Final Fantasy 8: Future Bound

by Darsar

The continuation of the events of Final Fantasy 8, shortly after the conclusion of the game.

20. Chapter 20: Run From Her

Chapter 20

Run From Her

(Zell)

Together they stood on the roof of the TV station, all the SeeDs and the remaining two members of Forest Wolf. To the north, a wall of blue-uniformed soldiers blocked off streets and formed barricades. To the west, supply trucks, long-range artillery, and armored cars rumbled down the roads to various staging areas. South had a brigade of Galbadia's finest fighting robots, bipedal, humanoid machines equipped with rail guns and missiles. To the east, trains pulled into the Timber station, carrying more supplies, more soldiers, more robots.

(We're surrounded.)

"The mission is done," Xu said, speaking to everyone at once. "Zell, get in contact with Garden. Call in the retreat. We're leaving."

Zell nodded to her and reached into his pocket to pull out the gray radio.

"You can't!" Tavin said, his voice cracking. He jumped forward and grabbed Xu's elbow, roughly pulling at her arm to make her face him. She scowled at him and tugged her arm free of his grasp. "You can't leave!"

Xu shook her head, disappointment mixed with an edge of anger coloring her voice as she said, "You didn't deserve the time we already gave you. And now you ask us for more? We're not idiots, nor are we your cannon fodder."

Riel stepped forward, puffing out his chest and crossing his arms. Still, despite his best efforts, Zell thought the youth looked rather silly, like a child wearing oversized adult's clothes.

"It's a long way from Deling City," Riel said. "Give Ciel time to come back."

Xu spun to face him, her anger rising. She spoke her mind regardless of the consequences. She was obviously well beyond caring what Forest Wolf—or anyone else—thought of her.

"She isn't supposed to be in Deling City at all!" Xu yelled. "We let her leave the TV Station because we believed she was off to retrieve the Timber President and sign our contract. We did not give her permission to cross the continent and assassinate General Caraway! This entire operation has been a catastrophe from the start and SeeD is withdrawing now before we're all killed by your stupidity. Zell, call it in!"

Zell, momentarily caught up in intensity of the conversation, jerked with surprise at the mention of his name, and at Xu's sharp, commanding voice. Unlike Riel, Xu's tone instantly demanded respect and obedience. The radio was in Zell's hand, waiting. He switched it on.

"Zell… don't," Tavin said, his voice soft and defeated. "You can't leave…"

(Feel kinda bad…)

Zell shrugged at him. "Sorry, man." He brought the radio to his mouth and depressed the TALK button. He spoke the code phrase that would end the mission. "The curtains are closed. The show is over."

He released the button. It was done. The operation in SeeD was now officially over, the order for retreat called in to Garden. There was nothing left for the Contact Team to do except wait for instructions from Garden for a rendezvous point and time.

To be honest, Zell was relieved. After the mission's almost flawless beginning, things had slowly been descending into madness, starting with all the drama concerning the Timber President, then the arguments with Ciel and Forest Wolf, and then finally ending with Ciel crossing the continent to Deling City in the course of a single night and assassinating General Caraway. Everything had gone so wrong, and Zell was glad to be on track to leaving this mess behind him.

His greatest fear now was that they wouldn't be able to get out of the city with all the soldiers around. His eyes scanned the horizon. Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but Galbadian troops and ordinance, clogging every street, train track, and walkway. They weren't advancing on the TV Station—not yet, anyway—but it would only be a matter of time before the order was given, and then the dam would break and the TV station and the five teenagers currently defending it would be overwhelmed by the might of the G-Army.

But Zell wasn't beyond compassion for the members of Forest Wolf. In his mind, he saw no reason why they shouldn't be included in the retreat as well. Hopefully, if everything went off without any problems, the five of them would be able to escape before the Galbadian noose closed around their necks, and the G-Army would storm the TV Station only to find it completely abandoned. SeeD and Forest Wolf, once well clear of the city, could then regroup and figure out their plan from there.

(Seems like a good idea to me.)

But while he was willing to save the members of Forest Wolf, he was still furious at them. At Ciel particularly, but Riel and Tavin had gotten on his nerves as well, because they constantly defended and made excuses for the sorceress. They had cast their lot with Ciel and all of her mistakes and blunders were theirs to share as a group.

The effects of the Caraway's death had been almost instantaneous. The night of the assassination, word spread on the radio along all the Galbadian channels announcing the death of the General. Fortunately, Xu had been awake on watch duty that night, up on the roof and listening to the radio stations to hear any news. She was the first to alert the others of what transpired in Deling City.

There was momentary confusion in Galbadia, but Lieutenant General Vaschel had been quick to respond. Once it was confirmed that the Timber Sorceress Ciel was the one who had assassinated Caraway, he called out an order for all G-Army personnel stationed in Timber to attack the TV Station, hoping to catch Forest Wolf with their guard down and their sorceress away.

The attack might have worked, if Xu hadn't been so quick on her feet. Once the news of Caraway's death reached her ears, she roused the SeeDs and the rest of Forest Wolf and brought them to the roof. As Lieutenant General Vaschel's counterattack order was being carried out, Xu directed a simultaneous magic strike from all three SeeDs, as well as a rifle attack from the two members of Forest Wolf. The combined magic of the three SeeDs, plus the noise and commotion of the guns, confused the enemy lines. The G-Army withdrew their attack, fearing that there was either a second sorceress still at the TV Station, or that the sorceress spotted in Deling City was an imposter.

Whatever the case, the G-Army decided not to risk an attack and pulled away to regroup. This bought the SeeDs some more time. Xu then reported the death of General Caraway on the radio, to ensure that Garden got the news. She didn't mention the attack on the TV Station, or anything else happening in Timber. At that time, she was still operating under the assumption that the mission was ongoing and radio secrecy was still to be maintained.

The SeeDs spent the rest of that night and the next day waiting for a response from Garden. Obviously, the death of the General marked a huge shift in tactics, and Xu was wary about proceeding until she received orders from Garden. But nothing came. Not even a "standby" order. If it were up to Xu, she would have withdrawn from Timber at that moment, while the G-Army was still off balance. Ciel's gross abuse of SeeD's confidence proved that she could not be trusted as a client, and Xu—as well as Dax and Zell—were eager to quit the mission entirely.

But Xu took the extended silence from Garden to mean that they were recalculating the mission, perhaps drawing up a new plan in the wake of Caraway's death. If SeeD was still planning on continuing the operation, Xu didn't want to call it off and retreat.

The day passed, as well as the next night, with no word from Garden or any sign of Ciel. During the night, reinforcements from Galbadia began arriving in Timber and the sun rose to find the streets cluttered with soldiers, robots, trucks, and artillery. Now, as they all stood on the roof examining the situation, it was beginning to look like everyone's last chance of escaping the city unnoticed was slipping away, if it hadn't already passed.

(I hope we're not too late…)

Zell held the radio in his hand, waiting for a response. He checked his fingers to make sure he wasn't accidentally holding down the TALK button and preventing Garden from making a connection. He wasn't. After a few more minutes, he looked at Xu, shrugged in confusion, and brought the radio back to his mouth.

"The curtains are closed," he said again, more clearly this time. "The show is over."

No response.

"Is it on?" Dax asked.

(I'm not stupid.)

Zell frowned at him, insulted. Still, he checked the power button and saw that, yes, the radio was on. He fidgeted with the dials, increasing the volume and double-checking to ensure that he was on the right frequency. A steady hiss of static, occasionally broken by bits of garbled nonsense spit onto the radio waves by members of SeeD and others, told him that he was on the right channel and everything about the radio was functioning properly.

"The radio's fine," Zell said. "SeeD's not responding though. Wonder why?"

"Damn it," Xu muttered. She marched over to Zell and snatched the radio out of his hand. He felt a little embarrassed, as if he'd done something wrong. Xu brought the radio to her mouth. "This is Xu. Is anyone listening?"

Nothing but static and nonsense replied to her question.

"Quistis, Nida, Headmaster," Xu said. "Anyone?"

