had, like any other girl who liked a charming prince-like man with great manners and adoration in every word, fallen for him. Maybe at eighteen things had been one-sided or so she had thought but a little later, he himself had made her life worth living its every day. At one time she had been his pupil; it had certainly seemed wrong to feel anything of that sort for him but as she got promoted, mainly because Lezard had pointed out how suitable she was for the vacant Instructor's position, she hadn't minded hitting it off with him.

"You don't have your memory of your past?" Anise asked her, something familiar ringing in her mind.

"Yes" Jade talked more to himself, "It sounds rather like Luke's story".

"I-I'm not a replica" Anya blurted out.

Luke looked at her, "Hey, It's alright to be like that. I mean no one would like to accept that-"

"Luke", Anya smiled at him gently, "Look, I know it sounds that way but it's… a little more complicated".

"The replica issue is pretty complicated" he muttered but let it go.

"So, what's so complicated?" Natalia asked her curiously.

"I'll explain some day later" she replied, "We've got enough of problems already without my own" she said rubbing her left arm as though someone had hit her.

"What's up?" Sasha asked but Anya brushed it off with a 'nothing'. It was never good when Anya said that.

"You know, the last time you kept something from us-" Tear started but Anya interrupted.

"It won't happen again. Just trust me this once" she said and turned away, signaling that she was done talking.

Luke kept his distance from Guy, not because he didn't trust him but because he didn't want Guy to have to deal with anything unwanted. He himself had admitted that he wasn't completely over the incidents even now. Well, looks like I have to deal with something unwanted fin return.

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Elena blew out her bangs from her eyes as she opened the lid of the wooden crate once again. The lack of air inside the box was rather suffocating and it was so damned dusty! She withdrew in the tiny box as she was overwhelmed by another bout of sneezes.

"Acchhooo. Aaacchhhooo!"

She poked her head out again into the humming of the aircraft's engines and dull conversation noises from the front. Her legs had lost feeling in them long ago and she wished they reached St. Binah soon. At least she would be able to stretch her legs; even though Anya would be a little…she didn't want to think about it.

This was the advantage of being small for your age, she thought, you had the brains of a ten year old but the tiny body of a seven year old so that you could hide almost anywhere, preferably somewhere that wasn't dusty. "Acchhoo".

Someone…Jade! He was saying something about some disturbance at the back. She panicked and hid inside but fell weakly against the box in relaxation when she heard Selphie's cheerful shout.

"Let's get going to save the world! We're there guys" and the Terracon landed gently with a bump.

This chapter is a little shorter than my latest ones; I originally intended this to be longer. But I've got my exams these two coming weeks so I'll be taking a little break from my precious story. I do care about my studies enough not to abandon it for. My reviewers, keep reviewing and reading like the pretty people we all are and I'll be back with a much longer chapter soon.