Disclaimer- For the eleventh time, I don't own FF8 and their characters dammit!
A/N: Sorry this took so long! I'm starting to slack off these days. I'm sooooo lazy. Anyway, sorry again for making you wait so long. And thank you to all you guys who stuck with me from the beginning! Mwah!
An Unlikely Meeting- Part XI
"So, where is Celeste, exactly?," Seifer asked. He was sitting in the front passenger seat, his legs resting on the dashboard, his arms behind his head.
"She's on a small, secluded island down south." Quistis was piloting the Ragnarok "But that's not where we're headed."
"Really? Then where are we going, may I ask?"
"To Esthar."
"Why?"
"I need items to upgrade my whip."
"Your whip? But isn't Save the Queen the best it could get?"
"It was, but a new model was created which improves accuracy by 75 percent. It also has a poisoned tip to immobilize enemies."
Seifer let out a low whistle. "That's pretty damned impressive, Instructor."
"I think there's a new upgrade for the gunblade also. You might want to check it out. The magazine is in the back seat on the left side."
Seifer got up from his seat. He found the magazine and returned to his previous sitting position. He was flipping through the pages, looking for the new gunblade model, when he came upon a picture of the new chain whip. It was a translucent silvery-white color, kind of glassy looking, very delicate it seemed, but it had great durability. At the end was a wicked looking star-shaped spike. He looked to the side of the picture where it had the items needed to create it. It was made almost entirely of energy crystals.
"Holy shit!"
"Yeah, I know. Esthar's the best place to find Elnoyls for energy crystals. I think the gunblade is fashioned in a similar way."
He skimmed through some more pages and finally landed on the page featuring the new gunblade model. The color of the blade was similar to the North Star's in that it was translucent, but it had a golden tint to it. Seifer frowned. Gold is too much of a goody-goody color for me, he thought. The name of the model was called Dragonslayer. The name's not that bad through, he thought with a grunt. The blade was made up entirely of energy crystals whereas the handle was made of adamantines. Dammit, why so many energy crystals? He didn't think any other weapon used half as many.
"Quistis, this is practically impossible. We have to find eight energy crystals for the both of us, plus screws, adamantines, dragon fins, or whatever the hell else we need for our weapons. It's going to take up too much of our time."
"It'll take us about five days at least to acquire our energy crystals, and a few hours more traveling and battle time for other supplies. I already have plenty of screws. We don't have to worry about that."
"I assume Celeste knows what we're doing now?"
"Yes, she does."
"She's not gonna come after us?"
"Most likely not. She wants to play with us for a while. She might think that we would get confident from our improved weapons. I think she's going to play with that feeling. So don't worry, she won't kill us so soon."
"How kind of her," he remarked very sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.
Moments of silence ensued. The only sound were the humming of the Ragnarok's engines and the pages of the weapons magazine being flipped. Seifer finally put down the magazine and looked at Quistis's profile.
"Do you think we can beat her?" He studied her to see if she would betray any emotions. She did not.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know."
A small pause.
"Doesn't this damn thing have autopilot or anything?"
"Yes, but putting this on autopilot would give me nothing to do but sit and think. Thinking too much makes me worry." Quistis looked at Seifer quizzically with an arched brow. "Besides, why do you care?"
Seifer shrugged nonchalantly. "Just thinkin' that all this crap must be gettin' you tired, ya know? Thought you might need some rest or somethin'."
Quistis didn't know how to react to this. "Well... thank you. But that won't be necessary."
Seifer squinted at her craftily. "You sure?"
"Yes, I'm very sure."
"OK, suit yourself. Hope you don't mind if I take a little nap." With that, he rested his feet on the upholstery, folded his hands across his stomach, and closed his eyes.
Quistis shook her head and sighed. Her eyes kept straight ahead.
Selphie skipped through the halls. She stopped in front of Quistis's room door. She rapped her knuckles firmly. "Quistis! We're going to Deling City to have some fun. You coming?" She waited for an answer, but none came. "Aww, Quistis, don't tell me you're taking a nap in there! It's Sunday afternoon! Monday's almost here and we have to squeeze in all the fun before it comes!" Still no answer. Selphie pouted. "Hmph. Fine then." She began to trudge her way from the door. "All this sorceress stuff must be really hard on her," she said to herself sadly. "Poor Quistis."
