1The Life of Erin Tribal

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A/N: Dun dun dun! Let's see how long this takes to write, and how long it ends up being... Oh, and also on a side note to the last chapter... Forgot if I mentioned it, but I accidentally forgot to mention that there are Random Encounters in Esthar/Lunatic Pandora. This would be due to me having set myself in the game to Enc-None for reaching the Pandora. Yea, I'm a winner for that, haha.

-

Disclaimer: I own the original characters, everything else is Square-Enix's.

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"Rinoa? What's wrong?" Quistis asked the black-haired woman.

"I'm just a little embarrassed..."

"How come?" Zell asked in response.

"I was so set on staying in Esthar! But then, you guys came and rescued me... It made me so happy and..."

"No need to be embarrassed," Erin shrugged. She knew what it was like to be the center of attention, especially after the recent events.

"Yup! Happy is good," Selphie nodded in agreement from the pilot's seat.

"Thanks you guys."

"Hey Squall, you've been awfully quiet. What's up?" Zell poked the male gunbladist.

Quistis cleared her throat. "As an expert Squall observer... He's thinking, what do we do now? Blah, blah, blah. If you think and worry too much, everything tends to turn out bad. Why not just picture a brighter future, Squall?"

"Whatever."

'Well, at least some things never change,' Erin giggled.

"Seriously though, what do we do from here? I'm not really sure, but don't we have to do something about that Lunatic Pandora in Esthar?" Zell said. "After all, Galbadians are controlling it. That means Seifer, and Brian, are behind all this too, right?"

"They are... puppets," Erin replied almost automatically. "Each a puppet to a different master. Seifer... Seifer's being controlled by Ultimecia."

"And Brian?" Serenity asked Erin.

"I can't say. Not for sure anyways," Erin sighed, "anyways... We've gotta take care of that, and Ultimecia. There's no way we could allow a sorceress from the future control this world. Let's go get her," she finished. "We're SeeDs, aren't we? That's what we're supposed to do... defeat sorceresses."

"Erin!"

"Well, except Rinoa. She's one of us," Erin stretched. "Sorry, you knew what I meant."

"So, Squall... Where to?" Irvine asked, breaking up the tense mood.

"Uh... Could we go to that orphanage? The one you guys were talking about in Trabia?" Rinoa suggested.

"That place is in shambles," Quistis told her.

"There's nothing to see there," Selphie added.

"I want to stay away from places with a lot of people. I'm a sorceress... If Ultimecia posses me again..." Rinoa sighed, staring down at the ground.

"Let's go to Edea's House," Squall ordered. Selphie complied and they were quickly headed towards the ruined house.

-

"See this bruise? It's from Rinoa's kicks and punches, and it was because of you. So seeing you like this makes it all worth it," Irvine grinned as they approached a field of flowers off to the side of Edea's House. Angelo had met them there, and she was now waiting patiently at Squall's side.

"Let's go get Rinoa!" Erin nodded and the group, consisting of herself, Irvine, Serenity, and Selphie, went back to find the black-haired sorceress. When they found her, the group pointed the woman in the direction of Squall, and then they waited.

Glancing over at the airship, she saw a couple people training with each other. It felt like a lifetime since they'd had a moment of peace and quiet, and she felt like they should be soaking in every moment of it. Angelo came shooting by a couple minutes later, and she watched as the dog ran back to the airship.

"Hey, Erin?"

Glancing up she noticed that her and Serenity were alone at that spot, and that the other girl was taking advantage of it.

"What?"

"You can... hear voices, right? I can tell."

"How do you know?" She was puzzled. Erin thought she had kept it a secret.

"I've um... read, about this race, that during specific situations and 'friendships'," Serenity started, and Erin noted she used the term 'friendships' lightly, "...that during this they can hear voices. You remind me of the picture I saw, so I was just wondering. I remember, I think you told me once last year... but your not from this world right?"

"Correct."

"And your hearing voices, right?"

