Author's note: I am so sorry.... you have no idea how much i tried to get in, but the stupid traffic kept me from entering! rrrr!!!!!!!! anyway, the long awaited chapter is finally here! hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 11 - Losing Battle
"Ahhhh!!!!!!" Rinoa looked up. Quistis was seen with Lucia's arms around her neck, gripping it tightly. She left Anastasia's dead body and stood beside Squall.
"Quistis!" Seifer yelled. He stepped closer to them, but kept his grip tighter on the two baskets.
"Give me the children, pretty boy! Or your girl friend gets it!" Lucia pointed a finger at the temple of Quistis. "I mean it! I will put electricity in her head and she will writhe in pain! You wouldn't want that, would you?!"
Seifer took a deep breath. He looked at Quistis, a look of innocence left in her eyes. Slowly, he put the baskets down on the ground beside him.
"Don't to it, Seifer!" Quistis yelled.
Lucia gripped her hold around her neck tighter, making her stop. "You shut up, bitch!" She turned back to Seifer. "Good boy! Now, pass the baskets here."
Seifer reluctantly followed her orders, but did the deed slowly and surely, looking at the SeeDs to make sure they were ready to attack. Squall looked at him without any expression in his eyes, understanding what he meant and nodded. He glanced at everyone and they all nodded in unison. Squall turned back to the older teen and nodded, telling him they were all ready.
"We make a deal, Lucia," Seifer started, staring straight into the Sorceress' eyes. "You pass her to me first and I'll pass the baskets."
Lucia looked at him, trying to figure out if he was lying or not. "No!" Lucia hissed. She wasn't about to be fooled. She turned to the direction where she came in and where the doorway had disappeared and placed her palms towards it. The same doorway appeared in front of her. Turning her head back towards Seifer, she gave him a smirk and moved towards the liquid door. "I want you to hand me the babies first or you won't ever see blondie again!"
Seifer stepped closer, but this made Lucia move back towards the colourful aura. He stopped then, picking up the baskets beside him and stepping forward once more.
Lucia smiled.
"Don't do it, Seife-mm!" A hand clasped on her mouth. Quistis looked at Seifer and shook her head.
Seifer sighed. He glanced at the eyes of the two babies, especially his daughter. She simply was a beautiful child. She had Quistis' beauty,but his eyes. A tear escaped his eyes and he couldn't contain emotion welling up inside him.
Squall thought this to be a signal. He brandished his sword high over his head and sliced Lucia's back with so much power that it forced the Sorceress to push Quistis from her. Seifer caught Quistis before she stumbled forward in his arms. The Sorceress turned to face the Lion. She gritted her teeth in anger and pointed a finger towards him. Squall was lifted off the ground ad thrown pass his comrades.
"Squall!" Rinoa yelled. She wasn't about to let anything happen to Squall the way it did to Anya. Rinoa cast float on Squall, which forced the attack to halt. Squall was safely let down from higher ground, his feet still walking on air. Zell clenched his fists, charging towards Lucia,but was stopped by the Sorceress, casing Stone on him. Zell was unable to move. Selphie cast thunder on her, but it was useless. Lucia shook them away with a wave of her finger and cast a more powerful thunder spell at Selphie. Selphie fell forward, the pain surging through her body. She collapsed on the ground, helplessly. Irvine aimed his gun at Lucia, but also proved useless, as she also shook those as well. She slapped her hand and the bullets strangely backfired, pass Irvine. He moved to his right to dodge the attack. The bullet wizzed pass him, but not before it hit him square on his left shoulder. He cried out in pain and he fell backwards.
Lucia jerked towards Rinoa. She had forgotten about the others. How can she so careless?
Quistis ran behind Seifer, picking up the whip that was thrown from the last attack they all made towards Lucia. She turned back around and, with a defensive stance, cast protect and shell on both her and Seifer. Lucia turned towards the direction of Quistis and Seifer, smirking.
"You think that will help you?! I don't think so!" She thrust one hand towards Seifer. Quistis looked at Seifer, noticing him staring at the baskets in his hands. She glanced at him puzzingly.
"Shit! She's trying to force the babies out of my hands! Ahhhh!!!" Seifer grabbed tighter on the baskets, but with his efforts, was also pulled with them. Quistis toook hold of the basket with Gabriella inside and whipper her weapon towards the other basket, as it coiled around the handle. She pulled along with Seifer, but the force was even more powerful than before. It dragged all four of them together.
Lucia cackled. "That will not work! My powers are too powerful! No one can stop me!" She pulled her hand back, as if pulling a rop.
