Fujin hissed every time Squall's fist hit her belly. How she hissed without breathing wasn't exactly clear to Squall, but than again, you normally wouldn't live without breathing. He kicked against her ankle. She hung in the grasp of Quistis' whip. Than, as Squall wordlessly ordered Quistis to drop her, Fujin stomped the foot on the floor and looked defiantely at Squall.
"NEVER" Squall shook his head,. He looked like a dissapointed parent. He brought his fist forward, straight into her right breast. Fujin crumpeled. She writhed in pain on the ground, tears flowing out of her eye.
"IN...ISTRUCTOR...HELP.... TALK...MAKE STOP." Quistis turned her head away. She fidgeted with her whip. Only Squall could see the look on her face. And on Fujin's face. Fujin cried now bitterly. Squall kicked her in her kidneys.
"Stop trying to be the hero Fujin. You're not. There are no heroes. Seifer doesn't expect this from you."
"DIE" Fujin said in a pained voice. Squall grabbed her hair. She didn't resist, she was put on her knees, and Squall kicked her in the face. A crack was heard, and as Fujin moaned, she spat out three teeth and a pert of a fourth, and some blood. Her jaw was broken.
"Heal that Quistis, she has to be able to talk." Quistis used the treatment ability, since healing spells couldn't be used on her.The wounds healed, but her teeth didn't grow back. Lost organs couldn't be regrown with healing spells. She slowly started to get up on her hands, but Squall brought down his heel in her back, and her arms spread. He than pulled her back by her hair until she was hanging by it. Her knees didn't have the power to carry her anymore, and she just hung at her hair. Squall ordered Quistis to hold her up. She was slowly losing consciousness. Squall took the vial of Phoenix down that was half-empty and brought it to her mouth. She held it closed. He unceremoniously opened her mouth by grabbing in the space were teeth used to be, and pulling her jaw down, than he pushed her tongue down. He crammed the vial in such a way that it flowed straight into her stomach. When his hand came back, there was some blood on it. He checked the vial, it was undamaged. He threw away the vial. With the other hand he closed her mouth. As he had expected she was trying to vomit. Her mouth filled with gastric juices and Phoenix down, but he forced her head back and the cocktail returned to her stomach. The effect worked and Fujin was slowly becoming clear enough to realize her situation again. She screamed in an uncharacteristically high voice.
"...SADIST.... DISGUST." Squall grabbed her by her throat and pushed her against a wall, so fast Quistis hardly had the time to release her. Fujin tried in vane to remove the hand at her throat. He looked her in her eye and said, calmly and softly,
"I'm a sadist Fujin? No, I'd be a sadist if I was laughing and enjoying this. You see me laughing? This is strictly SeeD affairs." He punched her in her stomach. "Seifer enjoyed it though. He had a great time torturing me. Are you disgusted by Seifer?" She yelled.
"LIES"
"I remember the list he spoke about when we were preparing for our exam. The one instructor Quistis had to be added. That list wasn't something like a list of people to torture was it?"
"NO"
"Maybe he didn't say that to you, but he spoke about me being high on the 'list' when I was hanging there in the Dessert prison. He sounded like he had given it some thoughts. Had thought about who would take how long to break. I wonder if he has given you a time lapse too? You never know when people suddenly change sides do you?" He threw her on the ground.
"LIES" she said.
...
