Chapter 10: Seifer Knows Something
Seifer took Coran to her room where she rested for a whole day. She was full healthy again when Quistis was found near the Training Center the next day, all drained up from her energy, on the verge of death just like the others. Once she was able to speak, she told nothing the ones who weren't drain didn't already know. She says the mysterious Sorceress mentioned Squall, Seifer and Rinoa as well. Squall was afraid for his beloved, but glad the Sorceress wasn't after his sister. Maybe it was a good thing she didn't want to become a SeeD after all. Then he didn't know she was reconsidering it.
But then, even with all the cautions Squall made, Rinoa disappeared too. He didn't want to wait patiently for the kidnapping Sorceress to gently get her back, no way! Since almost all of them were found near the Training Center after their disappearance, Squall guessed that maybe it was the Sorceress's hideout. Then he ran there, his gunblade in a hand, Coran and Seifer following close behind, ready to give him all the support he could need even when he told them he could do that alone.
"There's no way I'm letting you do this alone!" Seifer objected.
"Me neither!" Coran added.
Squall was in fact pretty relieved he wasn't to face the Sorceress by himself. Scared from all the disappearances and from the warning of the Headmaster, not a student risked himself in the Training Center recently. Good riddance! Nobody who would stand in their way, nobody they would be forced to protect! Squall was still curious why the most powerful students of the Garden were all from his gang according to the Sorceress? Was it just a coincidence or it was because she knew them?
They ran through the Training Center. They didn't even meet a monster. To think they were scared too… or that the Sorceress eliminated them. That thought brought Squall back to the day they found that burned up T-Rexaur. Maybe it was from the Sorceress after all.
The SeeD leader was very worried. He was afraid the Sorceress would find in Rinoa some kind of menace and kill her after draining her powers what would make her even more powerful! He shook his head. What was important now was to find Rinoa.
"Rinoa!" he called. "Are you here?"
Then he stopped instinctively.
"What?" Coran asked getting in fighting position.
Squall signalled her to keep silent as he scanned around, narrowing his eyes. Coran and Seifer mimicked him but they didn't saw anything.
"I sense something… It's like a warning bell in all my heart and soul…"
"Maybe…maybe Rinoa's trying to contact you," Coran supposed.
Both Squall and Seifer looked at her in amazement.
"Of course!" Seifer exclaimed. "She can read you mind so why not communicate with you telepathically!"
"What should I do?"
"Focus on that signal, concentrate," Coran encouraged.
Squall nodded and closed his eyes, focusing. He thought about Rinoa, trying to see her face in his cleared mind. Then he heard a voice, fade, with a fade figure. He tried to focus on it, making it clear. Then the mumbling became words.
'Squall… I found you,' it said.
Squall could now clearly see the scared face of Rinoa. He wanted to answer her but wasn't sure how to do that. He wasn't telepathic… Then he remembered when they went to get Coran at the D-District prison. They spoke the same way. He just had to think, Rinoa could hear.
'Rinoa! I'm so glad! Are you alright?'
'My energy is leaving me. But the Sorceress is younger than I thought, about my age.'
'Really? How do you know?'
'She blocked her mind from me when I was scanning her. I didn't have the time to find anything helpful.'
'Has she hurt you? Threat you?'
'No, she just said I was a very worthless Sorceress.'
'I would like to have her in front of me! Do you know where you are?'
'I'm not sure. I think it's somewhere up the Training Center.'
'Up? You mean above us?'
'Hidden in the roof, I think. I can't see anything but I don't need eyes to see. Like now, I can see you.'
'Can you teleport us?'
'I don't have much strength left, I won't be able to take you three, only one of you.'
'Then take me. Is she there?'
'No. She teleported me here then came later to have my energy drained up, then she left again. I don't know why she does that.'
'Whatever! Just get me there!'
He opened his eyes and looked at Seifer and Coran who were looking pretty curious.
"Stay together, I'll go to where Rinoa is."
"What do you mean?" Coran asked in sisterly concern before Squall vanished in a strange noise.
She reached over her mouth in fear.
"He was teleported! No! She got him too!"
"No," Seifer objected. "He said he was going to where Rinoa is, maybe she teleported him. She's a Sorceress too after all."