"Sometimes... I see flashbacks. Almost always from my memory. Once, though, back before I had met you or Brian, I had this vision."

"A vision?" Serenity's voice gave the sound of confusion, but yet understanding.

"I saw Brian. I saw what was going to happen in the training center that day."

"And it happened?"

Erin nodded. "I didn't understand it when I first saw it. Ever since that time in Galbadia... well, you know most of what happened. Ever since that, I keep hearing voices. Brian's voice, and that of another man... The other man is the one who used to show me the memories of my past."

"Hey Erin?"

"Yeah?"

"After we beat Ultimecia... Hey, you know we will eventually, right?" Erin nodded in response to her friend again. "I want to go to the world where you live. Harry and Relm... are they also from this same world?"

"I think so... This may sound crazy, but one of the memories I saw once hinted that we were siblings." Thinking of this made Erin laugh slightly.

"Well, it kind of makes sense. You do look like them in a way. But yeah, I want to go there. I want to meet your family. Is that too much to ask?"

"The thing is..." she started. How was she going to explain this.

"Erin, Ser, come over here! Look what Zell taught me!" a boy's voice shouted to them.

'Either that was a rude interruption, or perfect timing.'

"Ser," Erin whispered as they walked over to the airship. "I'm from Alexandria, Gaia. I guess I can remind you after we do beat Ultimecia and save Rinoa... There's going to be a play there for my birthday, as well as for my sister's birthday... Well, mainly my sister's. You should come then. Harry will be there as well, and..."

"What're you guys talkin' about?" Zell grinned, punching the air.

"I can't say anything more, but you should come then," Erin lowered her voice even more to finish what she was saying. Serenity nodded, and the two girls began to watch Zell and Harry go back to training.

-

"Sorry to break this up guys, but we've got an emergency!" Selphie shouted, running down the ramp leading into the airship. She ran past them, more than likely to go get Squall and Rinoa. Minutes later, the three of them were at the airship again, and Selphie began to explain. "So, we just got a radio from Esthar's Presidential Palace... They have a plan to beat Ultimecia! They want to hire SeeD... us! To execute it."

"Maybe it's a trap to get Rinoa back in Esthar?" Squall suggested.

"Oh, and um... The guy we spoke with... His name was Kiros," Selphie added. "Could it be that Kiros?"

"Kiros is in Esthar's Presidential Palace? He want to hire us?" questioned Squall. "Alright... let's go."

-

They were boarding the airship when Edea approached them.

"Squall, everyone, wait! There's something I must tell you. A story, from thirteen years back I believe. I first became a sorceress when I was a child, and then once again... thirteen years ago. That day, at this house, I encountered a sorceress on the verge of death. I received her powers on my own free will. That sorceress was an entity of fear for my children... I couldn't let her get to them. But... this turned out to be the painful beginning to this story."

"At this very moment, my bitter story has ended. I understand that there is an end to all, no matter how painful it may be. Thus, Squall? You must fight til the end. Even though it may bring tragedy to others close to you."

They all nodded, and Edea walked back off towards her house as they finished climbing the ramp to Ragnarok.

-

Back in Esthar City, the large group quickly made their way on foot to the Palace. Now that they were no longer on a strict time limit, even though Erin knew some people were putting them on one, it wasn't long before they encountered the local wildlife that had made it's way into town. Demolishing through it was easy enough, however, since everyone was with them.

Inside the palace, the guards were doing a good job at keeping any of the local wildlife out. The ones not ready for combat lead them towards where they were to meet with this 'Kiros', whom everyone kept talking about, yet she had no idea who it was. The last room featured three men, one of which was the man who had helped them out of Sorceress Memorial earlier.

"That's Sir Laguna! What do I do, what do I do!" Selphie rambled to herself in a whisper.

The larger and taller man ran towards the back of the room where another man wearing a light blue shirt and had black hear seemed to be talking to himself. He turned to face the taller man, and said, "Oh, sure," even though the taller man said nothing at all.