Even breaking radio protocol did not get a response from Garden. She grunted in frustration and handed the hissing radio back to Zell. He took it and looked down at it, dumbly.

(Why aren't you working?)

"So what's this mean?" Zell asked.

"It means we're on our own," Xu said. "We'll have to make our own escape." She turned and faced the two members of Forest Wolf. Her anger was cold and controlled, but was still visible in her face. "How did Ciel get out of the city without being detected? You have to know how she did it. Is there a hidden passage somewhere under the TV Station?"

Tavin and Riel exchanged a glance. Riel spoke first, "We're not leaving."

Xu didn't hesitate. "If you want to stay here and die, that's your decision. But SeeD is withdrawing. Now tell us how to get out of here."

"Why?" Riel said. He puffed out his chest more. "We stand a better chance of surviving if you're here to help us fight. So what's in it for us? Why should we help people who are, quite literally, running away from battle?"

"You stand no chance of surviving," Xu said. "With or without our help. When Galbadia finishes staging their troops and making their preparations, they're going to come down on this TV Station like a storm and nothing will be left but ashes. Right now they think there's a sorceress hiding in here, and they're going to attack as if there is. They will unload with everything they have to make sure the sorceress is defeated. For your sake as well as ours, we have to leave the TV Station before then."

"Ciel is coming back," Riel said, refusing to budge. "She's coming back here. To the TV Station. And we're not going anywhere until she does."

"Your sister is probably outside the city somewhere, waiting for you to escape," Xu said. "She probably thinks you're an idiot for having waited this long already."

"No," Riel said. "She wouldn't give up on the TV Station until there's nothing left here but a crater. She's coming back here, I know it. Call it a twin's intuition."

Xu snorted. "You're intuition's going to kill us all," she said.

"Then we'll die as martyrs," Riel said proudly. "As heroes of the Timber rebellion."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Dax said. He rolled his eyes so hard Zell could almost hear them spinning in his skull.

"We're not leaving," Tavin said, trying his best to look brave—and failing. "Forest Wolf doesn't run!"

Xu considered the pair for a long moment, her eyes boring holes into the two teenagers as her mind spun with possibilities. She clenched her teeth, then said, "Fine. We'll make our stand here, on the roof. I've scouted out the whole building, and this is the only place that we stand a chance of defending. From here, we can barricade the roof door and try to hold them off as long as we can."

"What if they have paratroopers?" Zell asked. He hadn't seen any of the flying soldiers in the staging areas around town, but that didn't meant they weren't there.

"Then it's going to be a real short last stand," Xu said.

Zell gulped.

"You can't be serious," Dax said, rushing up to Xu. "Look, we can still just leave. We're wearing civilian clothes. No one's seen who we are. We can slip out the back and hide in a bar or in someone's basement or something. We don't have to die with the dumbass brigade."

Xu glared at him. "Haven't you noticed? All the buildings around us have been evacuated of civilians, probably days ago. Everywhere we could possibly hide has been emptied out. Galbadia has enough troops lined up to do sweeps of all the houses and buildings between them and us, while attacking the TV Station at the same time. Anyone they find will be arrested, if not shot on sight. We can't just walk out of here. It's too late for that."

Dax took a step back. He had no response.

"Begin preparations for battle," Xu said. "Every weapon we have should be brought up to the roof. Anything that can be used as a barricade for the door or as defensive walls should be brought up as well. We don't have much time, so we need to move fast."

Without waiting for an answer, Xu marched with a purpose towards the roof door, heading for the stairs. Tavin and Riel, delighting in their brief victory over Xu and the SeeDs, smiled deliriously as they followed her. Dax paused a moment, muttered, "This is insane," and then followed the others.

Zell gulped. Underneath his gloves, his palms were sweating furiously. Despite the warm, sunny weather, he felt chills coursing through his body.

He wasn't afraid of fighting. He'd been training for combat his whole life, and had taken down more Galbadians than he could count. But one look around the TV Station was enough for him to know how hopeless this upcoming battle would be, no matter how much they prepared for it. It was truly the very definition of a "last stand." After this, there wouldn't be anything left standing at all.

(So… I guess this is it.)

He shook his head, pushing those thoughts out of his mind before they could grab hold and paralyze him with fear.

(Focus on the mission.)

Oftentimes, he could take comfort in the idea of fate, that things in his life all happened for a reason, and led him to specific outcomes. But this time, he sought solace in the opposite idea: that the future wasn't certain, and that anything could happen. Though it seemed like he and the others were preparing for a suicide mission, he reminded himself of all the other seemingly doomed missions he and Squall and the others had been on. All those missions he'd somehow survived. He trusted his ability to find a way to survive this one as well.

(Just gotta focus…)

With that thought in mind, he jogged after Dax and rushed down the stairs. Riel was talking loudly about where their stash of weapons was hidden in the building. To Zell's disappointment, it didn't sound like they had stockpiled very many supplies.

As the group neared the first floor, they heard a woman's voice echoing down the halls near the reception area. Zell felt a familiar tingling in the air, an electric buzzing sensation.

(It's her.)

"Are you still here?" the voice called. "Anyone?"

Riel heard the voice and perked up. "It's Ciel!" he said to the others. He faced down the stairs and yelled, "HEY! WE'RE HERE!"

His voice carried down the steps. Without waiting for a response, he dashed down the last flight of stairs with Tavin right behind him. The SeeDs followed after. Unlike the two Forest Wolves, the SeeDs were not eager to encounter the sorceress again, but they wanted to be included in the upcoming conversation.

Ciel greeted her comrades at the bottom of the stairs, exchanging long, enthusiastic hugs with her brother and her friend. Tavin blushed furiously when Ciel's arms wrapped around his thin body. When she released him, he shuffled off to the side, seemingly embarrassed by his actions.

When he reached the bottom of the steps, Zell got a good look at the sorceress. Her hair was matted and dirty, deep dark circles had formed under her eyes, her skin was oily. Her voice cracked with fatigue, even though—outwardly—she seemed energetic and invigorated.

(She probably hasn't slept since leaving the TV Station.)

That thought frightened Zell. Ciel was emotionally unstable under the best circumstances. Going almost thirty-six hours without rest would probably push her over the edge into full insanity. Zell clenched his fists, ready for whatever came next. He could see Xu and Dax tensing as well, watching the situation unfold.

"What happened?" Riel asked. "Was there trouble getting back?"

Ciel blew out her cheeks. "Yeah, that's an understatement. I got chased all the way back from Deling City and had to fight my way through… one… two," she looked up at the ceiling as she tried to remember. "Three… three or four barricades in the tracks. Had to hijack a second train because mine broke down at one point. I mean, it was crazy. Sorry it took me so long."

(So she hasn't been sleeping AND she's been fighting the whole time…)

"Well, you're safe, so that's the important part," Tavin said, smiling shyly.

Xu, apparently, was not interested in happy reunions. She marched down the last few steps and past Riel and Tavin, pushing the sorceress roughly out into the hallway where there was more room to talk. Ciel yelped out a protest as her body bumped into the far wall, but Xu ignored her.

"How did you get past the soldiers?" Xu asked, her face pressed close to the sorceress. "How are you getting in and out of Timber without being seen?"

Ciel looked away, her face clenched in anger and defiance.

"Answer me!" Xu said. She slammed the palm of her hand into the wall behind Ciel's shoulder. Ciel flinched, but didn't answer.

"Don't tell them," Riel said with a sneer. He crossed his arms and glared at Xu. "If you tell them, they're gonna leave us here to fight it out alone."

"What!" Ciel yelled. Desperately, she looked from Riel, to Xu, to Zell. Her wounded gaze lingered on Zell for an uncomfortably long time.

(Hey, why's she lookin' at me? What'd I do?)

"You can't leave!" Ciel said, a shriek of anger and frustration. "We had a deal!"

"You want to talk about the deal? Then where's the president?" Xu said. She paused, waiting for a response that didn't come. "You didn't bring him, did you?"