"Then why she didn't got us all there?"
"It's been a while since she's gone, maybe she already had lot of energy drained up," Seifer supposed.
"I just hope that Sorceress isn't there with them…"
Squall found himself in a dark place. He narrowed his eyes and tried to pierce the darkness. Then he heard a moan from the front of him. He widened his eyes as they saw a suspended figure in mid air.
"Rinoa!" he yelled running to the figure.
She lifted her head, looking incredibly weak. Squall jumped and cut the two ropes in a single shot of his gunblade and caught Rinoa in his arms. Her limp body in the nook of his arm made him worry.
"Rinoa, are you alright?"
She looked at him.
"I did it…I teleported you."
"But at what price! You're exhausted!"
"Nevermind… Now take a look through the floor."
Curious, Squall tried to see what she was talking about. Then he saw Coran and Seifer through a few small holes in the floor.
"You were right!" he exclaimed. "We are above the Training Center!"
"She was bringing all her victims are all the time."
"Let's leave now."
He placed her on his back and took his gunblade with two hands. He jumped and, with a yell, pointed it down. It pierced the floor and they both fell down to the Training Center.
Seifer and Coran looked up as they heard the scream and saw the roof shattered and Squall and Rinoa coming down from it. Seifer jumped to slow their fall and make the landing less painful. The three of them landed without any problem. Squall got Rinoa down his back.
"Let me try," Coran said putting a hand on his shoulder when he was about to cast Curaga on her.
He nodded. Then Coran was engulfed with a blue light and it past on Rinoa, giving her back all her strength. When Rinoa stood up, Coran stared at her hands in amazement.
"Wow…Incredible!"
"Never used it before?" Squall asked with a smile.
"It's not that…"
Rinoa was perplexed.
"It didn't work when I cast Curaga on Irvine, but it worked when Coran used it on me…"
"Hey, you're right!" Coran exclaimed non-understanding.
"Maybe because another Sorceress's magic doesn't work to heal Sorceress's doings," Seifer suggested.
"Maybe. I still don't know much about Sorceresses even if I'm one myself."
Seifer looked thoughtful but Squall spoke and got him out of his mind.
"Is it just me or those events started to occur not much time after Coran came?"
Coran blushed in a guilty way.
"Because of me?"
"It's not what I mean. It can be just a coincidence or…"
"Or somebody is after you and is using the Garden as a cover to reach you!" Rinoa completed.
"It's a possibility," Squall said.
Coran remained silent while Seifer quickly glanced at her.
"Anyway, let's get out of here," he said. "I don't want to be here when she comes back and see her captive is gone and a hole on the floor!"
They all nodded and left the place.
Once out, Rinoa wrapped her arms around Squall's neck, relieved and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Seeing that, Seifer had a smile and pulled Coran close to him.
"You alright?" Squall asked once again.
"Yes, thanks to you."
They smiled to each other in relief and kissed. Coran was looking at them with envy but Seifer caught her chin and gently turned her face to him. He smiled and kissed her too. The couples were pretty similar for the heights: Squall with Rinoa was almost the same thing that Coran with Seifer except Coran and Squall were the same height.
"I think I should go before something else happen," Rinoa said sadly.
"I think it would be better. I don't want to take the risk of seeing you disappear once again. I'll take you home."
He turned to his sister and waited for her to release her grip from Seifer.
"Coran, with all those events I forgot to tell you my…our father would be pleased to meet you. He said he'll pay us a visit once he'll got the time."
"Really? That would be great! He got lot of work as the President of Esthar, huh?"
"Yeah…"
He headed for the Parking Lot with Rinoa.
"See ya later," Squall said.
"See ya some other time, Coran! Bye, Seifer!"
"I would love to!" Coran answered.
Seifer and her waved to them until they disappeared in the Parking Lot. Then Coran turned to Seifer with a concerned face.
"Now I'm scared. The Sorceress had all the others, there's only Squall and you left."
He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Don't worry. She didn't kill anybody, she just wants energy."
"But still, you be very careful, okay?"
There was fear along with concern on her face. Seifer tried to see through her eyes what she was so afraid of but her eyes were too deep.
"Ok. I'll be careful."