'Is that guy a mute?' Erin asked herself, studying the taller person.

"Hey there!" the black haired man greeted the group. He ran up to them and stood in front of Squall. "Been wanting to meet you guys! You guys are the ones who were inside my head, right? Ellone told me. It was like there was some sort of waves going through my head. That gave us so much power during battle. We thought that they were some sort of faerie's flying over us."

'Wow, this guy doesn't know when to shut up... And he's the president I'm guessing?'

"So I'm Laguna. President Laguna Loire of Esthar," Laguna finally introduced himself.

'Guess so.'

"Pleased to meet ya'. If we weren't in a state of the emergency, I'd love to talk. But, well... eh, whatever. Let's talk! What do you wanna know?"

"You'll never get going if President Laguna keeps talking," the shorter man, though Erin noted he was taller than Laguna, said. From what she could tell, this man had darker skin. "So just throw out some questions and he'll try to answer them."

"Man, you look wayyyy too serious..." Laguna commented to Squall.

"Whatever. Where's Ellone?"

"What the heck has he done with his life? Don't you wonder? When Ellone was about two, there was a massive hunt for girls in Esthar. Esthar soldiers came to Winhill and Elle's parents resisted. They were killed on the spot. The massive hunt was to find a successor for Sorceress Adel, Esthar's ruler. Ellone was raised by Raine who lived next door. And I came to know her. Then there was another massive hunt for a successor in Esthar again. Elle was taken away, even though I was there... That's the most painful episode of my life. So I rescued her and sent her off to Winhill. Shortly after that, Raine died, and Ellone was sent straight to an orphanage."

"Why didn't you go back to Winhill with her?" asked Squall.

"I wanted to! But I had my reasons. I found out about this afterward, but the reason why Ellone had to leave the orphanage was because of her special power. Doc Odine wanted to research on Ellone's special power, so he searched for her everywhere," Laguna explained. "The owners of the orphanage were Cid Kramer and his wife, Edea. You would know them better than I do. The Kramers took Elle out of the orphanage to protect her. They even went and prepared a big ship to accommodate her. Gracious of them, huh? After awhile, the ship ended up being another orphanage and Elle looked after all the kids. She said her life on the ship was a happy one, but who knows. I don't know how she could have been happy on a ship... She was on that ship for over ten years. That ship got attacked by Galbadians recently. Esthar's ships rescued her, and that's when she finally met up with me. It was pure luck we found her."

'Okay, really, does this guy ever shut up?' Erin rolled her eyes at the babbled president.

"I was out in space at the time, so Ellone followed me out to space. My little Elle was all grown up... Then she told me everything."

"Did she get back from space safely?" Squall asked.

"Our escape pod rescue team arrived too late. Ellone was taken into custody by Galbadia. She's currently inside Lunatic Pandora. We're gonna rescue her, so you'll help us out, ok?" The president sighed as he finished speaking, but Erin was expecting him to say more at any second.

"You mentioned this Raine person... Who is she?" question Squall. Why was he getting to ask all the questions?

'Why does Squall keep looking more and more like Laguna the more I watch this president?'

"Raine's story? Nah, I can't, some other time maybe. No really... I can't. It's too much to remember right now."

Squall continued onto another question. "What are you doing here?"

"You know what I've been doing all my life, correct?" Laguna asked back.

'Wow, he know's how to speak in short sentences...' Erin smiled to herself.

"You were a silly Galbadian soldier. I didn't like your attitude at all," Squall said bluntly. "But I understood the bond between you three. You changed after you went to Winhill. Then Ellone was abducted by Esthar and you went on a journey to save her."

'Okay, now Squall's going to get as bad as Laguna... Hey, didn't we just hear this?'

"You went on a journey to get her back. You wrote articles and stared in movies just to try and get into Esthar. Somehow you made it in and rescued Ellone," Squall finished.

"I got a lot of help along the way," Laguna said, setting his hand behind his neck and under his shoulder-length hair.