Ciel sighed weakly. "I… I meant to. I was gonna pick him up on the way back, but there were too many patrols. I wanted to get back here first, to see if you guys were still okay. I can go and get him but— "

"Then that's the end of the discussion," Xu said, firmly. "You've broken too many promises already. Your actions have endangered myself and my team and we are unable to work with you anymore. We are retreating. Now, tell us where this secret exit is."

Ciel balled her hands up into fists, grinding her teeth. Zell could feel the intangible energy of the sorceress, the buzzing sensation strengthening in the air as her energy slowly built up. It was like an invisible light in the room, growing brighter, warmer. Humming with power.

"No…" Ciel whispered. "You're staying with us. You're fighting with us. Like you promised."

"That's not going to happen," Xu said, not intimidated. "The TV Station is nearly impossible to defend, especially with only six people. There are too many windows and openings. Tell me how you're getting out of the city. We—all of us—need to evacuate before the Galbadians begin their attack. I can promise that SeeD will protect you, and you'll be welcome onboard Garden, but first we have to escape the city."

"If we lose the TV Station, we'll lose everything," Riel said. "The entire rebellion will collapse. No one's going to stand up and fight with us if we can't even defend one building."

"You won't lose everything," Xu said. She turned her head back to the stairwell to address Riel. "You'll still be alive. As long as you're alive, there's still a chance for the rebellion. I'm sorry, but you must understand—"

Xu reached out a firm, but gentle hand and placed it on Ciel's shoulder.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Ciel screamed.

With one hand, she swatted Xu off her shoulder and with her other hand, she released a burst of pure white energy into Xu's chest that exploded like a bomb, hurling Xu across the hallway and into the wall with a crunch. Wordlessly, Xu's limp body collapsed to the ground, landing face first on the cold, tiled floor.

"Xu!" Zell said, dashing into the hallway. He knelt beside her body and put his fingers on her neck, feeling for a pulse. It was there, barely, throbbing beneath her skin. But aside from that weak glimmer of life, there were no other obvious signs that she hadn't been killed.

Behind Zell, Dax grinned maniacally and punched one fist into his opposite hand, almost laughing out loud with joy.

"Rock and roll, suckers," he said. "Been waitin' for this!"

With a backhanded fist, he struck Tavin's jaw, turning the small redheaded boy into a tangle of limbs that fell to the floor in a heap. Riel yelped in surprise and jumped into the hallway, falling on his back and scuttling away from the towering, muscular SeeD.

Dax ignored him and charged into the hallway, yelling and barreling down on the sorceress with two clenched fists. His muscles strained in readiness. Zell could see veins popping out on his arms and neck.

Effortlessly, like swatting away a bug, Ciel flicked her wrist and another burst of light came from her hand, tossing the Dax backwards down the hall and into the wall. Unlike Xu, who was knocked out in one hit, the force of the impact only served to enrage Dax even further. He landed awkwardly on his feet and howled in fury, then charged again.

Ciel raised both hands, summoning more energy into an even greater burst of light that hit Dax and threw him back again, hard enough to leave cracks in the wall. This time, Dax collapsed to the floor and did not get up again.

Dizzy with adrenaline, Zell looked down at Xu, then over to Dax, lying limp down the hall. Then he glanced at the twins, and at Tavin's body still crumpled in the stairwell. He gulped.

(Oh crap…)
After the surge of violence and the roar of Ciel's magic, the stillness that followed was agonizing. Zell could feel his heart hammering in his chest, his blood racing in his veins, his legs quivering as they demanded that he flee from the hallway before the sorceress turned her fury on him.

But by the time he realized the danger he was in, it was already too late to run. Ciel's eyes met his, and he was frozen in place by her anger, contempt, and frustration. He felt trapped. Zell gritted his teeth and braced himself, preparing to be the third person to be hurled across the hall by Ciel's magic.

A few moments passed and the attack he expected did not come.

"… Well?" Ciel asked.

Zell's eyes flicked around the room. "Uh… well, what?"

"Are you with us, or are you with them?" she asked, gesturing at the two SeeDs on the floor.

(I'm a SeeD. I'm with Xu and Dax.)

(But… I think… maybe I don't want to be on the floor with them.)

Zell held up his hands in surrender. "I-I'm with you guys."

Ciel thought it over for a moment, the anger still burning in her eyes. Finally she softened, and nodded at him. "Good. Come on. We're going up to the roof to say hello to the Galbadians and remind them who's in charge here."

Zell exhaled in relief. He felt like he'd been staring down the barrel of a gun for the past few seconds. His legs were rubbery and unsteady. Ciel walked past him, energy still crackling in the air around her. She knelt beside Tavin and poured some of that energy into the boy. Tavin jerked awake, as if snapping out of a dream. The massive red lump on his jaw left by Dax's fist began to shrink with the healing power of the sorceress' magic.

Tavin rose into a sitting position. "Wh… what happened?"

"You okay?" Ciel asked.

Tavin rubbed his jaw experimentally, then nodded. Ciel helped him to his feet and together, followed by Riel, the members of Forest Wolf ascended the steps.

Zell hesitated. He didn't want to leave Xu and Dax alone. They both probably needed medical attention, at the very least a couple of cure spells. He looked down the hall at Dax's limp body, and realized that he didn't even know if Dax was alive or not.

But the sorceress didn't give him time to help his comrades. "Come on, Zell," she shouted into the hall, putting the hint of a threat into her voice. Zell bit his lip anxiously and got to his feet and followed after Forest Wolf. He shot one last guilty glance at his two fellow SeeDs before marching up the steps behind the others.

(I should do something.)

(I should… fight… or something.)

But the sorceress could obliterate him with a thought. How was he supposed to fight back against such power? He would need a carefully planned strategy executed perfectly in order to stand a chance against her. And that was the problem: he was terrible at coming up with plans. So instead he followed Forest Wolf up to the roof, hoping that an opportunity to escape would present itself to him.

Outside, the sun continuously cranked up the temperature as the morning turned to afternoon, and the roof was noticeably warmer than it had been just a few minutes before. He squinted in the glare, allowing his eyes time to adjust.

Ciel marched across the roof, heading for the edge. Everyone else chose to remain near the door, while the sorceress stepped right up to the railing. Zell looked around and saw that, while the troops continued to mass all around, they had not yet begun marching on the TV Station.

"You let them get too close," Ciel said to the others, as she observed the troops down below.

Despite her visible exhaustion, she seemed to have no trouble calling up the energy for a massive lightning spell. There was a crackling in the air as Ciel called up her magic, then an explosion as she launched the spell down into the city streets to the faraway Galbadian staging areas.

In the distance, Zell could see a vehicle burst like a tin can, while numerous Galbadians screamed in surprise and pain. A few rifles opened fire on the roof, but Ciel seemed not to notice or care. They were probably too far away to hit their target anyway. She raised her hand again, and again, firing bolt after bolt down into the streets, picking new targets each time.

More explosions, more screams, more gunfire erupted from below. Finally, Ciel stepped away from the wall, but she wasn't done with her attack yet. Instead, she went to the opposite edge and repeated, launching lightning bolts bigger than Zell had ever seen in his life down into the streets.

She did this again and again, until she'd laid waste in all four directions, firing several dozen bolts from each of the edges. By the time she was done, Zell could hear the roaring of uncontrolled fires in the streets, building caught ablaze by the lightning. Screams echoed from all directions, filling Zell with mortal dread. Standing there on the roof, with the sorceress Ciel raining thundering death down upon a ring of thousands of Galbadian soldiers, Zell became acutely aware of how isolated and alone he was at that moment.

(Oh, man…)

Smiling, Ciel returned to the others. Riel and Tavin stood grinning, as if her show of power had already won the battle. But it only took Zell one glance around to see the Galbadian force had not been beaten, or truly diminished. It had barely even been scathed by her relentless assault. The wounded soldiers and damaged weapons were pulled aside, replaced by fresh troops and artillery. Ciel's attack had been nothing more than an annoyance.