Quistis and Seifer fought with all their might. They were doing the tug 'o' war, pulling a long, invincible rope. Both baskets suddenly jerked in front of them. Seifer pulled at the extreme, his face burning red with hope and determination. Quistis did the same, but with fear of losing her baby. Her hand around her whip were getting burned, but she wasn't about to give up now.
Rinoa looked at the two blonds. She had to do something. Turning to Squall, she took out her weapon and waited for his order.
Squall got his act together once again and gripped the sword in his hands tighter. "This is our last chance, Rina."
Rinoa nodded. "This is our last chance. Seifer and Quistis will lose their baby if we don't do something. What do you have in mind?"
The young man closed his eyes and opened them again. "You still have Aura on you?"
"Yeah, I do."
"How many?" Squall asked, facing her.
"I have one left," Rinoa replied.
Squall nodded. "Good. That will be enough. Cast it on me," he ordered without any emotion.
Rinoa closed her eyes and began to cast aura on him. Squall glowed brightly, the power inside of him growing stronger. His weapon, Lion Heart glowed beside him. Looking up, Squall waited for the right moment. Immediately, Rinoa cast protect and shell on him. She turned to face the others, casting cure on Selphie and Irvine and pouring soft on Zell. Having done that, she stood beside Squall, watching the scene in front of them. She was getting worried that they might lose.
Squall took Rinoa's hand and squeezed it gently. "We won't lose."
Rinoa gave him a slight smile.
Squall moved closer, keeping his eyes on Lucia. He was glowing with so much power that he was eager to use it. But if her attacked now and missed, there would be nothing left. This was their last chance to kill Lucia. Grasping tightly on his weapon, Squall waited patiently for the right moment.
Rinoa watched her beloved in worry. Why is she worried? Squall has done this before and he can kill Lucia. But.... she glanced at her friends, then turned to look at Squall. What if we can't beat her? So many doubts clouded Rinoa's head, which was not a good sign at all.
Both blonds continued to pull, while Lucia did the same on the other side.
Quistis, released her grip in the whip, which forced Seifer to pull on his own and cast an attack spell on her, but it was to no avail. Lucia went on pulling.
Squall knew this was the right moment. Raising his weapon high and closing his eyes, his power grew stronger and he was ready to make his ultimate limit break. With another power glowing, he ran towards the occupied Lucia and attacked with his fullest. His attack, Lion Heart, slashed Lucia from side to side, front to back. Lucia fell back, her eyes full of rage.She was bloodied everywhere. Squall did the same, tired from his limit break. He kneeled in front of her and stared, but his stares were replaced with an unbelievable state. Lucia had healed herself as quickly as he could attack her. His limit break, which he used with all his might, was nothing but a little scratch on her. Lucia took out all his hopes of destroying her.
Quistis and Seifer fell back in unison, landing on both their rears, with the baskets still in their hands.
The woman smirked at the young brunette, kneeled in front of her. "You think you can defeat me with your pathetic, Lion Heart, Leonheart? I watched all of you for a long time now, ever since you defeated that weakling, Ultimaecia! I know all about you and your limit break, Squall! I know how fast it is and I know how powerful! That is why, for all the months I have been watching you, I have been training hard to get the better hand!" Lucia cast a powerful Break on Squall. The spell shook beneath his feet and suddenly, Break beat him from all over his body. The ground, like clenched fists, beat him to the pulp, leaving him unconsious and bloodied on the floor.
Rinoa ran to his side, her tears now visible to the eye. "Squall!" she screamed. She stared into his closed eyes and shook him gently. She jerked her head towards Lucia. There was nothing she can do now. She was just too powerful.
Lucia smirked. "You want to challenge me as well?" She stared at Rinoa in the eyes, but the girl did not respond. "Good! All for more reason to ignore you and continue with my work." Once more, she thrust her hands at the baskets, that were left sprawled on the floor, with Seifer and Quistis' hand holding tightly on the handles.
Quistis and Seifer didn't have time to react. The baskets jerked out of their hands and flew towards Lucia's awaiting arms.
"No! Our daughter, Seifer!" she yelled, glancing towards Seifer. She stood up and grabbed her whip from beside her.
Seifer took out his Hyperio from his trench coat and ran past Quistis, his sword brandished high above his head, screaming, "Lucia! Give out daughter back!" Quistis ran behind him, her whip ready to strike.
