A/N: This is a very, VERY sad chapter, and though I tried my damned-est to
make a bit funny, there wasn't much that I could do. Eight pages of good
wholesome, angsty sap, just like Mom used to make. So please read and
review.
Chapter Nineteen: Just Leave Me Be
Seifer searched endlessly through the east corridor, named the Corridor of Thunder. Elaborately framed portraits covered these walls as well, showing mages that all looked darkly into the beholders eyes with either bright yellow or shocking blue eyes, pale skin and shocking yellow or ebony black hair, as was one named Justinia Elmenti.
The floor was of black marble, and each footstep Seifer took made a sound that sounded typically like thunder. The air was tense and seemed to crackle with invisible energy that ran up and down the young blond, as if analyzing him. There was no dust anywhere, as if it had been obliterated by the energetic air.
Kyonae was here. Seifer could feel it.
His Hyperion was out and ready. He felt as if he were in danger, walking down this hall. Something was watching him, waiting for him. Maybe it was the electric charge in the air, maybe not, but just in case.
Suddenly he saw a figure ahead of him, standing by a door. His eyes must have been playing tricks. The figure was nearly transparent, but he saw it was the shape of a young woman. The shade had spotted him also.
"Kyonae.?"
But it wasn't Kyonae. It was someone else, someone Seifer strangely recognized. The shade was running forward, her footsteps making no sound on the sensitive marble floor, her arms stretched out to him.
"Darion."
Suddenly Seifer went under some sort of spell. He slowly stretched out his arms, reaching for the shade, something awakening in his subconcious and pushing his concsious self aside for a moment. He knew who she was now.
1 "Katarina."
Seifer and the shade of Katarina briefly touched, her translucent, ghostly hands clasped in his solid, live ones, eyes locked in a love that had not died, even after six hundred years.then she disappeared, melted into the air, a cold blast of wind hitting Seifer in the face, waking him.
"Huh.? What." he muttered to himself, catching his breath. What had just taken place here? Why had the shade called him Darion? And how did he know she was Katarina?
He shook his head dully. It didn't matter. His eyes locked solely on the door the shade had been standing by, and somehow he knew:
Kyonae was in there.
He walked ahead to the door, a cold foglike mist coming from beneath it. He wriggled the knob, and it was locked. Of course.
"Kyonae?" he called hopefully.
There was no answer.
Oh, well. Easy enough. Backing up against the opposite wall, smiling with confidence, Seifer rushed forward and rammed his entire being heroically into the wooden door.
THUD. The door did not budge, and the brave blond hit the door with a solid thud and fell unceremoniously to the floor, twitching slightly and groaning loudly in pain. It had always worked in the movies. "Ohh.dammit."
The door had been jarred badly, however, and broke from its hinges and fell on top of Seifer, causing the poor young blond yet even more pain. "Ouch! Son of a."
He pushed the dislodged door away from his fallen form, looking upward. The door itself had been broken down, but the thick wall of ice behind it hadn't. How ironic.
Pulling himself to his feet, Seifer pressed his hands against the glacial wall. It was pure, solid ice, at least a foot thick, the contents of the room within distorted by its translucent form. "Kyonae?" he called again. For a moment he thought he heard something through the ice, but it quickly faded.
He clenched the handle of his trusty Hyperion. "Get away from the wall!" he warned, his voice magnified by the energy of the air around him.
He began slashing mercilessly at the wall of ice, at the same time casting Fire spells. Each blow became more intense as his anger and determination grew. Nothing was going to stop him from reaching Kyonae, especially not this damned wall.
The ice finally gave way, and he rammed through, hitting the floor within shards of glass like ice. He rose, staring in a mix of wonder and horror at the room.
The floor itself was ice, creeping up the walls and reaching downward in long, pike-like icicles from the ceiling. Chunks of wall lie frozen on the floor, as if someone had tried in furious rage to blast their way out with Blizzaga. Snowflakes fell lightly and unexplainably from the ceiling. It was way below zero in this room, and his breath escaped in puffs of mist.
"Kyonae." he called, though softly, as to not disturb the potentially dangerous icicles hanging above him. "Are you in here? I know you are. Where are you?"
His ears once again picked up a sound. Wherever she was, she was singing- softly, almost inaudible, sounding desperately pitiful. He followed the sound, behind the bed and past the mirror, to the middle of the spacious ice prison.
Where Seifer saw Kyonae Falcona.
He could not move at first. His breath caught in his chest, his heart froze, his eyes going wide. The Hyperion clattered uselessly to the ground with a metallic chink. "No.Kyonae."
She laid on the floor in a crumpled heap under a pale blue cloak, still and motionless. Her brown hair was snow ridden, her eyebrows frosted with ice. Her complexion was a dead white, her lips going a disturbing shade of blue. Dark blue beads of ice bit into her lower eyelids down her cheeks like tears, her eyes half open, looking dead because she had no pupils. She was mumbling incoherently though her frozen lips barely moved, barely noticing Seifer was there. Kyonae was on the brink of sanity.
Whatever had held him back for those fleeting moments now released its grip, and Seifer rushed to her side, kneeling down and sweeping her body up into his strong arms, gripping tightly. "Kyonae!" he cried, risking the danger of falling ice. She turned her head slowly to face him, eyes widening slightly.
