Chapter 5 - Alexis


Her body was limp, paralyzed from the waist down. Why can't she move? What was wrong with her? Then, she saw him. He sits on a bench in front of her. His eyes seemed cold and distant. Discreet and obscure they were, Quistis was frightened by it. His eyes turned from an emerald green to an icy mint, hiding a mask of certain hate towards her. Why was he so angry? She took a step, then another and another. But it seemed she wasn't moving at all. She tried to scream his name, but all she could hear from her mouth is an echo of silence. Her feet moved, but it wasn't she who was trying to take a step. It was the ground underneath her. It shook violently and the grassy field cracked open, sending her falling down to the abyss. Darkness soon surrounded her.

"Quistis...." a voice called. Quistis looked around, but saw only a wall of shadows around her. She saw nothing. "Quistis...." She heard it again, but she didn't respond. The blond young woman shook her head in defeat, kneeling down and feeling lonely. What did this mean? She closed her eyes and covered her ears with her weakened hands. She couldn't understand what was happening. What was wrong? WHAT WAS WRONG?

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"Quistis! Quistis, wake up my child!" Quistis felt someone shaking her. She opened her eyes and finally found herself back to her room. Her breathing was shallow and her forehead was sweating with fear. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Matron looking at her with concern.

With shaking hands, she wiped the sweats from her forehead and wrapped her arms around her beloved Matron. "Matron... I... I had a terrible dream...." she murmured.

Matron stroked Quistis' long golden hair, drenched in sweat. "It's okay, sweetheart. You're safe here with me."

"Ahhhhh!" Quistis felt the pain in her stomach. This time, the pain was too much for her to bare. Then, like in slow motion, water seeped from inside of her, soaking the white bedsheets she slept on. Matron, quickly alarmed, helped her up to her feet. Quistis looked at Matron in anguish.

"What's wrong with me, Matron?" Quistis asked, not wanting to believe what she thinks she's believing.

Matron looked at her, taking her hand and opening the door. She helped Quistis walk through the hallway and into the anxious eyes of the children. She signaled to one child, at the age of thirteen and the oldest of all the orphans. "Come, Gerald," she called to him.

Gerald moved from his spot in the couch and walked up to them. "Yes, Matron?"

"Quickly now." Matron reached to the side table beside the couch and handed Gerald a small piece of paper. "Dial this number and ask for Cid Kramer, the Headmaster of Balamb Garden."

Gerald nodded. "Yes, Matron." With that, he disappeared inside one of the rooms in the hallway.

"Ahhhhh! Matron! It hurts! It hurts!" Quistis yelped, landing herself on the couch. She leaned her back to the couch, a tear escaping the corner of her eye. With one hand, she gripped the side of couch, while the other, held Matron's soft, but firm hands. She could hear herself screaming, while the other kids watched on with curiousity.

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With a quick pace, he walked down the busy streets of Esthar. Behind him, with a much slower walk, which was more a stroll than an urgent stride, were Selphie and Zell. He glanced back over his shoulder and grimaced at the sight of them holding hands and laughing at each other's stupid jokes. Angrily, Seifer pivoted all the way around to face them, giving them a disgusted look.

"Look you two, this isn't a stroll in the park! This is an urgent MESSAGE to the mayor of Esthar, so you better keep an eye on some soldiers that may be a threat to us, instead of looking at each other with puppy dog eyes!!!!" Seifer quickly turned his head away and walked on, leaving the two distraught and confused with his outburst.

Zell snorted. "That guy needs a woman in his life," he replied, releasing Selphie's hand reluctantly.

Selphie shook her head, walking beside Zell with an amused look. "Well, maybe he does have a girl in his life."

The young spikey headed man looked at his girl friend. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, she could've dumped him and that must be why he's irritated right now." She noticed Zell's unbelievable stare and she shrugged. "What? It could mean that too! You know, he sees us holding hands and he could be jealous because he didn't have that kind of intimacy with his-"

"Are you aware that you're still talking?!" Seifer yelled from afar. He must've heard their conversation, because he turned around to face them again, his face red with either anger or embarrassment.

Selphie gulped, hiding behind Zell. "Sorry...."

Seifer shook his head, his temper almost rising to the next level. He kept on walking and ignored the two the whole way as he fast walked towards the building of Laguna, the mayor of Esthar and Squall's father.

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"All right, Quistis. I want you to push!" Dr.Kadowaki waited for Quistis' reaction to her command.

Quistis nodded, arching her back. She inhaled first, before pushing with all her might. "Agggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She felt Matron's hand squeezing anxiously against her hand, yet comfortly as she sat on her bedside. Cid stood by the door, making sure none of the kids would witness anything that would scare them.

