xii. the ties that bind us
It's taking him every ounce of strength to not throw a fist in Seifer's face. He counts to ten in his head while taking a deep breath as he meets the ice-blue stare of his adversary. Certainly freezing Seifer in space to never be seen again would solve Squall's problem of what to do with the jerk, but in all his studies he has never heard of a male holding Hyne's power.
"Would this even work, doctor?" Squall questions. Hyne, did a sorcerer even exist? And would it be a wise choice to give Seifer, a traitor to Garden and an ex-knight of Ultimecia, that kind of power?
"Zat we do not know," he replies as he adjusts his antique glasses. "Zer iz a chance zat it will, but zer iz a chance...zat he will die."
If it would help Rinoa, he didn't care the cost.
"No!" Matron protests as she moves between them. "You are both my sons...you can't do this to him, Squall!"
"If he dies, where does the power go?" Squall asks ignoring Matron's pleas. He needs facts right now, a scientific backing, something to make sense of this enigma.
"Frozen with ze corpse if we time zet right...It iz zery risky."
To him the risk, no matter how great, is worth it if Rinoa is cured, but he hears his inner voice. There is his duty to Garden and the world to prevent another sorceress war from reoccurring. He is responsible if he kills one of Matron's children, a fellow orphan and man looking to find his way in this war torn world. Yet, he is also responsible if Seifer, the first sorcerer, is malicious and powerful enough to outmaneuver Esthar's controls. Squall knows that he and Rinoa can repair the broken pieces once this is settled, but if this experiment fails he is now responsible for unleashing chaos into the world.
"I'm not afraid to die," Seifer breaks the silence as he clears his throat.
"Good," Squall retorts in a patronizing tone. "As commander of SeeD, this is your sentence for severing Rinoa's bond as a catalyst to begin another Sorceress's War."
-xx-
Hundreds of wires wrap around his body like thorny vines strangling the grassy plains of Timber. The wires drape around his legs, bandaging his arms and covering his chest, in colors that mirror a rainbow of horrors. This is all hauntingly familiar; he's reminded of the monstrosity of chaos that arose from him blindly creating the Lunar Cry.
Seifer shudders at the thought of Adel; the irony that he's suspended in the same cords awaiting the same cryo slumber.
"We're just about ready," one of the techs calls out.
Rinoa and him are a foot apart facing each other, but neither of them have looked at the other person since Seifer agreed to the transfer of power. He takes her in, even in this sadness, because he wants her face to be the last thing he sees before eternal sleep.
"Zo let's begin!" the quack doctor squeals in excitement. Hyne, help them all that this guy is the best thing since sliced bread in sorceress wizardry. Hopefully this will be quick and painless.
"You'll be okay soon," Commander Puberty says kissing Rinoa on the forehead. "And then we can move on from this nightmare."
At least he won't have to see that sack of shit again.
"My son," Matron whispers as she tugs his cold arm. "I will always be proud of you," she says hugging him through all the cables.
Hyne, he will miss her.
"In a minute you both will feel a tingling sensation coursing through your veins. This will connect Rinoa's power to Seifer and transfer it to him," the lab tech announces as he examines the set up of them. "The total transfer time is five minutes. Don't be alarmed if you can hear the other person's thoughts."
Are you sure you want to do this Seifer? There's still time.
Time, the irony of it all, that an entity made to measure length and bring order caused them so much destruction. That not long ago she would have made all the time in the world for him and he threw it all away.
Rinoa, what we had, what I've done...
"One minute in," the tech announces. "All vitals normal."
I know I fucked up real bad...
How could he have fed her to Adel? How could he have battled her each time and not recognize her face? How, after the battle in Galbadia Garden, during the minutes of consciousnesses that they both had did he not take her by the hand and run from Ultimecia? That haunting moment when he awoke, after being knocked out, and seeing her face with tears begging for help.
Enough, Seifer, I forgave you then and I forgive you now.
"Two minutes and thirty seconds in," a different tech reports. "Transfer is fifty percent complete, all vitals still normal."