"Kyonae, are you all right?" he asked. It was a stupid question, but he asked anyway.
He hoped for once that she would reply with her usual 'I'm fine', shrug it away and get up with a smirk; he prayed for it. But she didn't. Her eyes grew soft and unexplicably sad, and she shook her head weakly, shutting her eyes tightly. It was as if she could not bear to look at him.
"Hyne.Quistis was right.they did kill you," Seifer choked, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He pulled her close, holding her tightly against his chest. The slightest touch of her skin made him shiver with cold, but he didn't care about that. Only about Kyonae.
She made a feeble attempt to push away, but she could barely even speak. "S-Seifer.?"
He nodded eagerly, smiling through his tears. "Yes. Yes, it's me, Kyonae. I'm here, and everything's going to be all right-" he rose his hand to brush a frozen lock of hair from her pale face, and Kyonae flinched away, visibly scared, raising her hands to cover her face.
"What.? Kyonae, no. I'm not going to hurt you, Kyonae.it was an accident, I swear. Please believe me, I would never have done it on purpose, I-"
She shook her head sadly, her eyes still shut tight, hands clamped over her face. "You.d-don't.you don't understand." her voice was cracked and dry, struggling to be heard.
"I don't understand what?"
"You don't.realize.what.what I am." She struggled to escape Seifer's grip, trying to rise to her feet, and he helped her up, and she feebly pushed him away, leaning on the table for support. "You don't know what I've.become."
"Kyonae.what are you talking about?"
She stared at me weakly, trembling slightly as she struggled to stay on her feet. She mumbled something, but he couldn't hear it. "What?"
She drew in a shaky, raspy breath and said clearly, loudly, "I am a sorceress, Seifer."
Seifer immediately froze. "Kyonae.?"
"I've been a sorceress since I was a child. That's how I knew the Iaret was in the city. That's how all those soldiers couldn't come near us afterwards. That's how I knew the Garden was going to be attacked. That's how I saved you that day. It was all sorceress powers, from the very beginning, and now Maika.she wants to." she paused, cutting herself off.
"Kyonae.why didn't you tell me?" Seifer asked gently, recovering from the initial shock.
"Why didn't I.why didn't I tell you?" her voice grew cold, her eyes glaring icily with shame. "Why do you think? You think I wanted everyone to know what I was?"
"I didn't ask you why you didn't tell everyone," he retorted calmly. "I asked you why you didn't tell me."
"Seifer." the shame had spread from her eyes to her entire face, staring at the blond disbelievingly. "You were the last person I ever wanted to know about this. I never hated you-I couldn't. You were a sorceress' knight. I always felt so ashamed when I spoke badly towards you, because then I'd look in the mirror.and I'd realize I was worse than you. I was a sorceress. But look at you now. You're shocked, aren't you? I could see you cringe. Go ahead then! Cringe! Scream! Be afraid of me and run away! You know you want to leave, right now, and leave me here- so why don't you just do it? Why won't you just leave me alone? That's all I ever wanted anyway, because it was all I ever got-so run! As fast as you can, Seifer! Everyone runs away from the sorceress!" her voice rose so rapidly and so angrily it vibrated the ice walls, and several of the icicles came crashing down between them, forcing Seifer back towards the door. But that's as far as he got before he stopped, refusing to take another step.
"Why won't you leave, Seifer?" she continued in a whisper. "Why won't you stop staring at me? It's bad enough everyone else does. You must hate me for all I've done to you. So why don't you just admit it? Sooner or later, everyone else will.you can be the first."
Seifer stood for a moment. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Kyonae actually believed that he hated her. Why? Just because she was a sorceress? Was she that ashamed of herself, that she assumed others were ashamed of her too? It made no sense. It didn't matter to him what she was.it was who she was. Slowly he stepped forward and knelt down, grasping her frigid hands in his.
"Kyonae.could I be your knight?" Seifer asked, looking up at her in hope.
Her bitter look softened, turning to suspicion. "Wh-what? What are you talking about.?"
"If you are to be a sorceress, Kyonae, I want to be your knight," he said. "I want to protect you from harm, and evil, and.help you save the world from total destruction," he added with a small smile.
"You mean.It was you.?"
"Yes. But that's not the point. The point is, I need to be your knight. Whatever you decide, I'll follow you. I'll stay by your side always and protect you. Will you let me, Kyonae? Will you let me be your knight?"
She stared down at me, a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes. But it died quickly. "No, Seifer. No." She pulled her hands from my grasp.
"Why not? Kyonae-"
"Because.I can't let you ruin yourself. You're a SeeD now, Seifer. It's what you've always wanted. It was your dream. Follow your dream, Seifer.not me."
"But you are my dream," he persisted, standing up.
"Dammit, Seifer!" her eyes burned icily with hopeless anger, but not directed at Seifer. "Look at me, will you? Just stop with the act for a minute and look at me! I'm an ice sorceress. Can't you tell, or are you really that blind? I'm practically dead, and by sunrise I'll probably be just that. And if you don't want to die, Seifer, I suggest you leave, right now, and take everyone with you. Leave and don't look back. Because if Maika finds out you're here, if she doesn't know already, she'll kill you."
"But."