Ciel raised her hands towards Zell, questioningly. "Why would you want to retreat, when we're practically about to win this war?" she asked. "This is what I wanted. What we all wanted. Galbadia spared us the trouble of us hunting them down, and they came conveniently to us, damned near gift-wrapped. We just have to finish 'em off."

Her grin widened. Zell could see both her power and her madness, swirling about in her eyes like a vortex. She laughed, once, an almost involuntary act that slipped out her lips like a cough and made her shoulders shrug.

Then she dropped to the hard floor beneath her, collapsing into a sitting position. Fatigue—pure, inescapable exhaustion—overwhelmed her exhilaration. She visibly struggled to keep from fainting, her head teetering back and forth as she fought for consciousness.

Her brother raced to her side, kneeling next to her and cradling her upper body and her head in his arms. He whispered soothing words to her that Zell could not hear. Tavin joined him on the other side, leaning over Ciel and whispering something else.

Zell saw his opportunity and he took it. With a muttered excuse, he turned and opened the roof door, then headed back inside and down the steps. He jogged down the first flight of stairs, terrified that Ciel was going to get back up, notice he was gone, then chase him down and kill him. But on the next landing he paused and listened. The door to the roof remained closed. No one was coming after him.

Zell shuddered in the cool air of the stairwell and sighed in relief.

(Oh man…)

He went down the rest of the stairs and returned to the first floor hallway. He moaned in despair when he saw that neither Dax nor Xu had moved at all since he'd left. Both were still lying in crumpled heaps on the floor, Xu near the door next to the stairs and Dax a little further down the hall.

Although Xu was closer, he moved over to Dax first, just to check to make sure that he was alive. Furthermore, if there came a time when he would have to fight Ciel and he could only save one of his two teammates, he thought he would rather have Dax's strength on his side, as opposed to Xu's intelligence. If nothing else, Dax's massive frame would at least make a good shield.

He felt against Dax's sinewy neck, rummaging around with his fingers to check for a pulse. He, like Xu, still had a faint pulse. Zell closed his eyes and pushed aside his fears, his anxiety, and focused on his magic.

He wasn't terribly skilled with magic, and he had no idea where his two companions were hurt or how badly, so a general cure spell was the only thing he could think of casting. He called up the energy for one of his strongest spells and sent into Dax.

Unlike when Ami had healed Dax's bullet wound, the spell Zell cast didn't come out in a fine, focused mist, but rather a messy fog, dispersing unevenly along Dax's body. Zell tried to focus on Dax's head and neck—where he assumed the injuries were worst—but his clumsy magical abilities couldn't handle the powerful spell. The green haze settled wherever it chose on Dax's body and seeped into his pores. There was no immediate reaction, so Zell cast another spell for good measure. Still, Dax didn't stir.

(Oh man…)

Zell got up and jogged over to Xu, emptying another couple of powerful cure spells into her. Like with Dax, the healing energy soaked into her body but failed to rouse her. Zell plopped down hard on the floor and covered his eyes with his gloved hands.

(What am I supposed to do?)

The weight of all the pressure of the situation fell upon him in a single blow. Xu, his commander, was unconscious, unable to guide him. Dax, his support, was unable to defend him. The rest of his friends were far away, not even in radio contact. As far as Zell was concerned, Garden might as well have been under the ocean, for all the good they could do for him at that moment. His clients were clearly insane, and one wrong word might get him killed by the very people he was supposed to be working for. And to top it all off, Galbadia was encircling the building, readying an attack that would utterly crush everyone in the TV Station.

Zell choked. It was as if the pressure of the moment had transformed into a literal pressure, squeezing his chest, making it hard to breathe. He didn't know what to do. He had no idea what the best choice was, or the most logical choice, or even any logical choice. His mind was totally blank.

More than anything, he wanted the radio in his pocket to crackle to life, for Quistis' voice, or Squall's voice, or the Headmaster's voice, anyone, to come over the speaker and tell him what to do next. To give him clear orders that he could easily obey. Even if the orders were something simple like, "Zell, you have to fight," or, "Zell, you have to run," he would have welcomed any advice and followed it gladly.

But the radio was silent, except for a steady hiss and a few random voices now and then. The first floor hallway was silent. After a few moments, he could that that outside the building the crackle of gunfire and lightning had resumed. Judging from the sounds, apparently Ciel had recovered herself and was continuing her assault on the Galbadian staging areas, while they fired back on her position.

He hissed between his teeth in frustration. If she insisted on attacking the Galbadians while they were making their preparations, she would only provoke them to attack sooner and harder.

(This is it. The big battle.)

Just as Zell began preparing his mind for one final fight, down the hall Dax coughed, moaned, and rolled onto his side. Zell lit up like the sun, exploding onto his feet and charging across the hall.

"DAX!" he shouted, so relieved he could have cried for joy. He knelt down next to his teammate and put a hand on his muscled shoulder, gently shaking him.

"Dax, you alright, man?" Zell asked.

Dax moaned. "Feel like crap…" he said.

Zell smiled. For a moment, Zell was tempted to wrap Dax in the biggest bear hug of his life, but Zell had a feeling that even in his weakened state, Dax still could have knocked Zell clear across the hall if he tried anything like that.

"Where is she?" Dax asked. "Where's the bitch? I'm gonna… gonna kill her."

Using his arms, Dax slowly worked his way into a sitting position, then propped his back against the wall.

"She's on the roof," Zell said. "She's shooting lightning at the Galbadians."

"Ugh…" Dax said. Gripping his side with one hand and dragging his shoulder up along the wall, he slowly rose to his feet. "So what do we do now?"

Zell shrugged. "I dunno. I was kinda hopin' you'd have a plan."

Dax narrowed his eyes at him. "Yeah, I came up with the best plan ever when I was laying knocked out on the floor."

"Really?"

Dax's anger, for a moment, almost matched the fury Zell had seen in Ciel's eyes earlier.

"No… not really," Dax said. "I have no ideas."

(That makes two of us…)

"How's Xu?" Dax asked, nodding down the hall at Xu's crumpled form.

"She's alive," Zell said. "I doused her with cure spells, but I can't seem to wake her up."

"Not surprising," Dax said. "That was a hell of a hit she took. You saw what it did to me, and I'm three times Xu's size."

(No arguing with that.)

Footsteps clamored down the stairs and the pair instantly perked up, clenching their fists, ready for a fight. A flustered and sweaty Tavin burst into view, carrying an assault rifle in both hands.

"The sorceress needs you on the roof," he said quickly. "Hurry!"

He moved to head back up the steps, but paused when he saw that neither of the SeeDs were following him.

Dax sneered. "To hell with the sorceress. If that psycho wants us, she can come get us."

(I don't think we want her to come get us…)

Tavin winced, as if Dax's words were physically hurting him. "Please! There's no time!"

But Zell was beginning to get a feeling for how the team dynamics in Forest Wolf worked. The twins, Ciel and Riel, were obviously the two dominant forces, while Tavin was a meek little soldier who did what he was told. Left on his own, Tavin could be easily controlled and frightened.

"Tell us where the secret exit is," Zell said, glaring as hard as he could. "Tell us… and we'll go up with you."

He bit his lip, hoping that Tavin would take the bait. If Zell and Dax knew the way out of the city, it would be an easy matter to knock out Tavin—even if he did have an assault rifle—and then flee while the sorceress was distracted.

But Tavin apparently recognized that possibility as well. He shook his head nervously. "N-no. You come up, then I'll tell you. I promise."

Dax snorted in response, but Zell said, "All right. We'll go."

Tavin nodded and rushed up the steps, disappearing from view. Dax looked down at the other SeeD and shook his head.

"Little runt's not gonna keep his word," Dax said. "And we'll be stuck on the roof with the psycho."

"He'll keep his word," Zell said. "Come on."

(This might be our only chance…)

(It's not like the twins will ever tell us.)

Zell moved for the stairs, wondering if Dax was strong enough to support himself yet. Dax pushed off the wall and staggered a couple steps, slowly becoming more balanced and steady. Then the pair got to the stairwell and Dax knelt down beside Xu. He lifted her up and cradled her between his arms, her body limp in his hands, her brown hair falling over her unconscious face. Zell couldn't decide if it was better to leave Xu down on the first floor or not, so he said nothing.