I never got to thank you for believing in me when no one else did. Seifer, you gave me the confidence I never had.
Rinoa, I...
Let go of the past, Seifer. I forgive you.
I never told you how...I never told you a lot of things, Rin.
A sudden dizziness overcomes him making it hard to focus on Rinoa's face. Seifer feels short of breath, trying to inhale as deeply as possible, but he can't escape a crushing sensation in his lungs.
"Four minutez and five zecondz past," Doctor Odine exclaims "We will have zour first male sorcerer!"
Seifer...?
"Thirty seconds remain, but sir, the sorcerer's heartbeat is erratic," the tech calls out. "The power is overwhelming the subject."
Rin, I...you need...to...
"Sir, request to abort mission, the sorcerer is having a heart attack."
"Request denied," Squall answers cold and without hesitation.
You can't die, Seifer...me and you could...
...
Seifer, I...I...you can't die!
"He can't die!" Rinoa screams out rushing to Seifer as she rips off the wires connected to him.
"Rinoa! Stop!" Squall and Matron scream. "What are you doing?"
If this is how it ends, we end it together.
-xx-
"No!" Squall wails, his voice so loud, so painful as it pierces through the city of Esthar.
"What happened?" his scream is full of rage. "What the fuck just happened? Bring her back now!"
Everyone in the room sits silent uncomfortable, in awe and fear, of what just occurred. In a blink of an eye, Rinoa, ripped the cables off her and plunged into Seifer before the transfer of power completed. The two of them now laid within cryo chamber frozen together.
"Unfreeze them!" Squall pleads.
"Ze power will overflow with no host."
"Unfreeze it so we can get Rinoa!" Squall retorts through his teeth as he clenches his fists. "I command you!"
Rinoa, why did you do this?
Despite the furious typing of the techs trying to connect to the chamber, the uncomfortable silence echoes through out the lab. It's suffocating everyone in the room, slowly, taking it's time torturing all of them with the anxiety of the unknown.
"Are they even..." Matron speaks softly avoiding looking at Squall, who takes heavy footsteps, one at at time, walking towards the ice chamber. "Are they even alive?" She doesn't want to give him false hope.
"Zat we don't know," he answers as he follows Squall to view them.
Matron follows her son and the doctor to view the catastrophe that lays before them. As they walk closer, wires and machinery are everywhere. Despite the freezing cold temperatures the pair is engulfed in, Matron can feel warmth radiating around the perimeter of the cell.
The irony of it.
Iridescence lights pulse within the chamber illuminating the walls around them, the colors dance together like the scatter of rose quartz clouds mixing with an orange crush sky during a Dollet sunset.
"Sir, both subjects are alive," a tech says to Squall and the doctor. "We established a connection."
"Well then what are you waiting for?" Squall snaps at the tech team.
Typing clacks harder against the keyboard as the techs try to secure a safe opening to Rinoa without unleashing a vortex of power into the city and the rest of the world. The last thing everyone needs is Pandora's box opening, yet again, and causing the Lunar Cry or far worse.
There they lay, embracing each other like lovers do. A scene about to play behind curtains that no one is meant to view. Rinoa's face is nestled in her son's chest, and Seifer's head is resting above; dark and blonde hair entangled together. There is a smile on Seifer's lips, one that Matron hasn't seen ever before, and all she can see is that her son is serene and the young sorceress tranquil.
I understand now.
"We cannot zeparate zem," Doctor Odin reports back. "Zey are one, zer iz balance. Zis yearz of research."
"What the hell does that even mean?" Squall fires back getting even more frustrated as the minutes pass.
"Zey will not be able to break zo easily without consequences. They share ze power together az Sorcerer and Sorceress. You zeparate zem and power will overwhelm another once again risking destruction or ze war."
"None of this makes any sense," Squall snaps as he bangs a fist into the glass chamber where they lay. He glances at the cell and whispers in defeat. "I am her knight."
"Yes, you...were," Matron says gently as she turns to face Squall so he can't view the cell anymore. Everyone around waits as she takes a deep breath and touches his cheek, "but she chose Seifer."
-xx-