She smiled but the fear was still there. She hugged him really tight like she was afraid she would never do that again.
"I got work to do. Those past days, I left everything up to Raijin and Fujin, but it's not fair for them. They are doing my job. Even if they said they don't mind, they got their own work to do too."
"You should go, then. Think I'll read some books about SeeDs."
"You want to become one, don't you?"
"Yes, but as I said, only if you do to."
He smiled to her and left, waving to her. Then she headed for the library to get the books before going back to her room to have a calm reading session.
Squall was pretty tired when he got back to Garden. He knew he had work to do too, but would much rather enjoy a rest than doing homework. With a sigh, he headed for the dormitory. He was glad nobody was missing anymore…for now. According to all those who were kidnapped, Seifer and him were the next on the Sorceress's list. That was not to make him feel comfortable, but he thought she could come and get him, he would take advantage of this to defeat her…would he be strong enough? Anyway he hoped she wouldn't go after his sister. Maybe Coran was not weak as some students, but she still was no match for the Sorceress. He wondered what would happen of Seifer if he was the next to be caught. Would he be under her control like he was before? Would he become her Knight? Squall shook his head. Now the only girl Seifer would be Knight of was Coran…if she was a Sorceress that is. He was just her boyfriend.
Squall arrived to the dorms and headed straight to his room. He looked at the scattered paper on his desk and sighed, putting a hand on his hip and looking away. Strands of his brown hair fell on his face. He moved them backward, annoyed.
"Whatever…" he headed for his bed and lay on it, his hands under his head.
Feeling well, he closed his eyes, wondering if he would fall asleep and if the Sorceress would take advantage of his slumber to take him.
A fade noise came from the door, but Squall, about to fall asleep, didn't hear anything. The door opened slowly and closed back after a few seconds. Then Squall heard and sat straight in his bed, looking to the door. A guilty Seifer was looking at him, a sorry look on his face.
"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up."
Squall smiled and got up.
"Nah, I wasn't asleep. But if I was, what would you have done?"
"Probably wake you up."
Squall stared at his face and saw concern all over.
"That must be pretty important if you came to my room in attempt to wake me up if I was asleep," he said jokingly.
Seifer wasn't in the mood for jokes.
"There is something important."
"Excuse me. What is it?"
"It's about…your sister."
"Coran? Something happened to her?" he asked terrified of the idea that she could have been kidnapped after all.
Seifer shook his head, keeping it down.
"No, she's fine."
He looked back at Squall, looking grave.
"I think she hid things from you, Squall."
"What do you mean?"
"She told you how she grew up and lived by herself since twelve, huh?"
Squall nodded, without understanding.
"I'm sure she didn't tell you everything about her life. You should ask her."
"What makes you think that?"
Seifer turned to the door to leave.
"Trust me and ask her. I can't tell you anything because I don't have real proofs but… ask her yourself."
He left and Squall sat back on his bed, totally confused. Why would Coran have lied to him? Why would she hide things from him? Was she afraid he would be shocked? Just thinking there were things she didn't tell him was shocking him. They were brother and sister, he didn't hide anything of his life from her, why would she? They didn't know each other for a long time, but still…
Squall was disturbed from his thoughts as he heard voices coming from outside, probably from the corridor. His closed door stopped him from hearing what was said or who was talking but he thought he recognizes Seifer's voice. He couldn't clearly hear the other or tell if it was a girl's or a guy's, it was too fade. He lay back on his bed thinking it wasn't his business when an agony scream exploded. He sat up faster than he ever did when he identified the voice screaming.
"Seifer!"
He jumped down his bed and ran to the door, opening it so fast he almost banged it on his face. Not caring, he ran in the corridor and saw Seifer lying there, unconscious. He quickly looked around for the responsible as the concern turned into fear. Nobody, nowhere.
He slipped on the floor and landed on his side beside Seifer. He was lying on his face. Squall stood on his knees and turned Seifer on his back, an arm under his neck.
"Seifer! What happened?"
He quickly looked around again for help but there was nobody. He looked back on his friend to see what could have happened to him. He wasn't drained from his energy like Squall first supposed he would be. He looked like he was attacked by a strong power. He was very pale and Squall could see he had hard time breathing. He was dying…
"What happened to make you like that so fast?"
