The sound of clashing metal echoed throughout the section of Fisherman's Horizon as Cyrus and Rizo dueled once again. Rizo's new swords, the Devourers, seemed to reek of dark energy as the arrogant swordsman continued to slash and hack at Cyrus. The SeeD for his part was having a difficult time keeping up as he was constantly on the defensive, and the few times he was able to get in any offense was all for naught.

"Still as fast as ever, I see," Cyrus commented as he backed off a few feet away to catch his breath. Rizo simply scoffed as he again rushed the scythe wielder with both Devourer blades. Cyrus continued to block Rizo's attacks with Inferno before finally making an opening by pushing Rizo back with his scythe's shaft.

"You're mine!" Cyrus shouted as he brought Inferno's blade down hard across Rizo's chest. The blade cut cleanly through Rizo's cloak and sank into across his torso. Rizo grabbed his wound as Cyrus readied himself for another attack.

"You're getting sloppy, Rizo," Cyrus said in a vengeful tone. "Are you sure you're as strong as you think you are?"

To Cyrus's shock, Rizo started to laugh as he regained his footing and his wound started to heal on its own. Rizo tightened his grip on his Devourers as he explained:

"What the hell kind of question is that, Cy? 'Am I as strong as I think I am?' Are you so confident that you think I'd overestimate my own power? Cyrus…that's just a bad joke!"

Rizo's wound finished closing as he held his swords in front of him in an X. Seconds later, the blades were consumed with black fire as Rizo brought both blades down swiftly and sent the X-shaped fiery attack towards Cyrus. Cyrus didn't have time to react as the black fire hit him dead center and sent him flying into one of FH's makeshift shops. The scythe wielder flew through the metal wall and crashed into the purchasing counter before falling hard on the floor.

The SeeD struggled to get back to his feet as the searing black flame left its mark on his chest. Cyrus felt pain unlike any he had ever felt as it almost felt like the black fire continued to sear his flesh. "A Fire-type spell did this much damage to me? How is that possible?"

"That black fire is…unnatural. It burns that which should never burn. Cyrus, this magic is ancient beyond ancient."

"I don't care," Cyrus mentally told Ifrit as he gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on Inferno. "It doesn't matter what Rizo's capable of…what power he's obtained. I'm making him pay for what he's done to Garden."

"Cyrus…" Ifrit replied in a forlorn tone as Cyrus gingerly walked out of the shop through the hole in the wall and stood in front of a smiling Rizo. The swordsman continued to cackle as he taunted the SeeD.

"Cy, you don't look so good. And I wasn't even trying too hard with that attack! Still think you're going to win this fight, loser?"

"Go to hell," Cyrus swore as he brought his hand up. "Firaga!"

Cyrus's most powerful fiery spell surrounded Rizo as the spell's yellow light collapsed and exploded in an enormous fireball. The spell subsided and Cyrus breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that very little could have survived that inferno…

"Pretty sad, Cy…"

Cyrus's mouth was agape as the remnants of the Firaga spell were cast away with one swipe of Rizo's Devourer blade. The black-cloaked swordsman simply grinned wickedly as he settled back into his ready stance.

"No…not even a scratch? Rizo, what the hell are you? What have you become?"

"I'm as close to a god as you'll ever see," Rizo replied in an uncharacteristically gravely-serious tone. "With Diablos and the Seraphim Society's gift, I'm beyond you Cy. And all I have to do to keep my newfound power is sever one more connection."

"Sever one more connection? What does he…oh, Hyne," Cyrus thought as his grip on Inferno tightened to the point of turning his knuckles white. "You killed Sayana. You killed your own mother…"

"Heard about that, didn't you?" Rizo casually asked. "I have to say, I never expected that I'd do something like that…but when opportunity knocks, you've got to open the door despite whatever's locking it."

"You heartless bastard," Cyrus vehemently swore. As much as he despised Sayana, Cyrus could never imagine killing one's own parent…

"Heartless? Maybe. All I know and care about is that I've finally got what I was looking for. Too bad for you, Cy. Time to die!"