Squall had been hanging in the cuffs, unable to move anything below his neck. The memories seemed fractured, there was pain, questions and his own voice, talking. He didn't clearly understand the questions but he vaguely remembered not being able to answer them. He didn't know anything that Seifer was especially forbidden to know, so he didn't struggle and calmly let the pain wash over him, feeling distant, hearing his own voice screaming of anger, screaming for mercy, screaming that he didn't know anything, screaming lies and insults. But the voice and the pain seemed to be the pain of another man, like when you are hit while summoning a GF. Than Seifer had gloated for a while. Squall had snapped to attention when he heard Zell. Seifer was talking about his 'list'. Squall had found the freshness for a smart-ass response. It didn't feel good in him. Was this the only thing he could do? Seifer was talking about how he would torture all the others. Squall felt sorry for them, but they were SeeD's, they knew the risks. And they couldn't tell anything since they didn't KNOW anything. Than he remembered Rinoa. Seifer and she had been...friends. Squall felt a bit agitated that she had danced with him, but was only doing that because Seifer wasn't at the graduation festivities. But she was not a SeeD, she was in this because.... because she chose to. She had chosen. It wasn't his problem. On the other hand...she was the leader of the Forest Owls, and he had to assist them. His duty as a SeeD. Black on white. Crystal-clear. Seifer had been talking to him. He looked up. He was mocking him. Squall had failed his mission. He was a failure The pain of that realization touched him, and he became angry. Not the blind instinctive anger like before, like a caged animal, but human anger, shooting to hurt, and not to kill. A thought arose within him. His shoulders started shaking. Seifer sneered.
"The widdwe boy is cwying because big, bad Seifew 's huwting him. Poow widdwe...what?" Squall had been slowly lifting his head, showing that Squall was laughing silently. He spoke with a voice dripping in contempt and sarcasm.
"I'm a failure Seifer? Well, at least I'm in good company than. If you had been good enough to even BECOME a SeeD you wouldn't have to ask me all these questions now. Xu was right, you would never have been a SeeD, you just don't have what it takes!"
"SHUT UP" Seifer screamed
"And than you could have gone to Timber. Rinoa was so disappointed when we arrived, but you didn't, because you flunked. You really let her down. And when you practically destroyed her rebel faction by coming in with such a hair-brained plan, you destroyed her lifework, her way of proving herself. Yet she still cried for you when you 'died' Did you know the Sorceress almost killed her? I had to rescue her, AAANGH"
"SHUT THE HELL UP SQUALL" Seifer said, while activating the currents Squall inhaled sharply and continued, despite the pain. "Rajin ...and Fujin never gave up on you, never would...ARGH AH...But they looked terrified, I've never seen Fujin so scared."
"Rajin...Fujin....I've forgotten about them..." Seifer said to himself
"To busy playing knight to care about your friends, Seifer? Maybe they've been killed by a Galbadian soldier by now, trying to fight their way into this prison to help you...AAAAH"
"NOT ANOTHER WORD!"
"Not that you protected the sorceress very well. Man, you were pathetic under the bridge. And than the sorceress came in and saved you. She made minced meat out of me in no time flat. Some 'knight' you are, lapdog...UNGH..AAAARGH."
"Stop it, I don't want to hear it."
"It's the truth Seifer. Man, you can't make me talk, you can't make me shut up, maybe you should add torturer to your list of failures." Seifer grabbed his gunblade.
"THAT'S IT, YOU'RE DEAD." Seifer ran at him his gunblade swinging wildly. The assistant came between them.
"Sir, you can't kill himhurgl..." Seifer looked at the sword that went trough the man's lungs, and than at Squall, who chuckled
"Oops, Edea, your knight made a booboo again." Seifer stormed out. Squall waited until he was trough the door, and than lost consciousness.
...