"LEAVE!" she bellowed warningly, more icicles falling and crashing to the snow covered floor with force. Weakened by her sudden outburst, she leaned harder on the table, falling on one knee, her head hanging. She couldn't seem to be able to cry.
"Kyonae?" Seifer asked, looking down at the pitiful, trembling figure.
"Please, Seifer.just.leave.me.be," she said, her voice declined to a harsh whisper. Her eyes were lowered to the floor. "I'm sorry, but.it is best if you just go. I'll be fine, really, I just.need to face this alone. I don't want you to be here, when."
She said no more. Seifer stared at her in confusion and hurting. Kyonae didn't want him to be here when what? What did she need to face alone? He knew she was lying when she said she would be fine, because obviously she wasn't. He felt his heart hardening quickly towards this young woman. If she wanted him to go, he'd go...
"Fine," he said abruptly, tone growing cold as he became steadily angry. "You don't want anyone to help you? Fine. I don't care. You know, it isn't a surprise you're Squall's twin.you're both too damn stubborn for your own frickin' good. I don't suppose you knew about that, did you?"
"I knew."
"Well, you wanna know something else? We came all the way here to find you, all of us. And it's really damn ironic when you come to rescue someone who doesn't want to be rescued. So, you know what? I don't frickin' care anymore. Here's your stupid necklace!" he ripped it off his neck and threw it before her. "I'm tired of this! My life was bad enough before you came along with your stupid sob story, Kyonae! I wish I'd never let you battle me that day in the Training Center, hell, I wish I'd never known you at all!"
Each word that escaped his lips was like a hard lash to the face with a whip. But Kyonae took them without complaint, staring numbly at his feet where the necklace lay. She nodded slowly, understandably.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's all my fault.from the very beginning.all my fault."
Seifer was slightly taken aback by this agreement, but he shook it off. Any love he had felt before had been replaced by pure bitterness. She was turning him away.he wasn't going to go without a fight. "You know, you're right." He took her Talon from his belt, and plunged it into the frozen ground. "Here. I brought this for you. Not that you'll be needing it, huh, Sorceress?" he spat, and watched her flinch with strangely no satisfaction at all. Looking disgusted, picking up his fallen Hyperion, he turned to go.
"Seifer."
He turned back abruptly. "What?"
She didn't bother to raise her magnificent head as she spoke in an expressionless tone. "I." she sighed. "Fujiin and Raijiin are coming. I just thought you should know."
The young blond nodded curtly, and taking one last look at the weakening sorceress, stepped through the space he had made in the glacial wall. With a whisper from Kyonae, the wall regenerated back into its original form.
Seifer stormed back out into the hall, caught up in a silent raging war between hate and love. Soon enough he saw Fujiin and Raijiin running toward him from ahead, and he forced a smile. The three friends cried out in joy, embracing each other with hearty slaps on the back and a huge hug from Fujiin. He didn't need Kyonae. He had his posse.
"We've been searchin' all over for ya, ya know?" Raijiin sighed in relief. "Ya had us worried, ya know?"
"You were worried? Come on, Raij, you know me. I'm a tough guy."
Fujiin looked at him eagerly. "SEIFER. KYONAE?"
"Yeah, I found her," Seifer said bitterly. "But she's a sorceress now, so she doesn't seem to want to leave. So I left her where she was."
The one eyed woman's expression turned hard. "LEFT HER?! YOU. CRAZY?!" her voice was magnified a hundred times louder by the electrically charged air.
Seifer backed away, confused by her anger. "Wha-"
Abruptly Fujiin turned on her heel and continued at a brisk pace down the hall. "RAGE!"
The blond ex-knight glanced at Raijiin in confusion. "What was that all about?"
Raijiin shrugged. "I don't know, ya know? She seemed, like, confident that you were going to bring Kyonae back, ya know? Guess she's kinda upset. Ya know?"
He rushed ahead as they came to end of the Corridor of Thunder, turning the corner into the single side hall. "Fuj, what's up? Why are you so mad?"
Her single steely gray eye glared at him. "YOU. DON'T KNOW. SERIOUSLY?"
"What?"
"HOW COULD YOU? LEAVE. KYONAE?"
"She didn't want to come, Fujiin. I told you. She told me to just go, that she'd be fine."
"AND. YOU. ACTUALLY. BELIEVED HER? IDIOT."
"What was I supposed to believe?"
"OH. I. DON'T. KNOW. MAYBE. YOUR OWN EYES?" She groaned irritably. "JUST BECAUSE. SHE SAYS. SHE'S FINE. DOESN'T MEAN. SHE IS. DAMMIT!"
"Fujiin, will you please just shut up?" Seifer snapped, holding his head. "I don't want to talk about it."
"WHAT. DID YOU SAY?"
"What d'ya think I told her? I told her I wished I never met her and I didn't care what she did."
Fujiin shook her head in disgust. " LIAR. STUPID IDIOT LIAR. RAGE! YOU LOVE HER. ADMIT IT, LIAR!"
Seifer looked away stubbornly, ahead to the end of the north corridor where Rinoa, Ellone, and Naomi stood. "I don't want to talk about it," he repeated.
Naomi the thunder mage spotted them, and smiled lightly. "Seifer, Fujiin, Raijiin! Did you have any luck, my friends?"