Dr.Kadowaki looked at her. "All right. We almost got the head out. You keep pushing now!"

Matron leaned close to her. "Quistis... I want you to push with all your might, all right?" she whispered.

Quistis didn't say anything. Gritting her teeth and clenching her free hand around the bed sheet, she arched her back once again and pushed. Beads of sweat suddenly escaped from the sides of her face. Her pink dress was now soaked with a crimson colour.

Dr.Kadowaki felt the baby's head fully coming out. It was only a few more pushes until the baby could completely get out. "Quistis... you have to work with me here. I want you to push much harder than that."

Quistis was annoyed with the Doctor she's known all her life, but pushed back the thoughts to strangle her. This was her last chance to push as hard as she could. Gritting her teeth once more, Quistis looked up into the ceiling and closed her eyes. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
She felt like dying. Once she heard a wail come out from her womb, she closed her eyes and collapsed.

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Seifer blinked, stopping a few inches from the front doors of the large building. He felt something, but what?

"Hey! Could someone remove the statue that's blocking the door?" Seifer heard Zell speak and then Selphie laughing in the background.

Seifer turned around and glared at him. "Shut up, Chicken-Wuss!" He hissed, opening the door and stepping inside.

Zell clenched his fist, biting back the shouts from his own mouth. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he stared into Selphie's green eyes. He unclenched his fists and sighed. "That guy just gets me," he whispered to himself rather than Selphie.

Seifer walked down to the elevator, but stopped when he noticed someone standing there. She was a woman, around her twenties, with long red hair and bright green eyes. Has he seen her before? Noticing her walk towards him, he finally recognized the woman smiling directly at him. He clenched his fists and stood his ground.

"You can't be alive! You're dead!"

The woman looked at him, stopping a few inches from the distraught young man. "She is dead, Seifer. She's been dead for a long time. I'm the one taking over from here on!"

Seifer blinked a glint of confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? You're Adel!"

By that time, Zell and Selphie was on both his sides, also in their defending positions.

"Adel? She can't be alive! We defeated her!" Selphie primped up. She held her nunchaku high in front of her.

Zell clenched his fists, punching the air a couple of times and then put his fists in front of his face in a battle pose.

The woman shook her head. Ignoring the two, she turned to Seifer and gave him a look of sheer victory. "Just to let you know, Seifer. She will be taken away from you and from her. As soon as darkness falls on this day, I will take what you have not accepted. She has come to this world and I will soon have her in my arms!" With that,the woman vanished, leaving traces of horrid laughs behind.

Seifer stood there, not sure what she just said.

"What the hell was she talking about?" Zell asked, looking at Seifer suspiciously. "Do you know what she's talking about?"

The other blond shook his head vigorously. "I have no idea. Let's go talk to Laguna."

Selphie suddenly jumped in front of him. "Was that Adel?" Selphie cocked her head childishly.

Seifer rolled his eyes, pushing her roughly aside and pressing the up button to the elevator, totally ignoring everything she just asked. Selphie looked at Zell and defeatedly linked an arm with his. Zell stroked her hair, and with her, they followed Seifer to the elevator.


Inside the elevator, Seifer couldn't stop thinking about what the woman said. His mind suddenly came back to when he came to the orphanage and saw Quistis sitting on the couch and crying. She had collapsed in Matron's arms and cried, the side that he hasn't seen her in before. Then, it hit him. The words that stuck from her mouth, appeared in his mind.

"She did something to the baby that makes her grow faster inside me!"

Seifer gasped. It was the moment he intended to remember and the same moment he wished he hadn't. That woman was the new threat. The woman who was kidnapping children and raising them like Adel or Ultimaecia. She was the threat of Galbadia. Seifer suddenly reached to the main button and pressed it so many times that his thumb was hurting. Selphie and Zell looked at each other, each asking the other with a questionable look. The elevator stopped in level eight, which was their destination towards the Mayor's office and opening the door. Zell and Selphie stepped out, but Seifer didn't. He looked at them.

"You two know what to do. Something urgent just came up. I'll be back in a few hours or so. Can you tell Laguna and Cid that? Thanks!" Before Zell or Selphie had a chance to argue, the door quickly closed, the light at the side clicking to the main lobby.

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She looked at her. A beautiful sight she was. Her hair was like hers, but it only had a few strands and was more blond than her own. A blond as light as yellow. She searched for more features that remained in her own face. The baby had the same high cheek bones as herself, but her nose and her eyes... they were the same as Seifer's. Her eyes were of emerald green, greener than Seifer's but still the same. Her smile was like Seifer and that was when she felt a pang in her heart. She missed him a lot.