Zell was getting desperate. He had trashed Rajin within an inch of his life. Twice Irvine had put a hand on his shoulder, wordlessly asking him to pause his onslaught, twice Zell had refused, and continued. They had gone downstairs. There they had casted blind on Rajin and Zell had punched him from different directions. They had casted lightning on him, it was the first time in many years Rajin actually felt lightning as painfull. It was a whole new experience for him, an unpleasant one. The screams showed it's effectiveness, but there was still no answer to that all-important question. "Where is Ellone?" He had asked him the question thousands times, but the answer was always negative. Sometimes he simply said "I won't tell you" or "I don't know", sometimes he'd insult Zell, Irvine and Selphie, or he would try to make them show mercy. Sometimes he'd laugh at them, sometimes he's scream furiously and more than once he started crying. The reaction of Zell was always the same. Fist, foot, knee or elbow. It was especially hard to hit him when he was crying. Zell could almost see his mother (she was his mother, no matter who gave birth to him!) looking disgusted at him. Selphie had had to go to the bathroom when Zell had made Rajin eat a whole Marlboro tentacle. Quistis had eaten one, and it's effects had reacted with her magical abilities, but she had been violently sick, and had thrown up the tentacle more than once, taking it from the floor and eating it again, since the magical ingredients had to be digested completely. Noone had eaten much that day. Even Squall had looked a bit pale. But for Rajin it was worse, every time he threw the tentacle up, he'd get beaten, asked where Ellone was and than got the tentacle jammed in is mouth again. The floor was rancid from his gastric juices. But Rajin had eaten the whole tentacle and not answered the question, Zell hoped Rajin wouldn't suffer to serious health problems later in his life. Zell would have enough self-loathing without that. He had taken one of the Chef's knives and carved insulting initials on Rajin's chest. He had cut out a whole part of his skin one time, and thrown some of the mysterious fluid in the wound, the same fluid Quistis had used to let her spit acid. She had almost bitten off her tongue when she felt the liquid go through her throat, and everyone wondered why the acid stuff didn't burn straight to her stomach, but Quistis' screams of pain that day had made them wonder whether it did that anyway. It took the three of them their combined might to stop Rajin from trashing about. Zell had asked the question the whole time he was sitting on Rajin. Rajin had answered with screams. Zell had told him to stop it and had poured some more drops on his exposed flesh. They had tied him up so he couldn't move a muscle and than he casted berzerk on him. He had frothed at the mouth, and tried to bite Zell as he came within an inch and slapped him in the face. Once in a while he'd cast esuna and ask the question. But the answer didn't come. Zell was looking at the big door in front of them. Would Squall be ready by now? Zell couldn't face the thought that he would have to confront Squall and admit he failed. Squall would probably say something like "Should have done it myself from the beginning" and extract the information out of Rajin in three seconds. He wouldn't be angry at Zell, he would probably forget it within a few hours, but that was no comfort. He would have disappointed Squall, and Squall was what he wanted to be. A hero. Why did his parents get him as a child and not Squall. Squall had hero written all over him. Just like his grandfather. If Zell disappointed Squall, it would be like disappointing his grandfather, the warhero. He couldn't disappoint Squall.
"NEVER" Squall shook his head,. He looked like a dissapointed parent. He brought his fist forward, straight into her right breast. Fujin crumpeled. She writhed in pain on the ground, tears flowing out of her eye.
"IN...ISTRUCTOR...HELP.... TALK...MAKE STOP." Quistis turned her head away. She fidgeted with her whip. Only Squall could see the look on her face. And on Fujin's face. Fujin cried now bitterly. Squall kicked her in her kidneys.
"Stop trying to be the hero Fujin. You're not. There are no heroes. Seifer doesn't expect this from you."
"DIE" Fujin said in a pained voice. Squall grabbed her hair. She didn't resist, she was put on her knees, and Squall kicked her in the face. A crack was heard, and as Fujin moaned, she spat out three teeth and a pert of a fourth, and some blood. Her jaw was broken.
"Heal that Quistis, she has to be able to talk." Quistis used the treatment ability, since healing spells couldn't be used on her.The wounds healed, but her teeth didn't grow back. Lost organs couldn't be regrown with healing spells. She slowly started to get up on her hands, but Squall brought down his heel in her back, and her arms spread. He than pulled her back by her hair until she was hanging by it. Her knees didn't have the power to carry her anymore, and she just hung at her hair. Squall ordered Quistis to hold her up. She was slowly losing consciousness. Squall took the vial of Phoenix down that was half-empty and brought it to her mouth. She held it closed. He unceremoniously opened her mouth by grabbing in the space were teeth used to be, and pulling her jaw down, than he pushed her tongue down. He crammed the vial in such a way that it flowed straight into her stomach. When his hand came back, there was some blood on it. He checked the vial, it was undamaged. He threw away the vial. With the other hand he closed her mouth. As he had expected she was trying to vomit. Her mouth filled with gastric juices and Phoenix down, but he forced her head back and the cocktail returned to her stomach. The effect worked and Fujin was slowly becoming clear enough to realize her situation again. She screamed in an uncharacteristically high voice.