Quistis and Seifer decided to split up in the plains of Esthar. This gave them more area with an increased chance of facing an Elnoyle. They were to meet again in their hotel which they had already signed up in. They had received shocked looks from the attendants for having two people of different last names staying in the same room together for several days. But Quistis and Seifer both agreed that since the hotel was so expensive, they would have to save some money to upgrade their weapons, or maybe even for bribes if they weren't able to find enough energy crystals in time. Quistis had already found three people who would be willing to give them their energy crystals for a high price.
Quistis was facing off a Torama. She frowned. She had been wandering the northern plains for hours and still no Elnoyle. She shook her head to rid herself of any bothersome thoughts to distract her from the battle. She need the practice. She uncoiled her whip, but stopped. All this time, she had been fighting with her weapon and not with her new skills. Stupid, she thought to herself. You're going to fight a sorceress. Fighting skills won't help when fighting Celeste.
She placed her whip by her side once again. Her eyes narrowed on the Torama, which was circling around her, its teeth bared and ready to strike. Sparkles appeared around the Torama as he readied himself for a magic attack, but Quistis quickly raised a gloved hand. The sparkling ceased, and the Torama was frozen with confusion. It was unable to move. It growled and roared in rage.
Quistis now had both hands in front of her, palms facing towards the monster. Her eyes glowed like orange embers as she raised the Torama into the air. The Torama thrashed its head in an attempt to release himself from the invisible hands, but to no avail. Quistis concentrated on the elements. Her eyes flashed a fiery orange, and the air around the Torama spontaneously exploded. Quistis let the limp body fall back to the ground. It lay on the ground, its fur now dark and charred. It disappeared and two life rings were left behind.
Quistis fell on her knees, tired and spent. Her psychic attacks were taking too much of her energy. But I must keep practicing, she thought resolutely. I won't let Celeste beat me.
"So, is Quistis coming with us?," Zell asked when he saw Selphie approaching the group. Adrian was beside Zell, and Irvine was standing across from them. They were in the lobby.
"No," Selphie said with a sad shake of her head. "I think she's really tired or something. She didn't answer the door."
"Really?," Adrian asked, her eyes widening with surprise. "Wow, she must really be working hard for the battle with Celeste."
Selphie's head was still down when she nodded at her feet. Then, she suddenly raised her head at the group with a big smile. "Anyway, let's get going. She needs her rest. Hey! Where's Squall and Rinoa?"
"Talk about mood swings, my dearest little Sefie," Irvine drawled with an arm draped around her shoulder. "And don't you worry, hon. They'll come down soon. We're gonna wait for them in the Ragnarok."
"Really? OK! Let's go! I hope Rinoa and Squall come soon." She jumped up to grab Irvine's hat from his head, and put it atop her own. She linked arms with him and turned to Zell and Adrian. "Hey, c'mon! Let's go! Woohoo!"
Oh yeah!, Seifer thought triumphantly. He faced his opponent, an Elnoyle. Finally. "You know," he said to the monster, "there should be more of you guys, you know? I mean, do you know how useful your energy crystals can be? Especially for fighters like me." His weight was on one foot and his gunblade tapped his open hand. The Elnoyle snorted air through his nose and Seifer smirked. He got into his battle stance. "Let's play."
Zell, Adrian, Irvine, and Selphie walked their way to the hangar. Squall had his own copy of the keys to the Ragnarok and had given them to Selphie. On the way, Irvine and Selphie bickered about what they should do in Deling City while Zell and Adrian spoke quietly to each other.
"I say we go to a club. I heard that the Tunnel is one hell of a place."
"No! You just wanna meet some girls, don't you?" Selphie put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. Irvine thought she looked irrisistibly adorable when she was mad.
"Aw, Sefie...," he said, and reached to touch her face.
"Hey!" She slapped his hand away. "Let's go to the movies. That way, at least you won't get the attention of so many girls in the dark."
Irvine shook the hand that Selphie slapped away. He smiled at her lightly. "My little Sef, you know my killer looks and charms shine through even the darkest of places."
"What-ever!," Selphie said with a roll of her eyes. They reached the hangar. Selphie opened the door and flicked on the lights. Everyone gasped.
"The Ragnarok!!," Selphie shrieked.
Seifer threw himself down on his bed in the spacey hotel room. He had never felt so tired in his life. He was sweaty, dirty, and tired. And he didn't care. He looked over to the other bed where Quistis lay. She had the decency to wash up before going to sleep. She was snuggled comfortably in her bed, her face freshly scrubbed and her hair still wet from the shower. A barely perceptible smile stayed on her lips.
I wonder what she sees in her dreams?, Seifer wondered, and fell asleep dreaming that Quistis was walking through a field of wildflowers in a long white robe.
