Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 8 characters, places and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of it. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no money from it.
FINAL FANTASY/ ALTERED TALE
CHAPTER 7
Quistis panted heavily as she continued her long trek up the winding stairway. She slowly leaned her back against the wall as she took a break. She couldn't understand her jumbling thoughts. She found herself constantly worrying about Squall. She wasn't going to lie to herself. Seifer was right we he said she had a thing for him. She was definitely attracted to him. However, she had been that way much longer then even Seifer noticed. Only now she was trying to figure out if Squall felt the same way at all. Did she even have a chance with the silent Knight who had so captivated her from the very first day they had met?
Quisits sighed heavily. She wasn't even sure if he was ok or not. She constantly forced herself not to radio him until she had reached the end of her path. She didn't want to feel this way on a mission. She felt that it made her vulnerable and she hated being vulnerable at any time, especially on a mission. It gave her a sense of no longer being in control of her own actions. But she simply couldn't help herself. There was a deep knot in her heart whenever she thought about Squall. He had been such a huge part of her life for as long as she could remember. So huge that if anything had ever happened to him, she didn't know what she would do.
Slowly images of Squall dying painfully entered her mind. She violently shook her head. 'Stay focused Quistis!' she told herself sternly. If Squall was in danger then the most she could do was hurry up to the main tower as fast as she could. And that was even assuming if she had chosen the right path. For all she knew, she could be heading towards a dead end.
Heaving another sigh, this time of annoyance at her own paranoia, she pushed herself from the wall and began climbing the stairs once again. Each step was a chore as she continually dragged herself closer and closer to her destination. Her armor felt as if it weighed tons. She reflexively clutched the wall for support. Her armor may have been the most protective out of the whole group but it was also the heaviest.
Slowly she neared an opening a few yards above her. New hope entered her mind and she picked up the pace. It was a long hard trek but finally she reached the opening and realized that it was the top of the tower. She had finally reached her destination.
She brushed an armor plated hand across her brow as she withdrew the communicator from her pouch.
She quickly scanned the area. There were about 20 Knights guarding the post. However, what bothered her most was that they weren't doing anything. They were simply standing there as if they were waiting for something.
Without another thought, she brought the communicator close to her lips. "Squall, this is Quistis. Do you copy, over?" She said silently into the small device.
She covered the receiver as static rang out from the other end. Then Finally Squall's voice filtered through the tiny communicator.
"I copy you loud and clear Commander. What's up?"
Quistis didn't take her eyes off of the Knights as she replied. "It looks like I've struck gold. I found the tower, so I guess you get the dead end of the path. How fast can you meet me here?"
"Actually Commander, sooner then you think. This path leads to the top of the tower as well."
Quistis suppressed her shock as much as she could. "What?! Hmph, well I guess that makes sense. According to legend, the founders of this tower used to house an army here. It would be stupid if they only had one exit from the top."
Suddenly Quistis heard the sounds of another voice on Squall's end. It was surprisingly, female.
"Hey who are you talking to?" She heard the voice ask.
Quistis was sufficiently shocked. "Squall do you have somebody with you?"
She listened intently as she heard the shuffling and noises in the distance. Finally Squall returned to the mic.
"I apologize for that little intrusion Commander. Yes I am with someone else. I found her about halfway up the tower. She seems to be a rebel from Timber. She was captured here and I promised her I would help her find her way out."
Quistis couldn't help the ping of jealousy that suddenly entered her heart. 'Promised her?'
"Squall, you do remember that this mission is of the utmost importance. Bringing her along could not only get her killed but it could also jeopardize the mission! What were you thinking? Or were you even thinking at all."
Squalls voice was flat and emotionless as he answered her back. "I didn't really have a choice in the matter Commander. If I would have left her alone, chances are she would have been killed. At least this way, she has a better chance of making it out alive."
Quistis wanted to scream, but the ever logical, Squall Lionheart, once again made perfect sense of the situation.
Gritting her teeth, Quistis seethed into the mic. "Fine, then. But she's on your watch not mine. If anything happens to her, I can't help her. My first and foremost duty is to accomplish this mission. Don't think I'll go out of my way to save her over that."
"Understood." Squall said in the same flat voice making Quistis even angrier. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her. She won't be a problem."
The whole way that line came out just sounded totally wrong to her. She was so enraged she wanted to throw her communicator across the room but she forcefully reminded herself of where she was.
She took a moment to collect herself, then spoke again. "How close are you to the top of the tower now?"
"I should be there any second. I see the opening now. Watch for me."
"Affirmative." Quistis said, now suddenly all business.
She closely scanned all sides of the room until her eyes locked on another exit located at the far end. After a few moments she saw a flash of light quickly gleam from that area.
"See me?" Squall asked into the communicator.
"I saw you." Quistis answered. "Ok now here's the plan. This place is a pretty big structure. I count about 20 Galbadian Knights. You see that huge bell? We can't let them ring that or reinforcements will be on our tails in a heartbeat. So this is what we do. You still have Quezolcot right? I want you to synchronize with him. Meanwhile, I'll synchronize with Shiva. I'll go first and spray the whole area. Whatever I miss, I'm counting on you to hit with Quezolcot. You got it?"
Squall was quiet for a moment. "Commander, are you sure about this? You know how much we get drained by summoning GF's. If we do summon them, afterwards we'll be totally defenseless."