With that, Rizo began emitting a strange yellow aura as he held both his Devourer blades up close to him. Cyrus, not wanting to see what Rizo was about to do, decided to try one last lunge as he held Inferno up high and brought the blade down as hard as he could. The swirling aura around Rizo, however, stopped the vicious assault as Rizo simply locked eyes with Cyrus and whispered, "Beserker's Rage…"

With that, Rizo knocked Inferno out of Cyrus's hands as he started to violently slash at Cyrus with increasing velocity. Rizo's Devourers continued to carve into Cyrus's body as the slashes came from every direction. The cuts and lacerations continued to pile on as Cyrus felt Rizo's blades dig into his arms, legs, and chest as the onslaught finally stopped. Rizo admired his handiwork for a split second before lifting his leg and sending Cyrus flying back with a powerful thrust kick to the stomach.

As Cyrus fell to the ground in a heap, Rizo calmly sauntered up to his falling foe to find that he was still breathing. Rizo shrugged as he brought the Devourer sword in his right hand up above his head, looking to deliver one final cleave to Cyrus's neck.

"Absolutely pitiful, Cy," Rizo quietly commented on the scythe-wielder's status. "Was that all you had? You honestly couldn't put up a better fight than that? Here I was hoping for an epic confrontation that people would have talked about for decades to come…but I suppose even I can't get everything I want. So long, Cy…"

Cyrus, unable to move due to his injuries and completely drained of energy, couldn't do anything to protect himself. He glared as Rizo as the swordsman's eyes gleamed with anticipation with the swing of his sword…

"Hey, you! The punk in black? Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Rizo stopped his finishing blow within inches of Cyrus's neck as he brought his blade back up and turned to face the source of the intruding voice. To Rizo's surprise, he saw three people standing in front of him: a woman with silver hair and an eyepatch carrying a blue chakram that matched her outfit, a hulking, dark-skinned man wearing an open vest and baggy black pants holding a oversized bo staff, and a tall, blonde man wearing a blue vest and gray overcoat. The blonde carried a black handgun-style gunblade and tapped its dull edge methodically on his right shoulder. He had an air of superiority as he ran his fingers through his hair and repeated: "Are you deaf? Or just scared to come face-to-face with Seifer Almasy and his posse?"

"He's gotta be scared! I'd be too if I had to fight Seifer, ya know?" the dark-skinned man said in confidence as he turned to the silver-haired woman. "Ain't that right, Fujin?"

"RAIJIN! SILENCE!" the woman called Fujin shouted back in an unnecessarily loud and forceful tone.

Rizo, despite being face-to-face with Seifer Almasy and his gang, brought his blades up, readying himself for a fight. He then said in a cocky tone, "Seifer Almasy and the original Disciplinary Committee. I'm honored. Too bad I have to kill you all now."

"CONFIDENT," Fujin stated as she brought her chakram up to eye level.

"A little too cocky, ya know?" Raijin added as he held his bo staff behind him, his free arm outstretched in front of him.

"Kids these days," Seifer commented as he pointed his gunblade, Hyperion, at Rizo. "Thinking they're all big and bad. You think they'd learn…"

"I don't think I'm bad…" Rizo said as he crossed his blades and charged up for another Black Flame X-Slash, "…I know for a fact that I'm the best!"

Rizo unleashed the ebony inferno attack and sent it rocketing towards Seifer. The gunblade-wielding former knight sidestepped and avoided the attack as Fuijin threw her chakram at Rizo. Rizo, in response, knocked the flying bladed weapon out of the air with one of his Devourers. Raijin took advantage of the brief distraction by rushing Rizo and bashing the swordsman's stomach with his bo staff. Rizo felt the wind get knocked out of him as he retaliated with a slash from his sword.