Lucia blew him a kiss before jumping inside the unknown relm, disappearing with the two babies. The doorway to the relm closed, leaving a bewildered Seifer and a shocked Quistis. She stood staring at the door that had disappeared. She could not cry, yet she felt a pang of hurt deep down inside. Why can't she cry? 'Cry dammit! Cry!' a voice yelled in her head. She didn't know whether to stand still or move away from the one place that their disappeared to.
No one dared moved to comfort her, except Seifer. He looked at her, waiting for an emotional outburst, but saw nothing. No tears were beginning to fall. The only emotion that showed was her shocked face. Her eyes were wide, as if entranced from a deep sleep.
"Dammit, Quistis! Say something!" Seifer's tears had finally fallen. None of the others could tell, since his back were to them. He promised himself not to cry, but seeing Quistis sad ever since she gave birth, makes him want to cry. He had enough of being heartless, he knew that! He wanted to cry for once and Quistis for not being emotional right now was not helping. "Dammit! Why won't you cry?!!!"
Quistis turned her head towards him. Her face was pale and her eyes seemed to have passed through him. She couldn't cry.... she couldn't cry! Seifer had tears, but she didn't.
Seifer understood what she was going through. Slowly, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, wishing there was some way to let her emotions out. He wiped his tears away and prevented his sniffles from being heard by the others. He looked down on her and waited. Still... there was nothing. "Dammit, Quistis! What is the matter with you?!!!!"
Quistis only stared at him. And, as if her shell has been broken, she jumped in Seifer's arms and began to let all her emotions out. Tears all fell at once. She cried with all her might. Her sobs and weeps were the only sound that was heard around the room, except for the one moan Squall gave out. Seifer turned his head at Squall, who finally woke up. He rubbed the back of his neck and met Seifer's eyes. He was surprised to see his eyes red, but said nothing of it. Rinoa cast cure on him and he quickly stood up to wait until Quistis' tears would die down.
The young blond woman felt Seifer's arms competely around her, yet she kept crying and crying. All emotions that she has been locked up inside finally surrendered.
"Quistis.... we'll get her back! I promise you that! We'll get her back!" Seifer said in a warm and comforting voice. He rubbed her back and began weeping with her.
The others exchanged glances. They had never seen the two show their emotions before. This was their first time in this situation, except for Squall. He knew all along what the two were inside. Quistis may have shown some emotion, but not the real feelings she had inside. Seifer may have lost trust from everyone by betraying Garden, but deep down inside, he had a soft heart and Squall, for the first time, envied him.
GoodGurl
Chapter 11 - Losing Battle
"Ahhhh!!!!!!" Rinoa looked up. Quistis was seen with Lucia's arms around her neck, gripping it tightly. She left Anastasia's dead body and stood beside Squall.
"Quistis!" Seifer yelled. He stepped closer to them, but kept his grip tighter on the two baskets.
"Give me the children, pretty boy! Or your girl friend gets it!" Lucia pointed a finger at the temple of Quistis. "I mean it! I will put electricity in her head and she will writhe in pain! You wouldn't want that, would you?!"
Seifer took a deep breath. He looked at Quistis, a look of innocence left in her eyes. Slowly, he put the baskets down on the ground beside him.
"Don't to it, Seifer!" Quistis yelled.
Lucia gripped her hold around her neck tighter, making her stop. "You shut up, bitch!" She turned back to Seifer. "Good boy! Now, pass the baskets here."
Seifer reluctantly followed her orders, but did the deed slowly and surely, looking at the SeeDs to make sure they were ready to attack. Squall looked at him without any expression in his eyes, understanding what he meant and nodded. He glanced at everyone and they all nodded in unison. Squall turned back to the older teen and nodded, telling him they were all ready.
"We make a deal, Lucia," Seifer started, staring straight into the Sorceress' eyes. "You pass her to me first and I'll pass the baskets."
Lucia looked at him, trying to figure out if he was lying or not. "No!" Lucia hissed. She wasn't about to be fooled. She turned to the direction where she came in and where the doorway had disappeared and placed her palms towards it. The same doorway appeared in front of her. Turning her head back towards Seifer, she gave him a smirk and moved towards the liquid door. "I want you to hand me the babies first or you won't ever see blondie again!"
Seifer stepped closer, but this made Lucia move back towards the colourful aura. He stopped then, picking up the baskets beside him and stepping forward once more.
Lucia smiled.
"Don't do it, Seife-mm!" A hand clasped on her mouth. Quistis looked at Seifer and shook her head.
Seifer sighed. He glanced at the eyes of the two babies, especially his daughter. She simply was a beautiful child. She had Quistis' beauty,but his eyes. A tear escaped his eyes and he couldn't contain emotion welling up inside him.