"What I don't understand is... How are you president?"

"Wanna know? It's a long story..."

'No!' Erin's mind scream, and she mouthed the words as well.

"Let's hear it then," Squall said, and Erin's jaw dropped. How in the world did they have time for this! She eyed Rinoa in the corner as Laguna began to speak once more.

"You really wanna hear it? Okay then. I did only set out to go rescue Ellone, but that wasn't the end of the story. Esthar... it was a country ruled by Sorceress Adel with the ingenious yet inhumane Odine. Both of them were interested in Ellone. When we found her, we couldn't just pack up and leave. Odine only thought about his research. But, while researching under Adel's orders, he managed to make many other inventions. The Sorceress' Memorial... it was a device to seal magic. 'Maybe Adel can be defeated.' I owed a big favor to the Adel resistance who helped me rescue Ellone."

"I spoke with Kiros and Ward, my comrades. Two issues came up; First, stopping the Crystal Pillar from calling monsters from the moon and destroying everything like what happened in Centra. Second, freeing Esthar from Adel's hands. We planned and planed... based on my brilliant ideas, of course! We went back to the Lunatic Pandora Research Facility. There was only one goal. Following Odine's instructions, we operated the panel and moved the Crystal Pillar. We set the course and stop point into the ocean and goodbye it went. It was easy, but we were found. So we went and gathered for a final battle to lure Adel."

"At the Sorceress' Memorial, Adel appeared as we expected. We fed the ruler lies... lies that Ellone was there, along with the culprit who moved the Crystal Pillar. I knew she would go in right away if I mentioned Ellone. Adel soon realized that the Ellone there was a hologram, but it was too late. Adel was careless... she may have been a sorceress, but she was, after all, human. We had succeeded, but we couldn't keep such a dangerous sorceress around as a trophy. We had to do something. So, we decided to send her far, far away. Some place very far... Into outer space."

"And that wraps that part up. The real work began after that though. A fierce debate ensued about who should govern this country after Adel was gone. I hadn't been paying much attention when they decided to make me up to be this hero of the revolution, and I ended up being made president. Odine made a lot of noise about wanting to do research on Ellone. It was a mistake to send Ellone back with Raine... Raine died, Elle was sent to an orphanage. If I had only gone to Winhill with Ellone... I would have been able to see Raine one last time. Raine was dead, Ellone was missing, my job kept me busy. I was left her thinking about this and that, and before I knew it, all this time passed. Well, that's about it."

'Tell us your whole life story while your at it, yeesh...' Erin groaned in her head.

"Tell us this mission about stopping Ultimecia," Erin said. She was tired of all these stupid questions. They were here to find out about Ultimecia, weren't they?

"Ah yes, you want to go straight to the heart of the matter. Just like a true workaholic SeeD," Laguna glanced at the young girl, and he seemed startled for a second that someone so young was a SeeD.

"Iz it my turn?"

'Welcome, Dr. Odine,' Erin said in her head, ignoring the look Laguna was giving her.

"Yeah, make it short and easy to understand," the president ordered.

"I will talk however I vant!" Dr. Odine said in a pouting sort of voice. "Eh, Sorceress Edea told me everything. Sorceress Ultimecia comes from ze future to possess ze sorceress of present day, meaning she leaves her body in ze future and sends only her consciousness here. Does zat sound familiar to you?"

"It's like when Ellone sent our consciousness back to the past," Squall answered.

"You're a smart one! My first guess was zat someone in ze future with an ability like Ellone was sending ze sorceress back here to our time. But no! Zat is not ze answer. So how does ze sorceress come back to this time? You vant to hear how?"

"Yes," stated Squall.

"Ehhhhh... I kept this a secret to surprise you, but the answer is... It iz because of me, Odine! I researched Ellone's power long ago. I made out a pattern from ze electric current running through Ellone's brain. Once ze pattern was determined, it was easy to mechanize. I may only be a toy right now, but in ze time of Ultimecia, it iz an impressive working machine! Which means there iz a machine which imitates Ellone's power. It iz I who made ze first model of zat machine. I named ze machine 'Junction Machine Ellone'. It iz a vonderful thing to know that my invention is used in ze future!"