A/N: Sorry this took so long! I'm starting to slack off these days. I'm sooooo lazy. Anyway, sorry again for making you wait so long. And thank you to all you guys who stuck with me from the beginning! Mwah!
An Unlikely Meeting- Part XI
"So, where is Celeste, exactly?," Seifer asked. He was sitting in the front passenger seat, his legs resting on the dashboard, his arms behind his head.
"She's on a small, secluded island down south." Quistis was piloting the Ragnarok "But that's not where we're headed."
"Really? Then where are we going, may I ask?"
"To Esthar."
"Why?"
"I need items to upgrade my whip."
"Your whip? But isn't Save the Queen the best it could get?"
"It was, but a new model was created which improves accuracy by 75 percent. It also has a poisoned tip to immobilize enemies."
Seifer let out a low whistle. "That's pretty damned impressive, Instructor."
"I think there's a new upgrade for the gunblade also. You might want to check it out. The magazine is in the back seat on the left side."
Seifer got up from his seat. He found the magazine and returned to his previous sitting position. He was flipping through the pages, looking for the new gunblade model, when he came upon a picture of the new chain whip. It was a translucent silvery-white color, kind of glassy looking, very delicate it seemed, but it had great durability. At the end was a wicked looking star-shaped spike. He looked to the side of the picture where it had the items needed to create it. It was made almost entirely of energy crystals.
"Holy shit!"
"Yeah, I know. Esthar's the best place to find Elnoyls for energy crystals. I think the gunblade is fashioned in a similar way."
He skimmed through some more pages and finally landed on the page featuring the new gunblade model. The color of the blade was similar to the North Star's in that it was translucent, but it had a golden tint to it. Seifer frowned. Gold is too much of a goody-goody color for me, he thought. The name of the model was called Dragonslayer. The name's not that bad through, he thought with a grunt. The blade was made up entirely of energy crystals whereas the handle was made of adamantines. Dammit, why so many energy crystals? He didn't think any other weapon used half as many.
"Quistis, this is practically impossible. We have to find eight energy crystals for the both of us, plus screws, adamantines, dragon fins, or whatever the hell else we need for our weapons. It's going to take up too much of our time."
"It'll take us about five days at least to acquire our energy crystals, and a few hours more traveling and battle time for other supplies. I already have plenty of screws. We don't have to worry about that."
"I assume Celeste knows what we're doing now?"
"Yes, she does."
"She's not gonna come after us?"
"Most likely not. She wants to play with us for a while. She might think that we would get confident from our improved weapons. I think she's going to play with that feeling. So don't worry, she won't kill us so soon."
"How kind of her," he remarked very sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.
Moments of silence ensued. The only sound were the humming of the Ragnarok's engines and the pages of the weapons magazine being flipped. Seifer finally put down the magazine and looked at Quistis's profile.
"Do you think we can beat her?" He studied her to see if she would betray any emotions. She did not.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know."
A small pause.
"Doesn't this damn thing have autopilot or anything?"
"Yes, but putting this on autopilot would give me nothing to do but sit and think. Thinking too much makes me worry." Quistis looked at Seifer quizzically with an arched brow. "Besides, why do you care?"
Seifer shrugged nonchalantly. "Just thinkin' that all this crap must be gettin' you tired, ya know? Thought you might need some rest or somethin'."
Quistis didn't know how to react to this. "Well... thank you. But that won't be necessary."
Seifer squinted at her craftily. "You sure?"
"Yes, I'm very sure."
"OK, suit yourself. Hope you don't mind if I take a little nap." With that, he rested his feet on the upholstery, folded his hands across his stomach, and closed his eyes.
Quistis shook her head and sighed. Her eyes kept straight ahead.
Selphie skipped through the halls. She stopped in front of Quistis's room door. She rapped her knuckles firmly. "Quistis! We're going to Deling City to have some fun. You coming?" She waited for an answer, but none came. "Aww, Quistis, don't tell me you're taking a nap in there! It's Sunday afternoon! Monday's almost here and we have to squeeze in all the fun before it comes!" Still no answer. Selphie pouted. "Hmph. Fine then." She began to trudge her way from the door. "All this sorceress stuff must be really hard on her," she said to herself sadly. "Poor Quistis."