The pair climbed quickly up the steps. Even in his wounded state, Dax had little trouble hauling both himself and Xu to the top. Zell glanced back frequently to make sure that Dax was keeping up and to ensure that he wasn't on the verge of dropping her. They both got to the roof and burst through the door, emerging once again in the bright, hot sunlight.

Ciel stood on the northern edge of the roof, firing down rhythmic bolts of lightning. Each crash of lightning was followed by an explosion and a cluster of screams from the streets below. Nearby, her brother Riel had acquired a black assault rifle and fired wildly into the streets. The extreme distance between the TV Station and the Galbadian front meant that most of his bullets lodged in nearby buildings or the street long before they struck any soldiers, yet he continued to fire, more as a threatening gesture than as an actual attack.

But as Zell stepped out onto the roof, he noticed the reason why Tavin had called him back up. The lines of blue uniforms that surrounded the TV Station—while still distant, many blocks away at the nearest point—were moving. They were advancing.

The attack was beginning.

(Oh man!)

Ciel paused her magic when she heard the door close behind Zell and Dax. Her eyes went first to Zell, then to Dax and the unconscious Xu in his arms. She spun around and turned her rage towards Tavin.

"What are they doing here?" she yelled, pointing at Dax and Xu. "You should have left them downstairs!"

Tavin shrunk away from her, clutching his rifle like a security blanket. Dax snorted defiantly, but didn't say anything. Instead, he calmly walked across the roof and found a safe place to set Xu down. He propped her against an antenna, taking care to make sure her head and neck were supported, before standing up and facing the sorceress.

Ciel glared at him, but didn't attack. "Fine," she said after a moment. "We could use your help anyway." She turned her attention to Zell. "I need you to help me prepare the backup plan."

Zell frowned in confusion. "Uh… Backup plan?"

Ciel smiled, her grin frightening him almost as much as her anger. There was no warmth or humor in her smile. Only the fearless certainty of a person who was absolutely unwilling to compromise, and totally unafraid of death.

"Yeah," she said. "Come with me, Zell."

Riel stopped firing his weapon and turned towards his sister. "I should go with you instead. I know more about it than he does."

"No, you keep an eye on him," Ciel said, nodding at Dax.

Riel's lip twitched, obvious annoyance showing on his face. Nevertheless, he didn't argue. "Fine. Make it quick. They'll be here soon."

Dax, standing protectively near Xu, turned to Tavin and glared at him. He mouthed the words, "Your promise," at the red-haired boy. Tavin nodded, then shot a nervous glance at Ciel. Zell realized that if Tavin was going to say anything, he wouldn't do it with Ciel standing nearby. Their only chance of finding that secret exit required Zell to get Ciel off the roof.

(I don't like this.)

But he had no choice. Ciel rushed across the roof. She snatched Zell's hand in hers. He'd hoped to avoid contact with her, but she was too quick and caught him off guard. The instant her hand grabbed his, he felt the dizzying strength of her energy flow from her body into his, like a feverish heat. She held his hand like a vice and yanked him towards the stairwell.

Once again, like the last time she'd held his hand, Zell felt his mind wandering, filling with images that weren't from his own head. He saw the Galbadian army advancing on their spot, but being thrown back by the valiant combined efforts of SeeD and Forest Wolf. He saw soldiers clad in blue, running in fear of the power of the teenagers on the roof of the TV Station. He saw their robots break apart in showers of sparks, their vehicles crash into buildings, and their officers drop down on their knees and beg for mercy.

And then she released her grip, Zell opened his eyes, and found that the two of them were now standing outside the recording studio. Zell's eyes widened. He had no memory of going downstairs.

(What. The. HELL?!)

While he stood dumbstruck in the hallway, Ciel popped open the door. She automatically reached for Zell's hand again, but this time he was prepared for her. He pulled his hand away and stepped past her into the recording room, hoping that she wouldn't notice that he'd purposely dodged her grasp.

Ciel followed and then shut behind them, sealing them in the control room, closing off all sounds from the outside world. The sudden quiet was almost startling.

"So why'd ya bring me in here?" Zell asked, trying to be calm and casual. He stepped forward towards the control panel, then turned around to face the sorceress.

Ciel stood facing the door, her fingers on the knob. He looked at the back of her head, seeing her hair, dusty blonde in the dim light of the control room. He glanced at the red bandanna tied in her hair, stained with sweat and dirt and—Zell realized—patches of blood as well. The blood was old and had turned brown as it dried, but Zell recognized it immediately. He had more experience with bloodstains than he would have liked.

"I killed General Caraway," Ciel said. Her voice was flat, emotionless. Zell frowned.

(Why's she telling me this?)

Zell scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I know. I heard about it."

Ciel turned around slowly and looked up at Zell across the control room, leaning back against the inside of the door. Zell tried to read her eyes, but they were cold, expressionless, and revealed nothing.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"About what?" Zell asked. "I don't…"

(What is she asking?)

"I don't know," Zell said, hoping she'd fill in the blanks for him.

Ciel nodded thoughtfully, as if he'd said precisely what she expected to hear. She focused her gaze down at the floor near her feet. "Yeah. I don't know either. I was surprised at first, you know? It was just so easy. I got out of Timber, got on our personal train to Deling City, snuck into his mansion, and killed him. It was just something I did, you know? It was like delivering a letter, or going to the store. I just… did it. I kind of expected… I don't know what I expected."

(I still have no idea what she's talking about.)

"Yeah, I know," Zell said. "You killed General Caraway. I heard the whole story."

She was growing frustrated, that much Zell could tell. She stepped forward a pace, as if standing closer to Zell would help her meaning get across.

"I assassinated General Caraway," she said, almost pleadingly. "I did it. I killed probably the most powerful man on the planet."

Zell bit his lip. "I-I still don't know what you're tryin' to say. What's your point?"

Ciel punched the door with the back of her fist, her placid face erupting in sudden anger. She stomped across the control room and got right in Zell's face, her breath steaming out of her nose. The air was buzzing again, but Zell barely noticed. "Don't you get it? I killed him! I killed Caraway!"

Zell took a step back, holding up his hands in surrender. "I… I know you did! I knew right after it happened! It was all over the radio!" He contorted his face into a confused smile. "Good… good job? Congrats? H-hooray?"

(I hope that's what she wants…)

Ciel looked away. By degrees, she calmed down. Zell could feel her power ebbing away as her rage subsided. Slowly, deliberately, she gathered her thoughts and figured out what she was trying to say. She looked at Zell again.

"A week ago, I was nobody," Ciel said. "I was second-in-command in a three-person resistance group that no one had ever heard of. Even the other resistance groups in Timber didn't respect us. Friggin… friggin Forest Fox made a joke about us once. Do you know that they have like, some forty-something-year-old lady in their group? Some stupid housewife made fun of Forest Wolf! That's who we were a week ago. A joke."

The anger in her face, in her voice, slowly returned, but Zell got the feeling that it wasn't aimed at him this time, at least not directly. He held very, very still, and tried not to make any noise, tried not to even breathe, like he was locked in a cage with a sleeping dragon that would eat him whole if he woke it up.

(Just let her talk…)

"But now what?" Ciel said, her anger shifting to manic delight like flipping a switch. "Who took over the TV Station? Who killed General Caraway? Who's got the whole damn G-Army running after her? Me. ME! I did all that." She slammed the palm of her hand against her chest. "Now I'm somebody. I'm 'The Timber Sorceress.' All capital letters. I'm in the news. Everyone knows me. I'm the biggest, most dangerous person in the world right now. And it's amazing!"

She laughed, her voice cracking and broken.

"And I just…" Ciel said, her voice rising and her speech turning more rapid, "I just walked into Deling City and killed General Caraway. I guess a part of me always used to think, you know, people like him were immortal. The really big names, the ones with all the power and the prestige and the fancy white mansions. I thought they were untouchable. I thought I had to negotiate with them, play the game by their rules, and maybe—if they liked me enough—they'd give me what I wanted."