"Junction Machine Ellone..." Squall said, barely audible.

"That's about it," Laguna shrugged.

"So Sorceress Ultimecia came to know about Ellone from that machine," Squall continued to speak, hardly hearable.

"And Elle became Ultimecia's target," added Laguna. "You can't blame Odine. It's useless."

"You vant to go outside!? You vant to fisticuffs?!" Odine cried, stomping his feet. "Ok, we continue ze story! Let's see... There iz only one way to defeat Ultimecia. You must kill her in ze future."

"He makes it sound so easy..." Serenity mumbled.

"There iz nothing we can do unless we go to ze future, little girl!" Odine said. "There is no way to jump to ze future under normal circumstances, but there iz still a way. It iz because Sorceress Ultimecia plans to compress time. Compressing time with magic... Vat good will it do for ze sorceress to compress time? There may be many reasons, but it doesn't matter. Let's just figure out vat Ultimecia iz up to. In order for Ultimecia to exist in this time, she must take over ze body of a sorceress from ze present. But ze machine must have a limit! Ultimecia probably needs to go back further in time to achieve time compression. Only Ellone can take her back further into ze past, zat iz why she iz desperately seeking her. We must take advantage of Ellone's power."

"There are two sorceress in our time; Sorceress Rinoa and Sorceress Adel. Of ze two, Adel has not awakened yet. Once regeneration is completed, neither Laguna nor I will be safe. Sorceress Adel is probably in ze process of awakening inside Lunatic Pandora. Ultimecia will want to possess Adel if Adel wakes up. Zat will be a horrible event, Adel iz a horrible sorceress. If Adel's consciousness wins over Ultimecia, Adel will first destroy this era. So we must use Sorceress Rinoa to inherit Ultimecia's powers. Zat's al for ze mission briefing."

"First, go to Lunatic Pandora. Ellone's probably being help captive inside, so rescue her first. Then kill Sorceress Adel before ze awakening process is completed. Now, we're left with Rinoa as ze only sorceress of this era... and then we wait for Ultimecia to possess Rinoa. When Ultimecia arrives, it's Ellone's turn; Ellone will send Rinoa back to ze past with Ultimecia. Ellone will have to send Rinoa and Iltimecia inside another sorceress she knows in the past. Edea or Adel, zat's up to Ellone. Once Ultimecia iz in ze past, she'll use ze time compression magic, and we will see some influence here. I don't know vat kind of influence, but once Ellone feels it, she'll cut Rinoa and Ultimecia off from ze past. Rinoa will come back to this world and Ultimecia will go back to her own world. Vat will be left is ze time compressed world. Past, present, and future will all get mixed together."

'This guy is just as bad as Laguna, if not worse...' Erin sighed.

"You will keep moving through ze time compression toward ze future. Onve you're out of ze time compression, zat will be Ultimecia's world. It's all up to you afte zat." Odine left the room, and every turned their attention back to Laguna.

"So, that's the mission. I don't really understand it either," shrugged Laguna. "Will you do it?" Squall nodded. "Awesome! Let's go! We'll all get aboard Ragnarok! Let's do the final briefing in there. I always wanted to ride that thing, plus the name sounds so cool!"

-

"Alright! Everyone... From here, we go straight to our final target, Ultimecia. Let's go over the plan again..."

'Here he goes again...'

"First we enter Lunatic Pandora and rescue Ellone. Next, you fight Sorceress Adel. It'll be a surprise attack, so show no mercy! Now, the tricky part... Adel will need to pass on her powers before being defeated. Rinoa, will you be willing to accept them?" asked Laguna.

"Yes," the sorceress replied.

"Good. Next, we wait for Sorceress Ultimecia to possess Rinoa. This will be hard on you, Rinoa, but will you do it?"