Quistis and Seifer decided to split up in the plains of Esthar. This gave them more area with an increased chance of facing an Elnoyle. They were to meet again in their hotel which they had already signed up in. They had received shocked looks from the attendants for having two people of different last names staying in the same room together for several days. But Quistis and Seifer both agreed that since the hotel was so expensive, they would have to save some money to upgrade their weapons, or maybe even for bribes if they weren't able to find enough energy crystals in time. Quistis had already found three people who would be willing to give them their energy crystals for a high price.
Quistis was facing off a Torama. She frowned. She had been wandering the northern plains for hours and still no Elnoyle. She shook her head to rid herself of any bothersome thoughts to distract her from the battle. She need the practice. She uncoiled her whip, but stopped. All this time, she had been fighting with her weapon and not with her new skills. Stupid, she thought to herself. You're going to fight a sorceress. Fighting skills won't help when fighting Celeste.
She placed her whip by her side once again. Her eyes narrowed on the Torama, which was circling around her, its teeth bared and ready to strike. Sparkles appeared around the Torama as he readied himself for a magic attack, but Quistis quickly raised a gloved hand. The sparkling ceased, and the Torama was frozen with confusion. It was unable to move. It growled and roared in rage.
Quistis now had both hands in front of her, palms facing towards the monster. Her eyes glowed like orange embers as she raised the Torama into the air. The Torama thrashed its head in an attempt to release himself from the invisible hands, but to no avail. Quistis concentrated on the elements. Her eyes flashed a fiery orange, and the air around the Torama spontaneously exploded. Quistis let the limp body fall back to the ground. It lay on the ground, its fur now dark and charred. It disappeared and two life rings were left behind.
Quistis fell on her knees, tired and spent. Her psychic attacks were taking too much of her energy. But I must keep practicing, she thought resolutely. I won't let Celeste beat me.
"So, is Quistis coming with us?," Zell asked when he saw Selphie approaching the group. Adrian was beside Zell, and Irvine was standing across from them. They were in the lobby.
"No," Selphie said with a sad shake of her head. "I think she's really tired or something. She didn't answer the door."
"Really?," Adrian asked, her eyes widening with surprise. "Wow, she must really be working hard for the battle with Celeste."
Selphie's head was still down when she nodded at her feet. Then, she suddenly raised her head at the group with a big smile. "Anyway, let's get going. She needs her rest. Hey! Where's Squall and Rinoa?"
"Talk about mood swings, my dearest little Sefie," Irvine drawled with an arm draped around her shoulder. "And don't you worry, hon. They'll come down soon. We're gonna wait for them in the Ragnarok."
"Really? OK! Let's go! I hope Rinoa and Squall come soon." She jumped up to grab Irvine's hat from his head, and put it atop her own. She linked arms with him and turned to Zell and Adrian. "Hey, c'mon! Let's go! Woohoo!"
Oh yeah!, Seifer thought triumphantly. He faced his opponent, an Elnoyle. Finally. "You know," he said to the monster, "there should be more of you guys, you know? I mean, do you know how useful your energy crystals can be? Especially for fighters like me." His weight was on one foot and his gunblade tapped his open hand. The Elnoyle snorted air through his nose and Seifer smirked. He got into his battle stance. "Let's play."
Zell, Adrian, Irvine, and Selphie walked their way to the hangar. Squall had his own copy of the keys to the Ragnarok and had given them to Selphie. On the way, Irvine and Selphie bickered about what they should do in Deling City while Zell and Adrian spoke quietly to each other.
"I say we go to a club. I heard that the Tunnel is one hell of a place."
"No! You just wanna meet some girls, don't you?" Selphie put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. Irvine thought she looked irrisistibly adorable when she was mad.
"Aw, Sefie...," he said, and reached to touch her face.
"Hey!" She slapped his hand away. "Let's go to the movies. That way, at least you won't get the attention of so many girls in the dark."
Irvine shook the hand that Selphie slapped away. He smiled at her lightly. "My little Sef, you know my killer looks and charms shine through even the darkest of places."
"What-ever!," Selphie said with a roll of her eyes. They reached the hangar. Selphie opened the door and flicked on the lights. Everyone gasped.
"The Ragnarok!!," Selphie shrieked.
Seifer threw himself down on his bed in the spacey hotel room. He had never felt so tired in his life. He was sweaty, dirty, and tired. And he didn't care. He looked over to the other bed where Quistis lay. She had the decency to wash up before going to sleep. She was snuggled comfortably in her bed, her face freshly scrubbed and her hair still wet from the shower. A barely perceptible smile stayed on her lips.
I wonder what she sees in her dreams?, Seifer wondered, and fell asleep dreaming that Quistis was walking through a field of wildflowers in a long white robe.