Raijin blocked it and struggled to hold back the blade as Seifer leapt into the fray and brought Hyperion down hard across Rizo's chest, drawing blood. Seifer continued to hack and slash as Rizo yelped in pain and retreated a couple of yards back to let his innate power heal his wound.

"Self-regeneration? That's just cheap!" Seifer shouted at Rizo in a taunting tone. "So much for being the best, huh kid?"

"Shut up!" Rizo shouted back. "You think having the three of you gang up on me gives you an advantage? I've not even begun to fight!"

"Tough talk, coming from a sorry excuse for a bastard like you," the familiar voice of Kyra shouted from the distance. Rizo turned around and saw both Kyra and Taizen running up from behind him. The power-mad swordsman soon found himself surrounded by the SeeDs and Seifer's posse. He lowered his head and chuckled as he realized he was in a no-win situation.

"Well, that sucks. Ezerath's going to be pissed, but nothing I can do about it. Diablos! Get me out of here."

The Dark Messenger quickly materialized and swooped down behind his summoner. He then grabbed Rizo and flapped his bat-like wings, soaring into the skies. The two of them soon disappeared over the horizon as Kyra ran over to the still-breathing Cyrus.

"Damn it! Cyrus, you're bleeding from everywhere! Taizen, give me a hand here! We need to get him to the inn and get him patched up."

Taizen nodded as he and Kyra carefully picked up their captain and headed for the nearest inn. As they walked away, Raijin scratched the back of his head in confusion as he asked, "Um, what do we do now, Seifer?"

"What do you think?" Seifer replied as he sheathed Hyperion. "We follow them. Once that scrub gets healed, we'll ask him what the hell's going on around here. Let's move it, people!"

"AFFIRMATIVE!" Fuijin shouted in acknowledgment as she and Raijin followed their leader down the same avenue that Kyra and Taizen had taken theirs.

"Don't die on me, kid. I've got some questions that need answering…" Seifer thought as he continued to run.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An hour of treatments and healing spells later, Cyrus's condition had stabilized. Both Kyra and Taizen sat in the inn with their leader, keeping an eye on Cyrus and making sure he was comfortable and that his dressings were clean.

Finally, Cyrus opened his eyes and sat up in bed with a wild look in his eyes. He instantly started to look everywhere, mumbling incoherently as if he was suffering from a fever-induced nightmare.

"Cyrus!" Kyra shouted as she grabbed Cyrus's shoulders and shook him. "Wake up! You're having a nightmare!"

Cyrus shook his head and finally seemed to regain his sense of reality. "Kyra…where am I? What happened? And where's…"

"He's gone," Kyra answered, knowing full well who Cyrus was talking about. "Seifer Almasy and his crew fought him briefly before we showed up and surrounded him. He flew off with Diablos."

Cyrus nodded as his many lacerations started to throb in pain. He clutched his sides in agony as Kyra tried to hold him steady.

"You need to lie down, Cyrus," Taizen said from his seat in the far corner of the room. "If you don't, your wounds will reopen and start hemorrhaging again. Please try to rest."

"Damn it…" Cyrus said, ignoring Taizen's advice. "Damn it! I lost. I lost to Rizo! I hit him with everything I had and I couldn't even scratch him! If I can't beat Rizo, how can I stop the Seraphim Society?!"

"Stop it, you idiot!" Kyra demanded. "It's over! So you got your ass kicked…so what? At least you're alive…at least you can do something about it."

"Kyra's right," Taizen agreed. "Rizo may have beaten you, but as long as you're still breathing you can still act…you can still become stronger. Regret does nothing save for holding you back."

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" the facetious voice of Seifer shouted as he opened the door to the SeeDs' room in grand fashion and walked inside with Fujin and Raijin. He sauntered up to Cyrus's bed, grabbed a chair, and sat down beside the scythe warrior.

Cyrus faced Seifer and looked him in the eyes. "Sir Almasy. I appreciate you and your crew showing up when you did…but I have to ask, what are you doing in Fisherman's Horizon?"