"Yes." Her replied was a bit more delayed this time.

"That's the spirit! Then Ellone sends Rinoa and Ultimecia into the past. Ellone brings back Rinoa, and then head to the future through the time compressed period. Ultimecia lives far in the future where none of us can technically exist. There's only one way to make yourself exist in a world like that. As friends, don't forget one another and believe in each other! Believe in your friend's existence and they will being in yours. To be friends, to like one another, to love one another... You can't do this alone, you need somebody with you, right? What place reminds you of your friends? Imagine being in that place. Once the time compression ends, think of that place and try to get there. That place will welcome you. You'll be able to get there no matter what period you're in. You need love and friendship for this mission, and the courage to believe in it. It's all about love, friendship, and courage. I'm counting on you guys!"

"This sounds so corny... All this love and friendship stuff," Squall commented as everyone else ran off. Erin barely caught the conversation as she started to walk out of the door.

"Think it'll work?"

"We'll try."

-

"How do you suppose we get in?"

They had decided to execute the plan the following day, and that question had popped up multiple times since the meeting. Irvine always answered the question too, suggesting that they could use the ship to gun a hole into the side. That suggestion was always followed by something about, would that be safe? Would THAT work?

Finally, the time came when they would head in. Everyone had broken down at last and chosen to go with Irvine's plan, thus he was showing Selphie and Quistis how to execute this plan. Erin's head was full of ways this could go wrong, and all of them came down to the person she knew would be waiting for her...

"Hey Mister, they are coming back! Your plan worked!'

"I have a name..." There was a aggravated tone to those words, but the voice became serious once more. "Very well, keep the girl captive as long as possible. Seifer? Make sure this doesn't get screwed up, and if you succeed in what I have asked, you may take your prize; The Sorceress Rinoa."

In her mind, she could hear a cloak and footsteps, followed by the only other voice she was dreading.

"Yes... Adel, no, Ultimecia will be happy to hear that."

"Seifer..." she said under her breath. Harry glanced over at her after she said this, but the girl chose to ignore it.

"We're bustin' in!" Zell shouted.

"Can we really get through?" Quistis questioned once more.

"Of course! Don't worry about it!" Irvine said assuringly.

Quistis sighed. "Are the machine guns and main cannon ready?"

"Ready!" replied Selphie. "Let's just fire like crazy and make a big hole!"

The ship shook slightly as the guns fired up and the Ragnarok proceeded forward. They were halted by the Pandora's shields, but that hardly lasted, as the Ragnarok pushed through. The cannon fired, opening up a large hole in the side. Quistis nodded to the decided team to execute the 'Ellone Mission', that being Squall, Erin, Relm, Harry, Zell, Selphie, and Serenity.

'Feels almost like old times again...' she thought, looking over at Harry and Relm.

"Remember, once you get Ellone, we are to meet where Adel is being held. We will bring Laguna and Rinoa with us at that time," Quistis reminded them.

The group nodded and set off down the elevator. Just as they left the Ragnarok, voices greeted them.

"Big sound this way. It's probably them, ya know?"

'Raijin.'

"THEM? NO, IMPOSSIBLE."

'And Fujin.' She should have known they would be here as well.

"Brian told us they were comin', ya know? He's been all weird since that Galbadia incident. The one with that girl, ya know?"

Erin closed her eyes and shook her head. So it wasn't just her. Brian knew all along what they were doing.

'That explains so much.'

The two voices became figures running towards them, confirming guesses as to who. "Ah, it IS them, ya know?"

"SHOCK." Fujin looked around. "GOOD. CONVENIENT."

"That's right. Hand over Rinoa, ya know?"

"GIRL."

"That girl right there too." Raijin was pointing at Erin, causing her to instinctively take several steps back.

"I have a name..." Erin whimpered, but the remembered something. 'He said that too.'

"No, I'll never hand over Rinoa or Erin," Squall replied protectively. "We're taking Ellone too. While I'm at it, I won't let you resurrect Adel either!"