His friends remained silent, Raijiin because he wasn't so sure, and Fujiin simply because she refused to talk any more. Seifer looked back at them, relieved that they didn't say anything, then back to Naomi. "No. No luck."
Naomi's bright yellow eyes bore into his for a fleeting moment, and immediately he knew she could see the lie plainly written on his face like ink. But like his posse, she kept silent also, nodding curtly.
Just then four figures met them from the opposite side corridor: Irvine, Quistis, Ember, and Laguna. "Thank the godesses we found you, Naomi! We got completely lost!" the redhead cried in relief, throwing up her hands. "We found Laguna though. So, anybody find out where Kyonae is?"
Before anyone could answer the fiery young woman, three figures appeared from the dark of the Ice Corridor: Zell, Selphie, and Eve. "Oh, my goodness, Naomi, we have been looking everywhere for you! We were attacked by a great Vinosnake in the Corridor of Flowers, where this young man showed such aspiring bravery." Eve gestured briefly at Zell, who reddened slightly. "And we came back to find you. Any luck?"
"No." The mage shook her ebony haired head gravely. "No one has found her as of yet. Strange.you would think that maybe she would have been placed in the east corridor, since Maika is one of lightning." she glanced absent mindedly at Seifer, who stared stonily back. "Right now we are trying to discover the whereabouts of Leonhart. Two sets of footprints lead up to this portrait, then nothing more. Strange."
Seifer gazed for the first time at the portrait hanging on the wall, and gasped to himself. Her silvery unicorn hair and pale blue eyes made no mistake.it was Princess Katarina.
Ember walked up to it and looked down at the footprints, then up at the portrait like some kind of detective. "Hmm." She placed her hand on it and leaned casually, going into deep thought.
Suddenly the portrait gave way on her, swinging inward, her unsupported weight flying into the dark space within. "Ow! By Firaga's frill." she cursed loudly.
Eve looked on in amazement at the stairs leading downward into a room. "A secret passageway!" she gasped. "Why Ember, my dear, you're a genius!"
"No, my dear Eve, I'm in extreme pain!" she retorted mockingly, rubbing her crimson head gingerly as she pulled her self to her feet and climbed out. She shook a fists angrily at the flower mage. "Genius.I'll give you 'genius'.I'll give you plenty of 'genius'.hell, I'll give ya so much genius it'll be coming out your-"
"Squall must be down there!" Rinoa interrupted, hope gleaming in her eyes. "Maybe he found Kyonae!"
"Really? Ya think so?" Ember said, lowering her fists. "Well in that case, remember it was I who found it."
"Come, all of you. Leonhart is sure to be down in the secret room. We may find him, but I am not sure if we shall find Kyonae." Naomi held the portrait open like a door for the large group as they climbed in and down the stairs one by one.
Rinoa climbed in first, already calling the gunblader's name. "Squall! Squall, are you down there?"
"This is sooo exciting!" Selphie exclaimed, hopping down the stairs and pulling Zell in after her. "Come on, Zelly!"
"Don't call me 'Zelly'," the shadow boxer grumbled, though everyone could see he was smiling.
"I hope Squall is all right," Quistis muttered softly, the constantly worried instructor that she was. "I hope he isn't hurt.these castles are dangerous; anything could've happened to him."
"Indeed you are right, Trepe," Naomi nodded. "But we should not worry. If he was your pupil, he will most definitely be fine.
Reassured and slightly flattered, Quistis climbed in.
"Man, I really wish Kiros and Ward were here." Laguna groaned before following the instructor.
"I'm not afraid of nothin' or nobody," Irvine boasted to Ember, obviously trying to impress her. "Just stick by me and you'll be fine."
"What a coincidence, I'm not afraid of anything either," Ember declared proudly. The romantic cowboy gave her a skeptical look, and she smiled nervously, shrugging. "Eheh.most of the time."
"This is weird stuff, ya know? Secret passages, mages, stuff like that.I don't know if I can take it, ya know?" The broad shouldered Raijiin said edgily.
"Calm yourself, Raijiin," the flower mage said soothingly, patting him gently on the shoulder as she smiled warmly. "It will all work out fine, I'm sure."
"Ya really think so, ya know?" he looked back at her briefly as he climbed in.
"I really do.you know," she added, giggling at her own attempt to copy him as she followed him.
Fujiin passed Naomi, gazing silently into the thunder mage's yellow eyes with her gray one for a moment, not saying anything. But Naomi understood.
"Yes, yes, I know he lied," she assured the silver haired Fujiin softly under her breath. "Do not let it bother you, Fujiin.I will handle it."
Only after this did Fujiin nod briefly, affirmatively, and climb down into the secret passage.
Ellone climbed in. "My.it's very dark.I hope Squall is all right."
Seifer hastily tried to pass her, trying to avoid the thunder mage's gaze, but to no avail. With a small gesture of her finger Seifer's face faced her own, looking fearful and guilty for his lie.
"If she refused to come with you, Almasy, there was nothing else you could do. She is most likely under the power of Maika. That is probably why she was placed in the Corridor of Thunder, so her powers would be weak against the Queen. But lying to your fellow companions will not help matters. It will only make things more complicated. Do you understand?"
He nodded. "I'm sorry," he muttered thickly.
"It is all right, Almasy. When we find the secret room, and Squall, there will be enough time to tell them. They will understand. They trust you now."
