Emerald Storms
Squaresoft not Silver with afore mentioned exceptions.
Xxxxx
Returning to the ballroom a shade more nervous than she had been, Trianon turned her cat's eyes on every individual in the room. No one seemed disturbed or overly curious about another's whereabouts, which made Trianon wonder if the man had been alone or if everyone else was a good actor. As she finished her circuit around the room she spotted Irvine standing near the door, talking to a guest. The cowboy was smiling, and even though he looked casual, she could tell he was just as stiff as she was. Something had happened to make him on his guard, which gave the instructor an uneasy feeling.
Gliding away for a third round, Trianon watched glasses of champagne be lifted off her tray and empty ones replace them. She saw Michelle several more times before something quite odd happened.
Gerald Clark strode in with a smirk and stood at the doorway. He held the slumped robber in his hand with a ring of guards around him, including Kerei and Zell.
"It seems a few of my enemies have trickled in here!" He proclaimed,
Worried whispers snaked around the room as people began to shift around with narrowed eyes.
"So we're going to play…a game!"
Trianon slipped closer to Michelle and the two maids glanced warily at each other.
"This mansion is going to be locked up completely. My allies will be escorted out, and anyone whom I'm not so sure of…will stay here and die in any matter of ways, I assure you this mansion is full of little delightful traps."
Michelle trembled and nearly dropped her tray. Trianon brushed her shoulder against the younger SeeDs and shot her a look.
"We're staff, hopefully that'll mean something."
Gerald Clark produced a list and began to rattle off names. Bodyguards fetched those listed, who looked calm and even smiling as they were taken away while everyone else stood quite still. Gunshots rang out behind the closed Ballroom doors. Trianon's eyes slid shut. This was not good at all.
Xxx
Irvine felt his blood run cold as the man taken beyond were murdered. He stood just behind the ring of guards and could see Trianon and Michelle in the crowd, staring at Gerald and locked in place.
"Now then, I'll just leave you all! Good luck getting through the gardens, the main driveway will be sealed off."
Gerald tipped his hat and left the room. For a moment no one moved, all of them feeling cold and full of dread as the hollow sound of doors shutting rang out one by one.
"Defence mode: Activated"
"What's that?" Michelle squeaked,
"Our cue to get the hell out of here," Trianon grabbed Michelle's free hand and tugged the girl across the polished floor.
All at once people began to swarm everywhere. Racing for the doors on all sides there were horrified screams as massive blades crashed down from the doorframe, guillotines, hacking those who had reached their first. Others didn't hesitate; they simply began to climb over the blades. Stumbling as someone launched into her, Trianon lost Michelle in the crowd and fell to her knees. Up in a second the assassin's eyes narrowed to slits and she threw a hailstorm of empty champagne glasses at anyone who came near her.
Using her tray as a shield, Michelle shrieked as she lost Trianon and ended up near the eastern doorway, instead of the northern one that her and Trianon had been aiming for. Flashy dresses and pressed suits swam al around her, disorienting the SeeD.
"We've got to get out of here!"
"How could you bring me here?"
"Look out!"
"Bullets!"
"Fire!"
"Glenn! Glenn! No!"
"Help!"
Michelle's ears burned as screams shattered her mind. Pushing her way through the people she climbed over two mortally wounded people and fell into the hallway. Dead bodies were everywhere, impaled; burnt, poisoned…it was like a horror show. Eyes filling full of tears, Michelle stumbled over them and ran to the foyer. She nearly screamed in joy when she saw Trianon and Irvine, both holding hands and pushing through the crowd.
"Trianon!"
"Michelle!"
The women linked arms and then huddled together as people ran all around, hysterical and afraid.
'Where the hell do we go now? Everything has a trap on it!" Irvine swore,
"We have to get to Instructor Trepe, and hope that SeeDs Zell and Kerei are all right," Trianon decided,
"Trepe! That's right, she's the secretary and might be able to find what we need before we can get the hell out of here," Irvine nodded, eyes alight, "She's up the stairs though, no one's gone up there yet,"
"We'll set off every trap," Michelle whispered,
"We have to, come on," Trianon growled, pulling them with her.
Deciding that she hadn't reached her age just to die in some creep's mansion, the Guardian Force used her heated anger and malicious control to elbow, punch, scratch, and kick her way to the stairs. She grabbed a random man and pulled him close,
"You! Get up the stairs." She pushed him roughly.
One foot on the lowest step send a volley of spiked balls raining down the staircase. The man screamed as they dug into his flesh while Trianon and Michelle used their trays and Irvine ducked behind them.
"One down, cover me,"
Trianon ran up the staircase, sucking in her breath as little arrows shot back and forth across the steps. Feeling a line of pain slash across her calf, the woman hissed but kept going.
"Esuna!" Michelle called behind her.
Trianon breathed a sigh of relief. No poisoning for her.
"Hey! They have magic!"
"They can get out!"
"Get them!"