"You're greedy, ya know! Not fair, ya know?"

"PERSUASION, USELESS. SEIZE."

"She's right, ya know! Let's go." Both Raijin and Fujin reached for their weapons. The large group followed the example. "See, just like I said, ya know?" Fujin was silent.

A good while after they'd started the fight, Fujin stopped for a second. "DECISION. DESTROY. HELP, SEIFER."

"Woah, wow! No wonder Seifer fears ya!" Raijin said shortly after.

Erin made a note that for this entire time, Fujin was trying her hardest to stay back and bombard them with spells. Everyone else, however, was more focused on getting Fujin down. She could tell that something inside her was wanting to withdraw and do the same, but she fought the instinct.

'It's probably just Brian trying to turn me into a puppet...'

As she figured would happen, Raijin fell first. "I...I lost again, ya know..."

Fujin, to her surprise, fell shortly after. "CALLOUS... RETREAT. TEMPORARY."

"R-right! We're not through yet, ya know!" Raijin added, and with that, Seifer's two sidekicks ran off further into Lunatic Pandora.

They quickly chose to follow them, knowing that they would lead the group right to Seifer. Seifer, they hoped, would lead right to Ellone. The way through was filled with weak monsters, however due to most of the groups previous run through here, and following Raijin and Fujin, they didn't get quite as lost. A few Galbadian soldiers were found occasionally, but none bothered to look over at the large group. At last, the group caught up with Raijin and Fujin... In the very same room they had been knocked out of Lunatic Pandora before.

"We meet again, ya know! We'll take you on, ya know?"

"NOW, NO FIGHT, NEXT TIME."

"That's right, we have a surprise, ya know!"

The machine from before came down on them, though this time it didn't knock them out of Lunatic Pandora. They drew their weapons once more, using physical attacks and lightning magic, including Quezacotl, to beat it down. Whenever someone attacked the main body, the machine always countered the attacker, forcing them to take out his 'helpers' first. After Quetzacotl used his special for the first time, his friends unattached themselves and started countering on their own as well. Though, when this happened, the main body stopped countering, and they began to refocus their attention on it. Using this strategy, it didn't take long for the machine to burst into flames. Raijin and Fujin ran off once more, and they continued after them. The next room turned out to be their destination.

"We're here for Ellone," Erin stated, ignoring the two men standing at the back of the room.

"Guess we finally got some company. Show 'em your hospitality," laughed Seifer. Raijin began to approach them again, but Fujin stopped him as she continued to hold onto Ellone.

"RAIJIN, STOP!"

Raijin nodded, following his orders and stopping next to Ellone.

"What's up?" Brian asked, holding a steady gaze on Erin. She hadn't realized it, but her hand had began to wander towards her blade.

"Does this mean the end?"

No response.

"We've had enough, ya know..."

Fujin let go of Ellone, telling her, "GO." Ellone turned around to Fujin one last time, and Fujin nodded. Ellone ran towards the group.

"Wait outside. Laguna should be here soon," Erin told Ellone. The woman nodded and ran off to the previous room.

"Hey, hey, come on people!" Seifer sighed.

"Seifer, Brian... We're quittin', ya know? Don't know what's right anymore, ya know..."

"Exactly my thoughts!" said Brian. "I thought we were a posse!"

"POSSE..." Fujin whispered, repeating the word. "We are. We always will be." Erin knew her jaw dropped for a split second hearing Fujin talk. She had never heard this woman talk normally, or in complete sentences. "Because we're a posse, we want to help you two. Whatever it takes to fulfill your dreams, we're willing to do it. But... both of you are being manipulated. Ultimecia, and whatever... Whoever... That person you told us about was. You've lost yourself and your dreams. You're just eating out of another's hand. We want you to go back to normal! The way you used to be! Since we can't get through to you, all we have to rely on now is Erin and Squall... It's sad... Sad that's all we have to rely on. Seifer, Brian! Are you going to keep goin'?"