"But-Naomi-" he added quickly. "Kyonae told me that we should leave and forget about Maika, that she would handle it herself."
"Are you insisting that we abort the mission?"
Seifer looked into her eyes, uncertain. Naomi bore into his eyes as well, analyzing his thoughts. He was fighting a war against his feelings, a war for which there was no certain victor. On one side there was his desperate love for Kyonae- the part of him that loved her more than even his own life and wanted to stay by her side no matter what.and then, the frustrating hate, the part of him that wanted to return to his normal life without the young woman, without all the trouble and pain she had unintentionally caused him. The battle raged on even as Seifer gave his answer, his face bitterly set.
"I guess I have no choice but to keep going, do I?" With that, he broke the gaze and headed down the stairs.
Naomi sighed to herself, watching his figure follow the others. That Seifer Almasy.he really did have no choice but to go onward.in fact, it was far too late for any of them to turn back from this.
The thunder mage pushed the portrait shut, and followed her friends into the descending darkness, trying to shake off the feeling that something was watching them from afar.
A/N: I forgot to ask.does anyone object to a Zell/Selphie and a Raijiin/Eve pairing? I've been planning on doing a Zell/Selphie pairing for a while but I just came up with Raijiin and Eve on complete impulse.please tell me what you think! I need opinions! (
Chapter Nineteen: Just Leave Me Be
Seifer searched endlessly through the east corridor, named the Corridor of Thunder. Elaborately framed portraits covered these walls as well, showing mages that all looked darkly into the beholders eyes with either bright yellow or shocking blue eyes, pale skin and shocking yellow or ebony black hair, as was one named Justinia Elmenti.
The floor was of black marble, and each footstep Seifer took made a sound that sounded typically like thunder. The air was tense and seemed to crackle with invisible energy that ran up and down the young blond, as if analyzing him. There was no dust anywhere, as if it had been obliterated by the energetic air.
Kyonae was here. Seifer could feel it.
His Hyperion was out and ready. He felt as if he were in danger, walking down this hall. Something was watching him, waiting for him. Maybe it was the electric charge in the air, maybe not, but just in case.
Suddenly he saw a figure ahead of him, standing by a door. His eyes must have been playing tricks. The figure was nearly transparent, but he saw it was the shape of a young woman. The shade had spotted him also.
"Kyonae.?"
But it wasn't Kyonae. It was someone else, someone Seifer strangely recognized. The shade was running forward, her footsteps making no sound on the sensitive marble floor, her arms stretched out to him.
"Darion."
Suddenly Seifer went under some sort of spell. He slowly stretched out his arms, reaching for the shade, something awakening in his subconcious and pushing his concsious self aside for a moment. He knew who she was now.
1 "Katarina."
Seifer and the shade of Katarina briefly touched, her translucent, ghostly hands clasped in his solid, live ones, eyes locked in a love that had not died, even after six hundred years.then she disappeared, melted into the air, a cold blast of wind hitting Seifer in the face, waking him.
"Huh.? What." he muttered to himself, catching his breath. What had just taken place here? Why had the shade called him Darion? And how did he know she was Katarina?
He shook his head dully. It didn't matter. His eyes locked solely on the door the shade had been standing by, and somehow he knew:
Kyonae was in there.
He walked ahead to the door, a cold foglike mist coming from beneath it. He wriggled the knob, and it was locked. Of course.
"Kyonae?" he called hopefully.
There was no answer.
Oh, well. Easy enough. Backing up against the opposite wall, smiling with confidence, Seifer rushed forward and rammed his entire being heroically into the wooden door.
THUD. The door did not budge, and the brave blond hit the door with a solid thud and fell unceremoniously to the floor, twitching slightly and groaning loudly in pain. It had always worked in the movies. "Ohh.dammit."
The door had been jarred badly, however, and broke from its hinges and fell on top of Seifer, causing the poor young blond yet even more pain. "Ouch! Son of a."
He pushed the dislodged door away from his fallen form, looking upward. The door itself had been broken down, but the thick wall of ice behind it hadn't. How ironic.
Pulling himself to his feet, Seifer pressed his hands against the glacial wall. It was pure, solid ice, at least a foot thick, the contents of the room within distorted by its translucent form. "Kyonae?" he called again. For a moment he thought he heard something through the ice, but it quickly faded.
He clenched the handle of his trusty Hyperion. "Get away from the wall!" he warned, his voice magnified by the energy of the air around him.
He began slashing mercilessly at the wall of ice, at the same time casting Fire spells. Each blow became more intense as his anger and determination grew. Nothing was going to stop him from reaching Kyonae, especially not this damned wall.
The ice finally gave way, and he rammed through, hitting the floor within shards of glass like ice. He rose, staring in a mix of wonder and horror at the room.
The floor itself was ice, creeping up the walls and reaching downward in long, pike-like icicles from the ceiling. Chunks of wall lie frozen on the floor, as if someone had tried in furious rage to blast their way out with Blizzaga. Snowflakes fell lightly and unexplainably from the ceiling. It was way below zero in this room, and his breath escaped in puffs of mist.
"Kyonae." he called, though softly, as to not disturb the potentially dangerous icicles hanging above him. "Are you in here? I know you are. Where are you?"