"What's her name going to be?" Matron asked, pressing the baby's little hand with hers.

Quistis thought for a moment. She wanted a name that was so unique that people haven't really heard before. She couldn't think of anything.

"How about, Alexis?" Quistis looked up, surprised at the voice. It was Cid who suggested it. He has been standing by the door, preventing any children for going in.

Quistis gave Cid a woeful smile. It was a good name. "Alexis...." she mumbled, trying to make it sound meaningful and it did. "Alexis Al- Trepe." She paused. She realized that the baby wouldn't be able to have a father. By the time Alexis turns into a teenager, she's going to wonder where her father is. A hand crept on her shoulder. She looked up and met Matron's chestnut eyes.

"You don't have to use Seifer's last name. Yours would be perfect," Matron said.

"Yeah," Quistis replied in a meloncholy tone. "Alexis Trepe," she murmured to herself. Looking at her baby, she cradled Alexis in her arms and started to hum a tune. By the time the song was done, she had fallen asleep. Matron picked up Alexis from Quistis' arms and placed her in the cradle, Dr.Kadowaki provided for her.

"You are very beautiful," Matron whispered to the baby. "Your parents are very beautiful."

"Yes! They are!" Matron jerked her head around. Her heart thumped rapidly at the sight of the one woman whom she thought was dead.

"What are you doing here?!" Matron hissed, standing in front of the baby.

The woman walked towards her, her eyes kept staring at Matron, as if trying to hypnotize her. "You know why I'm here, Matron. I'm here for her!" She pointed roughly at the child, who was now sleeping on her new bed.

Matron shook her head. "You are not taking her!" She placed a hand in front of her and cast sleep on her, but it didn't work. The woman with red hair just stood her ground, walking ever so closely towadrs the direction of the baby.

The woman cackled. "Hah! You can't beat me, Matron! I have been trained since I was a child by the great Sorceress." She closed her eyes, spreading her arms at her sides and cast a powerful spell on her. "Venos Luc Sec! Veno Sec!"

Colourful clouds surrounded Matron. It twirled once around her. Her feet suddenly became light beneath her. She realized she was floating. Another twirl did the clouds do, but this time, it sends her flying across the room, hitting back against the wall. Her whole body landed on the carpeted floor and she collapsed. The woman turned her eyes on the defeated woman.

"You were always so weak, Matron! That's why Adel found it so easy to possess you!" the woman retorted, picking up the baby in her arms.

"No.... stop....!" The woman turned around, smirking when she noticed who was saying these things to her.

Quistis was still weak from giving birth. Her feet were still weak, but her arms were still strong, gripping her whip against her hands. She was a trained mercenary and pain was not the weakness for her. She was used to it.

"You're telling me to stop?" The baby in her arms had awaken. She cried, her mouth open in fear. The woman turned to her and cast sleep on the child. She turned her head back to Quistis, one knee on the floor, while the other struggled to get up.

"Yes.... I... I AM!" Quistis threw her arms back, whipping her powerful weapon at the woman. The woman easily dodged that attack.

"Bye bye now!" The woman waved at her, before disappearing from Quistis.

"ALEXIS!!!!" Quistis yelled, screaming her daughter's name. Cid had appeared seconds later, quickly at Matron's aid, who was lying on the floor with a limp form. Quistis, in pain and so much sorrow, kneeled completely on the floor and tears streamed down her face at once. Why does her life have to be so complicated.

A moan from Matron forced Quistis to turn around and see her opening her eyes.

"Quistis!" Quistis looked up. Seifer ran inside the bedroom. His arms held the sides of the door and he glanced up at Quistis, her tears soaking her porcelain face.

Quistis looked away. "Go away Seifer!"

Seifer didn't budge. "What happened?"

"You want to know what happened?!" Quistis yelled. She walked beside the cradle and pointed at it with her palms. "A witch took our baby, Seifer! She took Alexis! You should've been here! You shouldv'e been here! I... I won't ever see her again! I won't...." She couldn't speak anymore. Her life came crashing down in an instant. Strong arms wrapped protectively around her. Right now, she didn't care. She didn't care who was comforting her, as long as she could depend on the one person she needed the most.

"We'll bring her back, Quistis," Seifer said, rubbing her back. "I promise to bring her back..."

Quistis cried in his chest. She wasn't sure if he would promise to keep his promise, but all she wanted was for him to try to keep it. She wanted him to bring Alexis back.


Author's note: What's going to happen to Alexis? Will Seifer stay for sure with Quistis to bring her back? Stay tuned next chapter!