Ciel smiled and shook her head.

"But now I know, a sorceress makes her own rules," she said. "That's why Galbadia is sending all these soldiers to come for me. Because they know it too. They know! If they don't stop me here, they'll never stop me. Once this battle is over, it's all gonna be different. Until now, it's always been the worst people who get the most power. They lie and cheat and—and—and do all this other stuff to get power, and they're corrupted as hell by the time they reach the top.

"But I'm not like them. I'm not like the politicians at Deling City, or the forty-year-old housewife in Forest Fox who sits on her ass and calls herself a 'rebel.' I'm The Timber Sorceress. I understand everything now, and I'm trying… I'm trying to get you to understand it too. This is the universe balancing itself out, Zell. This is fate correcting its mistakes. This is the beginning of a completely new world."

(I…)

(… Oh man…)

(She's nuts.)

Ciel took a step towards Zell. Without thinking, he took an equivalent step backwards. Her mood, which had changed back and forth from furious rage, to cold detachment, to manic ecstasy, now showed something else. Zell couldn't immediately recognize it or, more accurately, he was in denial of what he saw in her face.

"I want you there with me, Zell," Ciel said, her voice softening to a whisper. "When I remake the world, I want you at my side."

With horror, Zell recognized this expression on her face.

(Is she… hitting on me?)

A sensuous smile crept across the sorceress' face. As Zell retreated backwards, she pursued, reaching out a hand and resting her fingertips on his chest. The electric energy of her touch flowed from her hand into his body, rushing into his heart, making it race. He continued to retreat, until his backside bumped against the control panel. With nowhere else to run, the sorceress pushed close against him, her warm, perspiring body pressing along his. He was aware of every piece of her whole body as she leaned her weight upon him. She looked up, still smiling, the top of her head just coming up to his chin.

Inside, he was screaming.

"I was meant to be a sorceress," Ciel whispered, her mouth so close to Zell's that he could feel each word she spoke as her breath touched his face. "You were meant to be assigned to this mission. We were meant to share this moment together, here, now. And you're meant to be my knight."

(GAH!)

"Y-y-y-your knight?" Zell choked out.

"Every sorceress needs a knight," Ciel said. Her face drew closer still. "That's what the stories say. A protector. A helper. A guide. A champion. It's fate. That's what it is, Zell. I've liked you since the moment I saw you. I've never doubted us for a second. Because… there's no other way it could be. We are meant to be together, Zell. Here, I'll show you."

Quickly, without warning, she closed the gap between her mouth and his, sealing his breath, stifling his protest before he could voice it.

Once again, his mind vanished into some faraway place while images flooded his brain. He saw the vision of the victory at the TV Station again, the G-Army in ruins, falling back in shame and defeat. But this time, the images didn't stop there. He saw the citizens of Timber rising up as one, led by the sorceress and her brave, blonde-haired knight, pursuing the G-Army across the continent, chasing them back to Deling City, then cornering, capturing, and killing them all.

He saw himself, from an outsider's perspective, standing in front of the podium at the presidential palace in Deling City, embracing the sorceress Ciel in triumph and adoration. The two shared a long, passionate kiss, as the streets below erupted in cheers, filled with the victorious Timber rebels. The news reported her conquest of Galbadia, and all nations bowed before her and her knight, submitting themselves to her will and her dominion. Thus her kingdom was born, a kingdom of eternal peace and prosperity, for as long as she and her knight still ruled over it.

Finally, mercifully, she broke off the kiss, and left Zell gasping in the control room. He wiped his mouth with one hand, trying not to throw up.

"I…" he said, panting. "I have a girlfriend, you know."

The ecstatic joy in her face dropped in an instant, replaced with a terrible darkness. Zell could have sworn that the lights in the room dimmed. He unconsciously continued to wipe at his mouth with the back of his hand, but the lingering sensation of her kiss wouldn't leave his lips. It was as if she'd left a part of herself there, a part that would stay with him forever.

"You're lying," Ciel said.

"I-It's true," Zell said, straightening up. "She's… her name's Ami. We just started going steady a couple of days ago, but we've been… you know… for a while, I guess. And I… um…"

He stopped, unsure of how to continue. Only now was he beginning to realize that his words were shovels, each one digging his grave a little deeper. He shut up and dropped his hand from his mouth.

(Pretty sure she's gonna kill me…)

"Ami…" Ciel said, pronouncing both syllables carefully, delicately. "She's a SeeD?"

"Well, ah, no… well, maybe," Zell said. "She's a SeeD candidate. A cadet. She just took the Field Exam, so she might be a SeeD now. If she passed the exam. I dunno. I think she did. She's pretty good at tests. I don't think she'd fail or anything, but you know. I dunno."

Ciel exhaled sharply through her nose. It wasn't a sigh, or a groan. It was, near as Zell could tell, completely emotionless. Every muscle in Zell's body clenched at once. He wanted to run, but Ciel was standing between him and the only exit. Even if he was given a head start, he doubt he'd make it far.

"Interesting," Ciel said. "Well… best of luck to you two."

(… Huh?)

"… Um… Thanks?" Zell said. He cleared his throat. He could still feel the impression of her lips against his, but he fought the urge to wipe his mouth again.

"Anyway," Ciel said, casually, as if nothing had changed, "That's our backup plan over there."

She pointed to the large wooden crate off to the side. Zell remembered that was the crate Ciel had been sitting on when Zell had first come into this room to play "good cop" with Forest Wolf. He remembered thinking it was rather odd for a large wooden crate to be in a recording booth, and now he knew why.

"What's in the crate?" he asked.

"Some weapons," Ciel said dismissively. "Pick it up and bring it to the roof. Riel's probably throwing a fit already."

She said this last bit with a flippant roll of her eyes, as if Zell and Ciel were merely late for a dinner party, rather than being moments away from facing down the largest military in the Western hemisphere.

Although still deeply disturbed by Ciel's random emotional fluctuations, Zell was glad that she apparently decided against frying him with lightning, and so he worked quickly to ensure he didn't anger her again. He moved over to the crate, grabbed it by a pair of metal handles on either end. He lifted, but didn't go anywhere.

The crate barely budged.

He straightened up, spread out his stance, and tried again, lifting from the knees. He grunted and strained and finally got the crate to move, then lift off the floor. He got the crate high enough to where he could rest some of the crate's weight on his knees, giving his arms a much-needed break.

"What…" he panted, "What have you got in here? Friggin dark matter?"

Ciel was unsympathetic. Coldly, she said, "Hurry it up. We need to get that to the roof."

She turned to the door and opened it. Before she stepped through the threshold, she paused and glanced back at Zell.

"Oh, and Zell…" she said. "If I die, I'm gonna take you with me. So you'd better protect me."

She stepped into the hall, allowing the door to close shut behind her. Zell stared slack-jawed at the closed door, still trying to process what she'd said.

(The hell did she mean by that?)

He ignored that statement and directed his energy towards the absurdly heavy crate in his arms. He squirmed around, struggling to find a better purchase for his fingers and then with a grunt, he hauled the crate up to his chest. He wasn't strong enough to hold the crate there using only his arms, so he had to lean backwards, putting intense pressure on his spine. He winced with every shuffling little step he took, but he was somehow able to walk.

And then he got to the door. The closed door.

If he set the crate down there, it'd take him forever to pick it back up. His only option was for Ciel to open the door for him. He kicked the door with his foot, hoping she was still close enough to hear him.

A moment later, the door opened a crack and Ciel stuck her head through.

"What's taking so long?" she asked.

"The crate…" Zell said through clenched teeth. "Heavy. The door. Please."

Ciel sighed, then opened the door wide enough for Zell to pass through. Grunting and shuffling, he worked his way out into the hall. Ciel closed the door behind him and walked ahead of Zell. Zell did his best to keep up, but quickly fell behind as Ciel made her way down the hall, then turned the corner, heading for the stairs.