His ears once again picked up a sound. Wherever she was, she was singing- softly, almost inaudible, sounding desperately pitiful. He followed the sound, behind the bed and past the mirror, to the middle of the spacious ice prison.
Where Seifer saw Kyonae Falcona.
He could not move at first. His breath caught in his chest, his heart froze, his eyes going wide. The Hyperion clattered uselessly to the ground with a metallic chink. "No.Kyonae."
She laid on the floor in a crumpled heap under a pale blue cloak, still and motionless. Her brown hair was snow ridden, her eyebrows frosted with ice. Her complexion was a dead white, her lips going a disturbing shade of blue. Dark blue beads of ice bit into her lower eyelids down her cheeks like tears, her eyes half open, looking dead because she had no pupils. She was mumbling incoherently though her frozen lips barely moved, barely noticing Seifer was there. Kyonae was on the brink of sanity.
Whatever had held him back for those fleeting moments now released its grip, and Seifer rushed to her side, kneeling down and sweeping her body up into his strong arms, gripping tightly. "Kyonae!" he cried, risking the danger of falling ice. She turned her head slowly to face him, eyes widening slightly.
"Kyonae, are you all right?" he asked. It was a stupid question, but he asked anyway.
He hoped for once that she would reply with her usual 'I'm fine', shrug it away and get up with a smirk; he prayed for it. But she didn't. Her eyes grew soft and unexplicably sad, and she shook her head weakly, shutting her eyes tightly. It was as if she could not bear to look at him.
"Hyne.Quistis was right.they did kill you," Seifer choked, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He pulled her close, holding her tightly against his chest. The slightest touch of her skin made him shiver with cold, but he didn't care about that. Only about Kyonae.
She made a feeble attempt to push away, but she could barely even speak. "S-Seifer.?"
He nodded eagerly, smiling through his tears. "Yes. Yes, it's me, Kyonae. I'm here, and everything's going to be all right-" he rose his hand to brush a frozen lock of hair from her pale face, and Kyonae flinched away, visibly scared, raising her hands to cover her face.
"What.? Kyonae, no. I'm not going to hurt you, Kyonae.it was an accident, I swear. Please believe me, I would never have done it on purpose, I-"
She shook her head sadly, her eyes still shut tight, hands clamped over her face. "You.d-don't.you don't understand." her voice was cracked and dry, struggling to be heard.
"I don't understand what?"
"You don't.realize.what.what I am." She struggled to escape Seifer's grip, trying to rise to her feet, and he helped her up, and she feebly pushed him away, leaning on the table for support. "You don't know what I've.become."
"Kyonae.what are you talking about?"
She stared at me weakly, trembling slightly as she struggled to stay on her feet. She mumbled something, but he couldn't hear it. "What?"
She drew in a shaky, raspy breath and said clearly, loudly, "I am a sorceress, Seifer."
Seifer immediately froze. "Kyonae.?"
"I've been a sorceress since I was a child. That's how I knew the Iaret was in the city. That's how all those soldiers couldn't come near us afterwards. That's how I knew the Garden was going to be attacked. That's how I saved you that day. It was all sorceress powers, from the very beginning, and now Maika.she wants to." she paused, cutting herself off.
"Kyonae.why didn't you tell me?" Seifer asked gently, recovering from the initial shock.
"Why didn't I.why didn't I tell you?" her voice grew cold, her eyes glaring icily with shame. "Why do you think? You think I wanted everyone to know what I was?"
"I didn't ask you why you didn't tell everyone," he retorted calmly. "I asked you why you didn't tell me."
"Seifer." the shame had spread from her eyes to her entire face, staring at the blond disbelievingly. "You were the last person I ever wanted to know about this. I never hated you-I couldn't. You were a sorceress' knight. I always felt so ashamed when I spoke badly towards you, because then I'd look in the mirror.and I'd realize I was worse than you. I was a sorceress. But look at you now. You're shocked, aren't you? I could see you cringe. Go ahead then! Cringe! Scream! Be afraid of me and run away! You know you want to leave, right now, and leave me here- so why don't you just do it? Why won't you just leave me alone? That's all I ever wanted anyway, because it was all I ever got-so run! As fast as you can, Seifer! Everyone runs away from the sorceress!" her voice rose so rapidly and so angrily it vibrated the ice walls, and several of the icicles came crashing down between them, forcing Seifer back towards the door. But that's as far as he got before he stopped, refusing to take another step.
"Why won't you leave, Seifer?" she continued in a whisper. "Why won't you stop staring at me? It's bad enough everyone else does. You must hate me for all I've done to you. So why don't you just admit it? Sooner or later, everyone else will.you can be the first."
Seifer stood for a moment. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Kyonae actually believed that he hated her. Why? Just because she was a sorceress? Was she that ashamed of herself, that she assumed others were ashamed of her too? It made no sense. It didn't matter to him what she was.it was who she was. Slowly he stepped forward and knelt down, grasping her frigid hands in his.
"Kyonae.could I be your knight?" Seifer asked, looking up at her in hope.
Her bitter look softened, turning to suspicion. "Wh-what? What are you talking about.?"
"If you are to be a sorceress, Kyonae, I want to be your knight," he said. "I want to protect you from harm, and evil, and.help you save the world from total destruction," he added with a small smile.