Squall thought this to be a signal. He brandished his sword high over his head and sliced Lucia's back with so much power that it forced the Sorceress to push Quistis from her. Seifer caught Quistis before she stumbled forward in his arms. The Sorceress turned to face the Lion. She gritted her teeth in anger and pointed a finger towards him. Squall was lifted off the ground ad thrown pass his comrades.
"Squall!" Rinoa yelled. She wasn't about to let anything happen to Squall the way it did to Anya. Rinoa cast float on Squall, which forced the attack to halt. Squall was safely let down from higher ground, his feet still walking on air. Zell clenched his fists, charging towards Lucia,but was stopped by the Sorceress, casing Stone on him. Zell was unable to move. Selphie cast thunder on her, but it was useless. Lucia shook them away with a wave of her finger and cast a more powerful thunder spell at Selphie. Selphie fell forward, the pain surging through her body. She collapsed on the ground, helplessly. Irvine aimed his gun at Lucia, but also proved useless, as she also shook those as well. She slapped her hand and the bullets strangely backfired, pass Irvine. He moved to his right to dodge the attack. The bullet wizzed pass him, but not before it hit him square on his left shoulder. He cried out in pain and he fell backwards.
Lucia jerked towards Rinoa. She had forgotten about the others. How can she so careless?
Quistis ran behind Seifer, picking up the whip that was thrown from the last attack they all made towards Lucia. She turned back around and, with a defensive stance, cast protect and shell on both her and Seifer. Lucia turned towards the direction of Quistis and Seifer, smirking.
"You think that will help you?! I don't think so!" She thrust one hand towards Seifer. Quistis looked at Seifer, noticing him staring at the baskets in his hands. She glanced at him puzzingly.
"Shit! She's trying to force the babies out of my hands! Ahhhh!!!" Seifer grabbed tighter on the baskets, but with his efforts, was also pulled with them. Quistis toook hold of the basket with Gabriella inside and whipper her weapon towards the other basket, as it coiled around the handle. She pulled along with Seifer, but the force was even more powerful than before. It dragged all four of them together.
Lucia cackled. "That will not work! My powers are too powerful! No one can stop me!" She pulled her hand back, as if pulling a rop.
Quistis and Seifer fought with all their might. They were doing the tug 'o' war, pulling a long, invincible rope. Both baskets suddenly jerked in front of them. Seifer pulled at the extreme, his face burning red with hope and determination. Quistis did the same, but with fear of losing her baby. Her hand around her whip were getting burned, but she wasn't about to give up now.
Rinoa looked at the two blonds. She had to do something. Turning to Squall, she took out her weapon and waited for his order.
Squall got his act together once again and gripped the sword in his hands tighter. "This is our last chance, Rina."
Rinoa nodded. "This is our last chance. Seifer and Quistis will lose their baby if we don't do something. What do you have in mind?"
The young man closed his eyes and opened them again. "You still have Aura on you?"
"Yeah, I do."
"How many?" Squall asked, facing her.
"I have one left," Rinoa replied.
Squall nodded. "Good. That will be enough. Cast it on me," he ordered without any emotion.
Rinoa closed her eyes and began to cast aura on him. Squall glowed brightly, the power inside of him growing stronger. His weapon, Lion Heart glowed beside him. Looking up, Squall waited for the right moment. Immediately, Rinoa cast protect and shell on him. She turned to face the others, casting cure on Selphie and Irvine and pouring soft on Zell. Having done that, she stood beside Squall, watching the scene in front of them. She was getting worried that they might lose.
Squall took Rinoa's hand and squeezed it gently. "We won't lose."
Rinoa gave him a slight smile.
Squall moved closer, keeping his eyes on Lucia. He was glowing with so much power that he was eager to use it. But if her attacked now and missed, there would be nothing left. This was their last chance to kill Lucia. Grasping tightly on his weapon, Squall waited patiently for the right moment.
Rinoa watched her beloved in worry. Why is she worried? Squall has done this before and he can kill Lucia. But.... she glanced at her friends, then turned to look at Squall. What if we can't beat her? So many doubts clouded Rinoa's head, which was not a good sign at all.
Both blonds continued to pull, while Lucia did the same on the other side.
Quistis, released her grip in the whip, which forced Seifer to pull on his own and cast an attack spell on her, but it was to no avail. Lucia went on pulling.