Gritting his teeth against the burning pain in his arms, legs, and back, Zell tried to send his mind somewhere else, to think of something distracting. But all that came to mind was the scene in the recording booth, Ciel's insane speech, the kiss, the vision, and her threat.

(She kissed me…)

Of all the things that happened, it was the fact that she'd kissed him—on the lips, even—that stuck out most in his mind. Nothing that happened in the recording booth made any sense to him, and he almost began to wonder if the whole event was just another weird vision, like the images of Zell and Ciel defeating the G-Army together.

(Maybe there was no kiss?)

Zell finally reached the stairwell. He looked at the steps and moaned. Several flights stood between him and the top, and each and every stair looked like some cruel torture device.

(I got this.)

(No sweat.)

He placed one foot on the first step, shifted it around to make sure it was stable, then hopped his other foot to join the first. He wobbled, the crate threatening to overbalance him and send him toppling backwards down the steps, but he recovered. He put another foot down on the next step, then hopped again.

After one flight of steps, his hands were cramped, screaming knots of pain stuck on the ends of his numb, tingling arms. His back felt like he'd broken several vertebrae, and sweat ran down his face and into his eyes.

Ciel was one flight above, looking down at Zell with her arms crossed, obviously annoyed.

"Fine, I'll help," she muttered.

"Thank… you," Zell gasped.

He shuffled his weight to one side, allowing room for Ciel to grab the other end of the crate by the handle and hold it. Even though he knew that she was a sorceress, with powers far beyond his own, the fact that she was a girl—and a rather small girl as well—still registered in Zell's brain. As Ciel gripped the handle and prepared to take half of the weight of the crate, Zell instinctively braced himself to shoulder about ninety-percent of the burden anyway.

To his surprise, once Ciel had a firm grip on the crate, she lifted it easily with one hand, causing Zell to overbalance and nearly fall over.

"Oomph!" he cried out as he stumbled.

"Jeez, you're weak," Ciel muttered. "Who'd want you for a knight anyway?"

With that, she practically dragged Zell and the crate up the steps. Zell struggled to keep up with her, tripping blindly over steps and fighting to hold up his end of the crate. His muscles were overjoyed to be free of the full burden of the crate and blood flow returned to his arms and fingers, making them tingle painfully.

In almost no time at all, Ciel got to the roof and burst through the doorway and into the sunlight. She got a few steps out, then dropped the crate without warning. Zell, still holding the other end, pitched forward on top the crate but saved himself with one hand before he smashed his face into the wooden lid.

He looked up and saw why she'd dropped the crate without any warning. His jaw fell open.

Dax stood in the middle of the roof, well away from the Galbadian gunfire and artillery that thundered all around. He had Riel's small, blonde head in a punishing chokehold, squeezing so tightly it was changing Riel's face every possible shade of red. Tavin stood off to the side, his assault rifle angled at the two. Dax held Riel and stood between the still unconscious body of Xu, using himself and Riel as shields so that neither Tavin nor Ciel could aim at the helpless Xu.

"Let him GO!" Ciel screamed. In an instant, white balls of energy forming on both sides of her, encircling the palms of her hands like tiny white suns.

"Go ahead!" Dax said through gritted teeth. "I'll pop your brother's head like a damned zit!"

Dax's squeezed to emphasize his threat. Riel could only manage choked gasps and gargling wheezes while in the iron grip of Dax's arms. His fingers clawed at Dax's forearm, but weakly.

(This is bad!)

"DAX!" Zell hollered. "WHAT THE HELL, MAN?"

"We're gettin' out of here, Zell," Dax said. "The mission's over. We're retreating."

"I'll… I'll…" Ciel said, looking around. But there was no leverage that she could use against him. Nothing she could do to Dax that didn't also endanger her brother.

"Tell us where the secret exit is, and we'll go," Dax said, his voice calm. As he spoke, he tightened his grip on Ciel's twin ever so slightly. Riel's eyes rolled in his skull, his arms and legs twitched, starting to go limp. His gasping breaths were becoming shallower and more pained with every second.

Nobody spoke for several seconds, with the noise of the steady rattle of Galbadian gunshots and explosions filling the air. From his vantage point on the roof, Zell could see that the nearest troops were little more than a few blocks away now. Their shots were still going wild—the angle from the ground was too steep for them to have a clear shot—but soon they would be inside the building itself.

"Fine!" Ciel said. "You want to play it like that… then FINE!"

To Zell's horror, she turned towards him, hatred burning in her eyes. His first thought was that she was going to use him as a hostage, creating a hopeless standoff between her and Dax. His mind conjured an image of Forest Wolf and SeeD being stuck in a standoff while Galbadia stormed the building and killed them all.

(That'd be a lousy way to die.)

Panicking, Zell scrambled away from her, retreating into the stairwell. But then she stopped at the crate. With her magically augmented strength, she pulled one end of the crate as if it was nothing but an empty cardboard box, bringing it away from the door and nearer to Dax. Dax stiffened and tightened his grip on Riel, his eyes darting from Ciel to the crate and back again.

She released the box and turned her attention to the heavy padlock on the front. She put her fingers on the metal, using magic to heat it red-hot, and then yanked the lock off with a quick snap of her wrist. She flung the lock into the air and kicked open the crate, revealing its contents.

Inside was a shiny metal cylinder, covered in red, yellow, and green wires. A glowing red timer sat firmly in the middle, all the digits currently reading "00000." Zell gasped.

(A bomb!?)

"No one leaves!" Ciel said, rising to face Dax, wild triumph in her eyes. "We had a deal! You fight for us, or you die with us! What's it gonna be?"

She turned back to the bomb and flipped a couple of switches on the control panel. The metal cylinder began to hum as the circuitry fired up. She rested her thumb on a glowing red button, grinning at Dax, daring him to defy her.

(JEEZ!)

(That's their backup plan?!)
Zell froze in place. Time dilated, each second stretching into minutes. He could feel his heart beating in his chest. One beat. Two beats. He could feel the sun's rays against his skin. Further down the roof, Tavin stood, holding his assault rifle in his trembling hands, glancing back and forth between Dax and Ciel. Dax's eyes narrowed to slits as he considered the bomb, but his grip on Riel did not slacken. The teenager in his grasp was now almost unconscious, Riel's breath coming out in faint sobs—when it came out at all. All around, gunfire crackled as the Galbadians took potshots at the roof, at the walls, hoping to hit something—anything—as they continued their relentless approach.

And standing next to the largest bomb Zell had ever seen was the sorceress Ciel, with her finger on the button.

Tavin cried out. "It's the supply closet on the first floor! There's a hidden panel on the right-hand side—"

"TAVIN! SHUT UP!" Ciel screamed.

In a flash, she hurled a ball of white energy at the boy. It hit him square in the chest, blasting his rifle out of his hands and hurling his whole body through the air. The red-headed boy went limp with the impact, flying across the roof, his limbs splaying in all directions. He kept flying and flying, until his back hit the railing. He flipped over the top of the rail and dropped over the edge. With a surprised squeak, he fell out of sight and was gone.

Zell breathed.

His heart kept hammering.

Dax's grip on Riel held firm.

The gunfire around them continued to chatter relentlessly.

"T… Tavin?" Ciel said, her voice small, frightened. Her finger lifted off the button on the bomb.

"TAV!" she shrieked, rushing to the edge of the rooftop, to the place where she'd last seen him. She gripped the railing in both hands and leaned out over the edge, screaming his name again. Soldiers on the ground honed in on her, directing their gunfire on her wild form. She mindlessly swept the bullets away with a translucent blue shield and continued searching over the edge.

After a moment, she stopped screaming Tavin's name, her body frozen in position, her eyes locked on one particular spot.

Dax threw Riel roughly to the ground, the teenager's body crumpling in a heap on the roof. Dax got on one knee and scooped up Xu in both arms and sprinted for the door.

"Move, Zell!" he yelled. "Move, damn it!"

Zell, stunned, broke out of his trance.

(We're running?)

(We're running!)

He shot a glance over at Ciel. She still leaned over the railing, her body as still as one of the antennas on the roof. Zell spun around and threw open the door to the roof and started running.