"You mean.It was you.?"
"Yes. But that's not the point. The point is, I need to be your knight. Whatever you decide, I'll follow you. I'll stay by your side always and protect you. Will you let me, Kyonae? Will you let me be your knight?"
She stared down at me, a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes. But it died quickly. "No, Seifer. No." She pulled her hands from my grasp.
"Why not? Kyonae-"
"Because.I can't let you ruin yourself. You're a SeeD now, Seifer. It's what you've always wanted. It was your dream. Follow your dream, Seifer.not me."
"But you are my dream," he persisted, standing up.
"Dammit, Seifer!" her eyes burned icily with hopeless anger, but not directed at Seifer. "Look at me, will you? Just stop with the act for a minute and look at me! I'm an ice sorceress. Can't you tell, or are you really that blind? I'm practically dead, and by sunrise I'll probably be just that. And if you don't want to die, Seifer, I suggest you leave, right now, and take everyone with you. Leave and don't look back. Because if Maika finds out you're here, if she doesn't know already, she'll kill you."
"But."
"LEAVE!" she bellowed warningly, more icicles falling and crashing to the snow covered floor with force. Weakened by her sudden outburst, she leaned harder on the table, falling on one knee, her head hanging. She couldn't seem to be able to cry.
"Kyonae?" Seifer asked, looking down at the pitiful, trembling figure.
"Please, Seifer.just.leave.me.be," she said, her voice declined to a harsh whisper. Her eyes were lowered to the floor. "I'm sorry, but.it is best if you just go. I'll be fine, really, I just.need to face this alone. I don't want you to be here, when."
She said no more. Seifer stared at her in confusion and hurting. Kyonae didn't want him to be here when what? What did she need to face alone? He knew she was lying when she said she would be fine, because obviously she wasn't. He felt his heart hardening quickly towards this young woman. If she wanted him to go, he'd go...
"Fine," he said abruptly, tone growing cold as he became steadily angry. "You don't want anyone to help you? Fine. I don't care. You know, it isn't a surprise you're Squall's twin.you're both too damn stubborn for your own frickin' good. I don't suppose you knew about that, did you?"
"I knew."
"Well, you wanna know something else? We came all the way here to find you, all of us. And it's really damn ironic when you come to rescue someone who doesn't want to be rescued. So, you know what? I don't frickin' care anymore. Here's your stupid necklace!" he ripped it off his neck and threw it before her. "I'm tired of this! My life was bad enough before you came along with your stupid sob story, Kyonae! I wish I'd never let you battle me that day in the Training Center, hell, I wish I'd never known you at all!"
Each word that escaped his lips was like a hard lash to the face with a whip. But Kyonae took them without complaint, staring numbly at his feet where the necklace lay. She nodded slowly, understandably.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's all my fault.from the very beginning.all my fault."
Seifer was slightly taken aback by this agreement, but he shook it off. Any love he had felt before had been replaced by pure bitterness. She was turning him away.he wasn't going to go without a fight. "You know, you're right." He took her Talon from his belt, and plunged it into the frozen ground. "Here. I brought this for you. Not that you'll be needing it, huh, Sorceress?" he spat, and watched her flinch with strangely no satisfaction at all. Looking disgusted, picking up his fallen Hyperion, he turned to go.
"Seifer."
He turned back abruptly. "What?"
She didn't bother to raise her magnificent head as she spoke in an expressionless tone. "I." she sighed. "Fujiin and Raijiin are coming. I just thought you should know."
The young blond nodded curtly, and taking one last look at the weakening sorceress, stepped through the space he had made in the glacial wall. With a whisper from Kyonae, the wall regenerated back into its original form.
Seifer stormed back out into the hall, caught up in a silent raging war between hate and love. Soon enough he saw Fujiin and Raijiin running toward him from ahead, and he forced a smile. The three friends cried out in joy, embracing each other with hearty slaps on the back and a huge hug from Fujiin. He didn't need Kyonae. He had his posse.
"We've been searchin' all over for ya, ya know?" Raijiin sighed in relief. "Ya had us worried, ya know?"
"You were worried? Come on, Raij, you know me. I'm a tough guy."
Fujiin looked at him eagerly. "SEIFER. KYONAE?"
"Yeah, I found her," Seifer said bitterly. "But she's a sorceress now, so she doesn't seem to want to leave. So I left her where she was."
The one eyed woman's expression turned hard. "LEFT HER?! YOU. CRAZY?!" her voice was magnified a hundred times louder by the electrically charged air.
Seifer backed away, confused by her anger. "Wha-"
Abruptly Fujiin turned on her heel and continued at a brisk pace down the hall. "RAGE!"
The blond ex-knight glanced at Raijiin in confusion. "What was that all about?"
Raijiin shrugged. "I don't know, ya know? She seemed, like, confident that you were going to bring Kyonae back, ya know? Guess she's kinda upset. Ya know?"
He rushed ahead as they came to end of the Corridor of Thunder, turning the corner into the single side hall. "Fuj, what's up? Why are you so mad?"
Her single steely gray eye glared at him. "YOU. DON'T KNOW. SERIOUSLY?"
"What?"
"HOW COULD YOU? LEAVE. KYONAE?"
"She didn't want to come, Fujiin. I told you. She told me to just go, that she'd be fine."