Trianon stopped at the landing, whirling around in horror. Michelle and Irvine were bolting up the stairs as the masses began to run after them. The three SeeDs ran as fast as they could, screaming and yelling as they set off traps, and often relying on their magic to get them out of it.
"Triple! Float!"
"Good thinking Michelle," Irvine breathed as they ran above the ground, letting the traps wait for the horde behind them.
"Trepe's office," Trianon pulled them around a corner and opened the door quickly, hustling them all in before either could say anything, and shutting the door behind them.
Quistis looked up to see her companions floating a foot off the ground and breathing heavily. As Trianon locked the door she leaned against it and sighed.
"We're trapped,"
"Trapped?" Quistis stood up and then halted as a roar of pounding footsteps ran by.
"Gerald Clark left, he activated a defence mode on the house, the entire place is trapped," Michelle announced,
"Damnit," Trepe growled, folding her arms over her chest, "I've located several hidden compartments in the mansion, it'll be a harder task to check them out now though,"
"A man tried to sneak into Gerald Clark's room today, there's a compartment above his bed," Trianon announced, "I struck him down."
Trepe's eyes narrowed and she walked back to her desk, "If we can get rid of these people, and turn off the traps, we can search out the compartments, I don't want to risk just checking one when there might be more valuable things in the others."
"Well the float spells seem to have gotten us through most of the traps," Michelle began, "Why don't we split up into groups and look around?"
"Good idea, I'll team up with you, Trianon and Irvine, you two go together since if anything, Irvine can junction you," Quistis cast a look at the two SeeDs.
Trianon nodded and self-consciously rubbed the sapphire hanging from her neck. The four of them waited while men and women screamed outside, pounding on the door at times but not really sure where the magic-users had gone.
"Do you think this room is trapped?" Michelle asked, biting her lip,
"I don't think so," Quistis frowned, "I've been working in here for awhile, and nothing has happened. I think Clark can't afford to have his files destroyed. The traps outside would probably do."
"Aw man, look outside, it's a massacre out there," Irvine groaned, "This place will be a cemetery soon. No one's going to make it out of here without some sort of injury if we don't turn this defence system off,"
"If Selphie were here she'd know where it was," Michelle offered,
"Yes! Let's phone Selphie and send her the floor plans of this monster, and in the mean time sit tight," Quistis grinned and pulled her laptop out.
"What about Zell, Kerei, and Squall?" Irvine asked, "Do you think they'll capture Clark?"
"We have proof now, even if it isn't for past crimes this little stunt will get him for sure," Quistis murmured.
Irvine sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He missed his cowboy hat because this would have been a perfect time to tilt it over his eyes and take a nap. Looking equally exhausted, Trianon slid over to him and rested her forehead against his shoulder. A flood of warmth coursed through his body and he wrapped her in an embrace.
Michelle perched herself on the corner of Quistis' desk while the blonde chatted quietly to Selphie and Nida, asking them if there was anything they could do to help the situation. Playing with a pigtail Michelle silently hoped her other friends were all right. They had all known it wouldn't be a simple task to perform this mission but never would she have thought it could go so wrong. The cries outside and dimmed to soft moans as the majority of the traps had gone off. A shiver crept up her spine, thinking about the horrors Gerald Clark had done to those people. Michelle had joined SeeD to become an advocate for peace, not to end up in a mansion of dead and dying people and be locked in a secretary's office.
Author's Note:
I feel really guilty about doing this but I don't see how I'll be able to update next week. I'll be in the middle of travelling, and living at home with four males who will always want the computer so I think I will take the Christmas week off. Hope you all don't mind.
Author's Corner:
Shortey: I have this strange fetish with maid uniforms, I really adore them. Not sure why. It's relieving to know someone would still read my fics even if they weren't FF8-based!!
Emrelle Elendal: Awwww, us Dev-artists have to stick up for one another! I think the SeeDs now have something to entertain themselves with.
Makku: Thanks a ton dearie, you know I appreciate the comments. I try really, really hard to keep a chapter per week ready but it gets harder around exam time. Oi.
Cyberwing: I'd love to update soon but it doesn't look like it will happen x.x
Kithara: Wow. That's all I can say. You are amazing.
Rin Ravenice: Pah! You are totally lovely! I can't wait to see more work from you too. Glad to hear your wrists are okay, mine are on the mend now that I'm done school. I feel a bit fried as well but hopefully I'll recharge over the holidays. Cookies do wonders for the mind, tee hee.
Hikari Heijin: Heh, thanks dearie, I'm trying my best to keep up. The reason why I can still write chapters during exams is because I love writing and hate studying. So I think of it as useful procrastination.
Juilet3: Ooh I was worried I had lost you! I'm so glad you're still reading and enjoying the fic!
Selphie108: Don't worry, Garden has plenty of goals to achieve yet, they'll be outlined more towards the end of the fic though, I'm not completely concentrating on them.
Well that's it for now! Thanks for reviewing!
Silverium.