Squall knew this was the right moment. Raising his weapon high and closing his eyes, his power grew stronger and he was ready to make his ultimate limit break. With another power glowing, he ran towards the occupied Lucia and attacked with his fullest. His attack, Lion Heart, slashed Lucia from side to side, front to back. Lucia fell back, her eyes full of rage.She was bloodied everywhere. Squall did the same, tired from his limit break. He kneeled in front of her and stared, but his stares were replaced with an unbelievable state. Lucia had healed herself as quickly as he could attack her. His limit break, which he used with all his might, was nothing but a little scratch on her. Lucia took out all his hopes of destroying her.
Quistis and Seifer fell back in unison, landing on both their rears, with the baskets still in their hands.
The woman smirked at the young brunette, kneeled in front of her. "You think you can defeat me with your pathetic, Lion Heart, Leonheart? I watched all of you for a long time now, ever since you defeated that weakling, Ultimaecia! I know all about you and your limit break, Squall! I know how fast it is and I know how powerful! That is why, for all the months I have been watching you, I have been training hard to get the better hand!" Lucia cast a powerful Break on Squall. The spell shook beneath his feet and suddenly, Break beat him from all over his body. The ground, like clenched fists, beat him to the pulp, leaving him unconsious and bloodied on the floor.
Rinoa ran to his side, her tears now visible to the eye. "Squall!" she screamed. She stared into his closed eyes and shook him gently. She jerked her head towards Lucia. There was nothing she can do now. She was just too powerful.
Lucia smirked. "You want to challenge me as well?" She stared at Rinoa in the eyes, but the girl did not respond. "Good! All for more reason to ignore you and continue with my work." Once more, she thrust her hands at the baskets, that were left sprawled on the floor, with Seifer and Quistis' hand holding tightly on the handles.
Quistis and Seifer didn't have time to react. The baskets jerked out of their hands and flew towards Lucia's awaiting arms.
"No! Our daughter, Seifer!" she yelled, glancing towards Seifer. She stood up and grabbed her whip from beside her.
Seifer took out his Hyperio from his trench coat and ran past Quistis, his sword brandished high above his head, screaming, "Lucia! Give out daughter back!" Quistis ran behind him, her whip ready to strike.
Lucia blew him a kiss before jumping inside the unknown relm, disappearing with the two babies. The doorway to the relm closed, leaving a bewildered Seifer and a shocked Quistis. She stood staring at the door that had disappeared. She could not cry, yet she felt a pang of hurt deep down inside. Why can't she cry? 'Cry dammit! Cry!' a voice yelled in her head. She didn't know whether to stand still or move away from the one place that their disappeared to.
No one dared moved to comfort her, except Seifer. He looked at her, waiting for an emotional outburst, but saw nothing. No tears were beginning to fall. The only emotion that showed was her shocked face. Her eyes were wide, as if entranced from a deep sleep.
"Dammit, Quistis! Say something!" Seifer's tears had finally fallen. None of the others could tell, since his back were to them. He promised himself not to cry, but seeing Quistis sad ever since she gave birth, makes him want to cry. He had enough of being heartless, he knew that! He wanted to cry for once and Quistis for not being emotional right now was not helping. "Dammit! Why won't you cry?!!!"
Quistis turned her head towards him. Her face was pale and her eyes seemed to have passed through him. She couldn't cry.... she couldn't cry! Seifer had tears, but she didn't.
Seifer understood what she was going through. Slowly, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, wishing there was some way to let her emotions out. He wiped his tears away and prevented his sniffles from being heard by the others. He looked down on her and waited. Still... there was nothing. "Dammit, Quistis! What is the matter with you?!!!!"
Quistis only stared at him. And, as if her shell has been broken, she jumped in Seifer's arms and began to let all her emotions out. Tears all fell at once. She cried with all her might. Her sobs and weeps were the only sound that was heard around the room, except for the one moan Squall gave out. Seifer turned his head at Squall, who finally woke up. He rubbed the back of his neck and met Seifer's eyes. He was surprised to see his eyes red, but said nothing of it. Rinoa cast cure on him and he quickly stood up to wait until Quistis' tears would die down.
The young blond woman felt Seifer's arms competely around her, yet she kept crying and crying. All emotions that she has been locked up inside finally surrendered.
"Quistis.... we'll get her back! I promise you that! We'll get her back!" Seifer said in a warm and comforting voice. He rubbed her back and began weeping with her.
The others exchanged glances. They had never seen the two show their emotions before. This was their first time in this situation, except for Squall. He knew all along what the two were inside. Quistis may have shown some emotion, but not the real feelings she had inside. Seifer may have lost trust from everyone by betraying Garden, but deep down inside, he had a soft heart and Squall, for the first time, envied him.
GoodGurl