"Squall?" a voice asked behind him.
He quickly looked back and saw a weak looking Selphie.
"Selphie! What are you doing here?"
"I was told I could leave the infirmary and I came to rest while you were gone. I heard the scream, what happened?"
Then she appeared to notice Seifer for the first time. Her eyes widened.
"Are you in good shape enough to run to the infirmary? I'm afraid he's too weak for me too carry him there."
"Even if I wasn't, I would still do it!"
She ran out of the corridor. Squall put his worried gaze back on Seifer.
"What do you know that we don't, Seifer? Was it because of that you were attacked like that?"
Seifer didn't answer all those questions.
Kadowaki slowly walked out of the room Seifer was in. Squall looked at her, waiting. She sadly shook her head.
"The attack he received was strong enough to kill him, but it's like if somehow, the attack was weakened. He's in a deep coma. I…I don't think he'll ever come out of it…"
"No…" Selphie whispered beside Squall reaching over her mouth.
She turned to Squall. He was keeping his head down with his eyes shut tight. He was half baring his teeth like he was in rage. He was hard clenching his fists alongside him.
"Are you gonna tell Coran?" Selphie asked with a low soft voice, thinking how the girl would take it.
"Coran…" Squall murmured with some kind of hatred.
Selphie raised an eyebrow, but before she could ask what was making him so mad, he ran out of the infirmary.
Squall ran back to the dorms, anger on his face. He ran to his sister's room and wide opened the door, making it bang hardly on the wall. Coran was on her bed, reading a book. She quickly sat up, startled and calmed down a little when she saw it was Squall. He stood at the door, an angry frown on his face which made Coran a little more scared.
"What didn't you tell me?" Squall asked through his shut teeth. "What are you hiding from me about your childhood?"
She looked away, unable to sustain his gaze. Then Squall knew Seifer was right. She DID hid something from him. If she didn't, she would have look amazed, asking what he was talking about, saying she never hid anything from him, but she didn't, confirming Squall's doubts.
"What is it?" he asked again softening his voice a bit when he noticed he was scaring her.
She still avoided his gaze and kept silent.
"You don't want to tell? I'll make you tell!"
He ran to her and grabbed her forearm roughly. He pulled her out of the room.
"You're hurting me!" she told him.
Squall wasn't listening. He was burning of deception from his sister's betrayal. Because he took her secret for a betrayal. He was angry for that, feeling the fire burning inside him run through his veins.
He ran to the infirmary, pulling Coran along. There, he went to another room and made her look through a window in the next room. Like when he was in the infirmary after the fight against Seifer and that Ellone was looking at him through that window.
Squall pressed his sister against the window, still gripping on her arm.
"Look! Look what happened because of your silence!!"
He was looking at her face while she was staring at the window. There were tears in her eyes from how Squall acted towards her, and then Squall realized he was rough. He released his grip and kept looking at her. Her eyes widened in horror and disbelief as she reached her mouth to bury a sob. She put her hands on the window, each side of her face. She leant her forehead on the cool glass.
"No…no…Seifer, no…"
Squall crossed his arms on his chest, frowning angrily.
"He was drained too?" she whispered with some hope.
"I wish he would have been," Squall answered.
She looked at him, tears running down her cheeks as if she already knew.
"The doctor said he might…never wake up…" Squall said coldly.
She looked back at Seifer, staring at his beautiful, wondering if she would ever see his blue eyes down her anymore.
"When did it happen?" she asked in a whisper.
"Just a moment ago. He was coming out of my room to tell me something when I heard him scream."
"Impossible! I saw him just a moment ago coming out of your room and he told me you were not there!"
"Why would he have said that?" Squall yelled.
She quickly looked away, scared but understanding his anger. She didn't want to tell him, especially when he told her the original purpose of SeeD. But she thought it might help her to overcome her problem that's why she wanted to reconsider the offer. And she wanted Seifer to be by her side so that she could get rid of any monster, nothing would scare her.
"To protect you…" she said under her breath.
Then all anger and hate vanished from Squall's face and voice as he looked at her.
"Protect me? From what?"
She slowly looked up at him, freely crying silently.
"From me…" she said hoarsely.