"That's why I'm counting on you to take care of any that I miss. If we do this right, you won't have to worry about a thing. Besides, once we initiate the battle and gain possession of the tower, we can then alert Squad C to our position and tell them to commence the attack."
Again, Squall didn't reply for a moment then his voice range out over the small device.
"I copy Commander. I'm ready when you are."
"Good. Then start synchronizing. Once I finish my attack, I'll be counting on you to back me up."
"Roger."
Quistis smiled briefly. Despite the disturbing events with this strange new woman Squall had discovered, the mission was going directly as planned. This would be a cakewalk. Now all she had to worry about was Seifer holding up his end of the Job. With no surprise to her, she felt a great deal of worry seep into her mind.
****
The sun blazed mercilessly on Squad C as they made their way towards the tower. Biggs and Wedge preoccupied themselves with complaining amongst each other. Jerrard furiously brushed his brow ever five seconds. Carter and Monter Continually chaffed under their heated Garden armor. Seifer, however, continued to trudge on as if the heat did not bother him at all. He had completely changed ever since receiving the vision from Kiros of what was to come. Instead of complaining about the heat as he normally would, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts set only for the X-ATM092 and the threat it posed for the whole world.
The group had been traveling for 15 minutes and still they had seen no sign of the elusive Galbadian armada. After such time, Seifer had decided that the best course of action was just to head towards the tower since that was the destination the contingent was heading towards anyway. However, now, after finally reaching a summit overlooking the tower, the group was beginning to become agitated.
"Where the hell are they?" Jerrard complained, wiping his forehead once more.
Seifer slowly scanned the landscape. "Something's wrong." He muttered. "They should have been here by now…"
Just then a troubling thought entered Wedge's mind. "Unless…" He hinted.
Seifer immediately got the meaning and quickly snapped to his feet. "Shit! They must already be-"
"LOOK!" Cried Biggs, cutting Seifer off in mid-sentence.
They all looked as the outline of the X-ATM092's legs passed by the side of the tower.
"That's it." Seifer grunted angrily. "Knights, we move in now!"
He then, unsheathed his sword and charged down the bluff towards the tower. The other Seeds quickly followed his lead and ran down after him.
Seifer was in full sprint. He reached the tower in a heartbeat. Not stopping, he made a sharp turn then headed straight for the main doors to the tower. He stopped abruptly when he saw the huge Galbadian army waiting for him at the front.
"Heh heh heh, Going some where?" One of the Galbadian's asked with a huge grin on his face.
Soon the other Seeds met up with him and were equally shocked when they noticed their plight.
"It was a damned set up!" Seifer seethed.
"Bingo! You guessed it!" Laughed the same Galbadian. "You're prize is a quick death. We have explicit orders not to let anyone pass through these gates. And if they were Seeds, our orders are to eliminate them by all costs."
Seifer narrowed his eyes angrily and grit his teeth. "Bastards!" he hissed.
"Oh come on, why don't you all just give up? I mean look at us! You're grossly outnumbered."
Seifer had to grudgingly agree about that. As he looked forth towards his enemies, they had to have had at least 200 Knights in all. Suddenly, images of Kiros vision entered his mind and he clutched his sword tightly.
"You've lost, Seeds." The man yelled.
"No…" Seifer said silently. "No matter what… I will not allow that vision to come to pass! Even if I have to fight you with my last dying breath, I won't give up! I WON'T SURRENDER!"
Seifer was shocked, when suddenly all the Seeds behind him roared in agreement.
The Galbadian clenched his fists furiously. "You will all die!"
"NOT JUST YET!" Cried a voice in the, not too far, distance. Seifer swung his head around the see the familiar form of Coleman and the rest of Squad B.
"SQUAD LEADER!" Biggs and Wedge screamed together in glee. All the other Seeds cheered as Squad B approached the group.
"What took you so long?" Seifer grumbled.
"It's good to see you too, Seifer. I saw you guys were unfairly matched here and well I thought we might try and even the odds a bit."
Seifer let out a shrewd laugh. "Yeah a lotta good that does us! Now more people are gonna die."
Seifer glanced towards Coleman with intensity in his eyes. "You can still turn back. We can hold them off at least until you get away. At least then, we all don't die."
Coleman met his gaze evenly. "I heard you're speech back there. Whatever premonitions you got, they must have had a strong impact on you. I've never known you to be so completely focused before Seifer, much less ready to die. The way I see it, if 'you're' ready to die over this, then it must be worth dying for."
"Coleman…"
"Besides, You remember our motto! Seeds are obliged never to leave other Seeds in the brink of danger."
Seifer nodded his head slowly. "We can't let that X-ATM092 reach the top of the tower. I can't explain but just know that if it does, then that means the end for us all."
Coleman gave a mirthless smile. "Well, I guess we better put that thing out of commission then huh?"
The Galbadian had had enough of their conversation. "Enough with the babbling already! Knights you have your orders! Attack! In the name of our Sorceress!"
Seifer clenched his teeth. "No more time left. Let's get to it!"
"Indeed." Coleman replied, then drew his sword, quite possibly, for the last time.
Wow! Things are drawing to a close as our hero's face off in the ultimate battle which decides all! The end is at hand but for who? Please keep reading to find out. As always thanks for reading and please review! J
-Cordis