He took the stairs three at a time, then jumped, landing hard on the first landing. He spun and looked up, just in time to see Dax burst through the doorway with Xu in his arms and start flying down the steps. Zell watched for a moment, fully expecting to see Ciel in pursuit, lightning crackling in both hands, mad fury burning in her eyes.

But Dax reached the first landing and ran past Zell and still the sorceress had yet to follow them. Zell watched and waited.

Above, from the rooftop, Ciel let out a long, anguished wail. Zell had never before heard a scream like that in his life. Zell's blood ran cold. He ran down the stairs, chasing after Dax, hoping that Ciel wasn't right behind him.

("If I die, I'm gonna take you with me.")

Zell whimpered.

Then, with a sickening feeling in his gut, he realized that if she really wanted them all dead, she didn't need to bother chasing them down. The bomb was still on the roof, the detonation button still ready and waiting for the order to turn the TV Station and its occupants into particles of dust.

(Would I even feel it?)

He heard thunder booming above him, but his brain didn't process the significance of it until he remembered that lightning was Ciel's preferred spell. If she was firing off lightning, then that probably meant she was attacking the Galbadians. And if she was still fighting, then she probably wasn't going to detonate the bomb. At least, not yet, anyway.

(We still have time!)

The SeeDs reached the first floor hallway. Dax ran out of the stairwell and stopped, spinning around to face Zell.

"Where's the supply closet?" Dax said.

"Over here!" Zell said. Out of sheer boredom, he'd toured the TV Station a couple of times during their brief stay and had gotten a good feel for the layout. He turned right down the hall, away from the reception area, and sprinted with Dax running close behind him.

(We're still not blown to pieces. That's a good sign.)

Near the end of the hall was a nondescript gray door, with a faded sticker on the front. Printed in block letters on the sticker were the words, "Supply Closet."

Zell yanked the door open and looked inside. The closet reeked of mold and chemical cleaners. Decades-old bleach bottles and solvents lined the shelves, along with a rotting mop and a yellow bucket on the floor. A rusty water faucet was stuck on the wall, hovering above a drain in the bottom of the closet.

"Where is it?" Dax asked.

Zell looked around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The supply closet showed no signs of any secret passageways, and was barely even wide enough to admit one person. Zell's heart sank.

(Did Tavin lie to us?)

Before he could finish the thought, he saw a small recess in the wall on the right-hand side. Upon closer scrutiny, he realized it was a handhold. It was so small and so crusted over with filth that Zell wouldn't have seen it at all if Tavin hadn't specifically told him to search that side.

"Here!" Zell said. With one hand, he shoved aside the mop and bucket and stuck his fingers into the handhold and pulled. The doorway gave some resistance at first, but then pulled open, kicking up a cloud of dust and mold and revealing a narrow vertical shaft beyond. Inside the shaft was a steel ladder leading down into the darkness.

"YES!" Dax said.

Zell scanned the shelves of the closet, his eyes quickly finding a worn old flashlight. He noticed fingerprints on the dust, indicating that it'd been used recently. He grabbed it and turned the switch on. Relief flooded his body when the device sputtered to life, shooting out a weak beam of light.

"You go first," Zell said, motioning for Dax to take point. Dax shuffled Xu's body around, and then heaved her up over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Zell frowned at him, but he knew there wasn't enough time to treat her more delicately. Dax steadied Xu's body with one hand, then stepped into the supply closet and began quickly descending the rungs of the ladder.

Then he heard gunfire shatter a nearby window, and the sounds of a Galbadian officer ordering his troops to storm the building.

(Crap, crap, crap.)

Zell jumped into the closet and closed the door behind him, leaving his flashlight as the only source of light. He aimed the beam down the shaft and got onto the ladder. With one free hand, he shut the hidden door—to hopefully buy some time when the Galbadians infiltrated the building and started poking around. With that accomplished, he began descending the ladder.

It was only about one story down to where the ladder ended. Zell hopped off, nearly bumping into Dax in the darkness, and began sweeping the beam of his flashlight around to get his bearings.

They were in an aqueduct. A large metal pipe ran down the length of the tunnel, transporting cold, rushing water into the heart of the city. Zell frowned.

(Why does the Timber TV Station have a secret passage into an aqueduct?)

Zell exchanged a quick glance with Dax and then started jogging down the tunnel, wondering if Ciel was going to suddenly change her mind and decide to blow them up after all. Considering the bomb's size, he figured they were probably still well within the blast radius—even underground—and therefore far from safety.

The tunnel was silent—eerily so. The only sounds were their footsteps and their combined breathing. Even the sounds of the battle above were inaudible where they were. Dax, with Xu still flung over his shoulder, had no trouble keeping up with Zell's pace as they hustled down the dark tube.

After the length of several city blocks, Dax spoke up.

"Why's this tunnel here?" he asked.

"It's an aqueduct," Zell said, jogging along.

"A what now?" Dax asked.

"Don't you remember from school?" Zell asked. "Timber gets its fresh water from Obel Lake. It's the only freshwater source around. So that means that this tunnel probably goes all the way up to the lake. That's how Ciel's been getting in and out of the city."

Dax scratched his head with his free hand. "You actually pay attention in class?"

Zell smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Eh, sometimes! And it's paying off for once!"

But that raised the question, if there was a tunnel leading right from the TV Station to the outside of Timber, why hadn't Galbadia closed it off, or even sent soldiers to try to launch a sneak attack from below?

Then Zell remembered that they had not accessed the tunnel by a normal service ladder, but through a secret tunnel. If he had to guess, he'd say that the ladder was a recent addition to the TV Station, added sometime during Timber's occupation. If that was true, then Galbadia wouldn't know about the connection between the tunnel and the TV Station and therefore wouldn't guard it.

(Makes sense, I guess.)

Zell picked up speed. If Ciel wasn't joking about using a bomb as her back-up plan, then it wouldn't be long before her position was totally overrun and she'd be given no choice but push the button and blow everyone up. She was an immensely powerful sorceress, true, but there were too many soldiers for her to possibly win this battle.

(Gotta hurry!)

A thunderous explosion directly overhead let them know that the battle was still raging. Ciel was still fighting, launching her spells at her enemies. Zell was unsure whether to cheer for her or not. On the one hand, she was crazy, hardly any better than Adel or Ultimecia. But on the other hand, she was a teenage girl who was trying to liberate her country from an invading force. It was hard for Zell not to side with the underdog.

It took them awhile, ten or fifteen minutes of solid running, but finally the aqueduct ended in a dot of light. Elated, Zell picked up his pace even more, joyful adrenaline easing the aches and pains in his muscles.

(We're out! We're out!)

Ahead there was a metal grate that was meant to seal off the aqueduct, but the bars had been cut open wide enough and tall enough to let a person through. Zell squeezed through the opening in the metal grate and emerged into the lush green forests of Timber. The massive water pipe continued onwards, heading deeper into the forest and out of sight.

Dax scrambled through the grate as well, fumbling with Xu as he did so. After a brief struggle, he managed to squeeze through the gap without dropping her. He stumbled out onto the grass and recovered his balance. Zell gave a quick glance at Xu and saw that she was unharmed. Or, at least, her condition hadn't worsened any during the escape.

(Now what?)

Zell scrambled up a nearby hill. The soft grass under his feet was slick, making him skid with every step. Tree branches pulled at his clothes and pine needles scratched his skin.

When at last he got to the top, he could see the entirety of Timber sprawled out before him, blue and rustic. Smoke rose from dozens of fires scattered about the city, but he could see that the fires were concentrated in one spot near the middle of town.

(The TV Station…)

He looked around, but didn't see any signs of a Galbadian pursuit. He was about to turn away and return to Dax and Xu when suddenly the horizon flashed white, blinding him for a moment.

Before he heard the explosion, before he felt the shockwave that nearly knocked him off his feet, before the ground rumbled so hard he thought the earth would tear itself apart, he knew what had happened.

In the heart of the city a brown mushroom cloud formed, reaching towards the sky.