Seifer shrugged, and Brian smirked.

"Fujin, Raijin. It's been fun," Seifer saluted them, and the two old enemies ran off as well. The two remaining men jumped down from the platform they had been standing on.

"So, are you going to continue with this knight thing?" Erin questioned both of them.

"The knight's retired," Seifer responded.

"Guess you could call use young revolutionaries," laughed Brian.

"What do you think your doing!?" Erin asked.

"What I have to do."

She winced at the response. He knew all along what he had been doing; he was using her, luring her... To what though?

"I've always gotta be doin' something big," Seifer responded at the same time.

"Someone's been waiting for you."

"Kuja!?"

"I don't wanna stop. I'm gonna keep running!" Seifer continued speaking. She realized that the older man couldn't hear what was going on between her and Brian.

"No."

"I've come this far. I'm going to make it to the end, to the goal! There's no way I'm sharing that."

"Who?!"

"Seifer?" Brian said. Erin was overcome by hurt, betrayal, and anger all at once.

"Bri?"

"That includes you, little boy."

"This... this is all your fault..."

"...Erin."

Brian had pulled his blade out and was pointing it right at her. She began to shake, but managed to pull her blade out as well.

"Erin?" Relm whispered as Erin stared down Brian.

"Leave them. They've needed to do this for a long time," Serenity responded as blades were heard crashing against each other. On the other hand, Seifer and Squall had begun to fight as well, though for this one, Squall had help. The rest of the kids decided to jump in and help Squall, making sure to always keep an eye on the dual.

"What did you do to me!"

Their blades met, Brian nearly overpowering the slightly smaller and younger girl.

"I don't know!"

They turned and their blades met once more.

"No! Don't kill her!"

"What did you do to me!? Are you a sorceress? Why can I hear your thoughts!"

The dual continued in this fashion, with both a battle of strength and thoughts. Brian, though, was out of practice and was seemingly unable to handle this type of fighting. He fell to the ground, Erin standing over her.

"You idiot! You were to capture her! Now look at what you've done!"

"I'm not done yet Squall."

The place erupted in screams.

"This was all part of my plan."

Brian had been faking his death.

-

She could barely breathe. There was a trickle of blood coming from the wound forming under his blade.

"Are you a sorceress?"

"No!"

"Adel will be the judge of that."

"Bri..." she gasped. "You... you are going to kill... Both of us."

"You're wrong."

"The girl is right. Your killing both her and yourself. End this foolishness. I see my fault, it is not meant to be yet. Her powers haven't grown enough."

Her elbow met his stomach and she shoved him away, not realizing where she even was anymore. Gasping for breath, arms surrounded her and she was filled with instant relief. Blinking, she looked up and noticed Harry had caught her.

Strings were snapping behind them, and she forced herself to look at where she was. There was Adel, still incased in what had previously sealed her away... and there was Rinoa, shoved onto the ground by Seifer, who was fleeing away.

"Rinoa!"

--

A/N: Man, these keep getting longer and longer... Just as a note, if you haven't realized yet, this will contain no Odin/Gilgamesh, Cactuar, Tonberry, Bahamut, and so on. Oh, and I wrote the end of this while my game was sitting on pause before the Seifer encounter...

Anyways, I hope this added to part of the mystery. No, Brian and Erin will NEVER be a couple, but there will be more to come involving him well... helping her. More details to come on that when I finally finish off FF8 and start on FF9! Oh yeah, the thing with Ser... I hadn't come up with a reasoning of why she would be included in the FF9 section, so this just popped into my head and went through with it. Hope it makes sense!

Anyways, please review! And stay tuned for a (hopefully soon) ending to Lunatic Pandora, Time Compression, and Ultimecia's Castle! Well, maybe not in one chapter, but who knows anymore... One more note: After I finish off FF8, I'm going to try and not start on FF9 right away. I've got the beginning of the story calling to me to finish rewriting it.