"...SADIST.... DISGUST." Squall grabbed her by her throat and pushed her against a wall, so fast Quistis hardly had the time to release her. Fujin tried in vane to remove the hand at her throat. He looked her in her eye and said, calmly and softly,
"I'm a sadist Fujin? No, I'd be a sadist if I was laughing and enjoying this. You see me laughing? This is strictly SeeD affairs." He punched her in her stomach. "Seifer enjoyed it though. He had a great time torturing me. Are you disgusted by Seifer?" She yelled.
"LIES"
"I remember the list he spoke about when we were preparing for our exam. The one instructor Quistis had to be added. That list wasn't something like a list of people to torture was it?"
"NO"
"Maybe he didn't say that to you, but he spoke about me being high on the 'list' when I was hanging there in the Dessert prison. He sounded like he had given it some thoughts. Had thought about who would take how long to break. I wonder if he has given you a time lapse too? You never know when people suddenly change sides do you?" He threw her on the ground.
"LIES" she said.
...
Squall had been hanging in the cuffs, unable to move anything below his neck. The memories seemed fractured, there was pain, questions and his own voice, talking. He didn't clearly understand the questions but he vaguely remembered not being able to answer them. He didn't know anything that Seifer was especially forbidden to know, so he didn't struggle and calmly let the pain wash over him, feeling distant, hearing his own voice screaming of anger, screaming for mercy, screaming that he didn't know anything, screaming lies and insults. But the voice and the pain seemed to be the pain of another man, like when you are hit while summoning a GF. Than Seifer had gloated for a while. Squall had snapped to attention when he heard Zell. Seifer was talking about his 'list'. Squall had found the freshness for a smart-ass response. It didn't feel good in him. Was this the only thing he could do? Seifer was talking about how he would torture all the others. Squall felt sorry for them, but they were SeeD's, they knew the risks. And they couldn't tell anything since they didn't KNOW anything. Than he remembered Rinoa. Seifer and she had been...friends. Squall felt a bit agitated that she had danced with him, but was only doing that because Seifer wasn't at the graduation festivities. But she was not a SeeD, she was in this because.... because she chose to. She had chosen. It wasn't his problem. On the other hand...she was the leader of the Forest Owls, and he had to assist them. His duty as a SeeD. Black on white. Crystal-clear. Seifer had been talking to him. He looked up. He was mocking him. Squall had failed his mission. He was a failure The pain of that realization touched him, and he became angry. Not the blind instinctive anger like before, like a caged animal, but human anger, shooting to hurt, and not to kill. A thought arose within him. His shoulders started shaking. Seifer sneered.
"The widdwe boy is cwying because big, bad Seifew 's huwting him. Poow widdwe...what?" Squall had been slowly lifting his head, showing that Squall was laughing silently. He spoke with a voice dripping in contempt and sarcasm.
"I'm a failure Seifer? Well, at least I'm in good company than. If you had been good enough to even BECOME a SeeD you wouldn't have to ask me all these questions now. Xu was right, you would never have been a SeeD, you just don't have what it takes!"
"SHUT UP" Seifer screamed
"And than you could have gone to Timber. Rinoa was so disappointed when we arrived, but you didn't, because you flunked. You really let her down. And when you practically destroyed her rebel faction by coming in with such a hair-brained plan, you destroyed her lifework, her way of proving herself. Yet she still cried for you when you 'died' Did you know the Sorceress almost killed her? I had to rescue her, AAANGH"
"SHUT THE HELL UP SQUALL" Seifer said, while activating the currents Squall inhaled sharply and continued, despite the pain. "Rajin ...and Fujin never gave up on you, never would...ARGH AH...But they looked terrified, I've never seen Fujin so scared."
"Rajin...Fujin....I've forgotten about them..." Seifer said to himself
"To busy playing knight to care about your friends, Seifer? Maybe they've been killed by a Galbadian soldier by now, trying to fight their way into this prison to help you...AAAAH"
"NOT ANOTHER WORD!"