Seifer crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair. "Well, it's a bit of a long story. Me and the posse have heard rumors here and there about this rebel group and their magic-using backers. We also heard about the troubles Balamb Garden's been having recently."

"CONCERNED," Fujin added in her usual tone.

Seifer nodded. "Despite my issues with Squall in the past, I guess I still have a soft spot for Garden. So when I heard Squall moved Garden, the gang and I caught the next train from Timber to FH to see if we could catch up with him and the rest of the gang. We just happened to show up when those rejects started trashing the place, so we figured we'd lend a helping hand in getting them tossed out."

"We just got lucky when we found you, ya know?" Raijin quipped. "Another second, and you'd be without your head!"

Cyrus lowered his head as Fujin kicked Raijin in the shins. Raijin howled in pain as Seifer laughed raucously.

"Well, that was expected," the scarred gunblade fighter said as he turned back to Cyrus. "Now it's your turn. Something tells me that you know a lot more about what's going on than I do, and I figured since I saved your sorry ass that you'd be more than willing to share that information with me."

Cyrus rolled his eyes at Seifer's superior attitude, but relented and told him everything he knew about Caladbolg, the Seraphim Society, and Rizo's role in the whole debacle. Seifer listened intently as Cyrus finished his report before standing up and nodding to Fujin and Raijin.

"UNDERSTOOD!" Fujin shouted as she grabbed Raijin's ear and dragged him out of the room. Seifer turned to face Cyrus and said, "Well, sounds like the world's going to hell again…and this time I'm not the one sending it there. Whoever these Seraphim jackoffs are, we'll be sure to find out. In the meantime, you better go find Squall and let Captain Emo know what you know. And one other thing…"

Seifer's tone turned uncharacteristically serious as he continued, "No matter what, do not let that punk beat you again. Trust me, I know what it's like to lose to someone you are just dying to beat. So don't you dare let him win again. You understand what I'm saying?"

Cyrus mulled over what the older fighter was telling him before smiling and nodding his head. "Understood sir. I'll find Garden, I'll crush the Seraphim Society, and I'll get strong enough to take Rizo out. Failure's no longer an option."

"It never was, Cyrus," Kyra added. "Not as long as you got us around. We've got your back, even to the gates of hell!"

Taizen nodded his agreement. "Once your wounds have healed, let's go to Trabia. We'll find some new information and figure out what we must do to stop the Society's madness."

Cyrus nodded. "Thanks again, Sir Almasy."

"It's what I do," Seifer replied with a smirk as he turned and walked out. Cyrus was still dejected from losing, but his talk with Seifer renewed his determination.

"Listen up!" Cyrus said to his teammates. "Two days. In two days, we're heading for Trabia Garden. Restock our gear, help the locals rebuild, and get the Valeria prepped for launch. Any questions?"

"No, sir!" both Kyra and Taizen replied as they left Cyrus's room to complete their captain's orders. Cyrus, for his part, lied down and allowed the medicines and healing magic work on fixing his broken body.

In two days, his journey would continue…and wouldn't end until he accomplished the task.

"Rest well, Cyrus," Ifrit told Cyrus mentally as the SeeD started to fall asleep.

"The real battle is yet to come," Leviathan added as Cyrus drifted into dreamless sleep.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Author's Notes:

So Rizo wins one in easy fashion. Will Cyrus ever recover from having his ass handed to him? Well, the gang's heading for Trabia next chapter, so let's just see what happens!

And hope you all like the Seifer and friends cameo!

Kudos goes to the Duelist of Dawn, ExtremeuGamer, Hiiro Mizutani, Ally Todd, and BestInInfluence for the continued dedication to the art of reviewing! And a welcome goes out to pacificuser (thanks for the review), Kasia Misou, and Lylea after favoriting my story. Thanks a lot! I'm becoming a global phenomenon!

Well, in my own mind, anyway.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Don't let your good intention of reviewing my story be another brick on the highway to hell. Follow through and review!

See you all on the Long and Winding Road,

"The Exile" Cyrus Truth