"Not that you protected the sorceress very well. Man, you were pathetic under the bridge. And than the sorceress came in and saved you. She made minced meat out of me in no time flat. Some 'knight' you are, lapdog...UNGH..AAAARGH."
"Stop it, I don't want to hear it."
"It's the truth Seifer. Man, you can't make me talk, you can't make me shut up, maybe you should add torturer to your list of failures." Seifer grabbed his gunblade.
"THAT'S IT, YOU'RE DEAD." Seifer ran at him his gunblade swinging wildly. The assistant came between them.
"Sir, you can't kill himhurgl..." Seifer looked at the sword that went trough the man's lungs, and than at Squall, who chuckled
"Oops, Edea, your knight made a booboo again." Seifer stormed out. Squall waited until he was trough the door, and than lost consciousness.
...
Zell was getting desperate. He had trashed Rajin within an inch of his life. Twice Irvine had put a hand on his shoulder, wordlessly asking him to pause his onslaught, twice Zell had refused, and continued. They had gone downstairs. There they had casted blind on Rajin and Zell had punched him from different directions. They had casted lightning on him, it was the first time in many years Rajin actually felt lightning as painfull. It was a whole new experience for him, an unpleasant one. The screams showed it's effectiveness, but there was still no answer to that all-important question. "Where is Ellone?" He had asked him the question thousands times, but the answer was always negative. Sometimes he simply said "I won't tell you" or "I don't know", sometimes he'd insult Zell, Irvine and Selphie, or he would try to make them show mercy. Sometimes he'd laugh at them, sometimes he's scream furiously and more than once he started crying. The reaction of Zell was always the same. Fist, foot, knee or elbow. It was especially hard to hit him when he was crying. Zell could almost see his mother (she was his mother, no matter who gave birth to him!) looking disgusted at him. Selphie had had to go to the bathroom when Zell had made Rajin eat a whole Marlboro tentacle. Quistis had eaten one, and it's effects had reacted with her magical abilities, but she had been violently sick, and had thrown up the tentacle more than once, taking it from the floor and eating it again, since the magical ingredients had to be digested completely. Noone had eaten much that day. Even Squall had looked a bit pale. But for Rajin it was worse, every time he threw the tentacle up, he'd get beaten, asked where Ellone was and than got the tentacle jammed in is mouth again. The floor was rancid from his gastric juices. But Rajin had eaten the whole tentacle and not answered the question, Zell hoped Rajin wouldn't suffer to serious health problems later in his life. Zell would have enough self-loathing without that. He had taken one of the Chef's knives and carved insulting initials on Rajin's chest. He had cut out a whole part of his skin one time, and thrown some of the mysterious fluid in the wound, the same fluid Quistis had used to let her spit acid. She had almost bitten off her tongue when she felt the liquid go through her throat, and everyone wondered why the acid stuff didn't burn straight to her stomach, but Quistis' screams of pain that day had made them wonder whether it did that anyway. It took the three of them their combined might to stop Rajin from trashing about. Zell had asked the question the whole time he was sitting on Rajin. Rajin had answered with screams. Zell had told him to stop it and had poured some more drops on his exposed flesh. They had tied him up so he couldn't move a muscle and than he casted berzerk on him. He had frothed at the mouth, and tried to bite Zell as he came within an inch and slapped him in the face. Once in a while he'd cast esuna and ask the question. But the answer didn't come. Zell was looking at the big door in front of them. Would Squall be ready by now? Zell couldn't face the thought that he would have to confront Squall and admit he failed. Squall would probably say something like "Should have done it myself from the beginning" and extract the information out of Rajin in three seconds. He wouldn't be angry at Zell, he would probably forget it within a few hours, but that was no comfort. He would have disappointed Squall, and Squall was what he wanted to be. A hero. Why did his parents get him as a child and not Squall. Squall had hero written all over him. Just like his grandfather. If Zell disappointed Squall, it would be like disappointing his grandfather, the warhero. He couldn't disappoint Squall.