"AND. YOU. ACTUALLY. BELIEVED HER? IDIOT."
"What was I supposed to believe?"
"OH. I. DON'T. KNOW. MAYBE. YOUR OWN EYES?" She groaned irritably. "JUST BECAUSE. SHE SAYS. SHE'S FINE. DOESN'T MEAN. SHE IS. DAMMIT!"
"Fujiin, will you please just shut up?" Seifer snapped, holding his head. "I don't want to talk about it."
"WHAT. DID YOU SAY?"
"What d'ya think I told her? I told her I wished I never met her and I didn't care what she did."
Fujiin shook her head in disgust. " LIAR. STUPID IDIOT LIAR. RAGE! YOU LOVE HER. ADMIT IT, LIAR!"
Seifer looked away stubbornly, ahead to the end of the north corridor where Rinoa, Ellone, and Naomi stood. "I don't want to talk about it," he repeated.
Naomi the thunder mage spotted them, and smiled lightly. "Seifer, Fujiin, Raijiin! Did you have any luck, my friends?"
His friends remained silent, Raijiin because he wasn't so sure, and Fujiin simply because she refused to talk any more. Seifer looked back at them, relieved that they didn't say anything, then back to Naomi. "No. No luck."
Naomi's bright yellow eyes bore into his for a fleeting moment, and immediately he knew she could see the lie plainly written on his face like ink. But like his posse, she kept silent also, nodding curtly.
Just then four figures met them from the opposite side corridor: Irvine, Quistis, Ember, and Laguna. "Thank the godesses we found you, Naomi! We got completely lost!" the redhead cried in relief, throwing up her hands. "We found Laguna though. So, anybody find out where Kyonae is?"
Before anyone could answer the fiery young woman, three figures appeared from the dark of the Ice Corridor: Zell, Selphie, and Eve. "Oh, my goodness, Naomi, we have been looking everywhere for you! We were attacked by a great Vinosnake in the Corridor of Flowers, where this young man showed such aspiring bravery." Eve gestured briefly at Zell, who reddened slightly. "And we came back to find you. Any luck?"
"No." The mage shook her ebony haired head gravely. "No one has found her as of yet. Strange.you would think that maybe she would have been placed in the east corridor, since Maika is one of lightning." she glanced absent mindedly at Seifer, who stared stonily back. "Right now we are trying to discover the whereabouts of Leonhart. Two sets of footprints lead up to this portrait, then nothing more. Strange."
Seifer gazed for the first time at the portrait hanging on the wall, and gasped to himself. Her silvery unicorn hair and pale blue eyes made no mistake.it was Princess Katarina.
Ember walked up to it and looked down at the footprints, then up at the portrait like some kind of detective. "Hmm." She placed her hand on it and leaned casually, going into deep thought.
Suddenly the portrait gave way on her, swinging inward, her unsupported weight flying into the dark space within. "Ow! By Firaga's frill." she cursed loudly.
Eve looked on in amazement at the stairs leading downward into a room. "A secret passageway!" she gasped. "Why Ember, my dear, you're a genius!"
"No, my dear Eve, I'm in extreme pain!" she retorted mockingly, rubbing her crimson head gingerly as she pulled her self to her feet and climbed out. She shook a fists angrily at the flower mage. "Genius.I'll give you 'genius'.I'll give you plenty of 'genius'.hell, I'll give ya so much genius it'll be coming out your-"
"Squall must be down there!" Rinoa interrupted, hope gleaming in her eyes. "Maybe he found Kyonae!"
"Really? Ya think so?" Ember said, lowering her fists. "Well in that case, remember it was I who found it."
"Come, all of you. Leonhart is sure to be down in the secret room. We may find him, but I am not sure if we shall find Kyonae." Naomi held the portrait open like a door for the large group as they climbed in and down the stairs one by one.
Rinoa climbed in first, already calling the gunblader's name. "Squall! Squall, are you down there?"
"This is sooo exciting!" Selphie exclaimed, hopping down the stairs and pulling Zell in after her. "Come on, Zelly!"
"Don't call me 'Zelly'," the shadow boxer grumbled, though everyone could see he was smiling.
"I hope Squall is all right," Quistis muttered softly, the constantly worried instructor that she was. "I hope he isn't hurt.these castles are dangerous; anything could've happened to him."
"Indeed you are right, Trepe," Naomi nodded. "But we should not worry. If he was your pupil, he will most definitely be fine.
Reassured and slightly flattered, Quistis climbed in.
"Man, I really wish Kiros and Ward were here." Laguna groaned before following the instructor.
"I'm not afraid of nothin' or nobody," Irvine boasted to Ember, obviously trying to impress her. "Just stick by me and you'll be fine."
"What a coincidence, I'm not afraid of anything either," Ember declared proudly. The romantic cowboy gave her a skeptical look, and she smiled nervously, shrugging. "Eheh.most of the time."
"This is weird stuff, ya know? Secret passages, mages, stuff like that.I don't know if I can take it, ya know?" The broad shouldered Raijiin said edgily.
"Calm yourself, Raijiin," the flower mage said soothingly, patting him gently on the shoulder as she smiled warmly. "It will all work out fine, I'm sure."
"Ya really think so, ya know?" he looked back at her briefly as he climbed in.
"I really do.you know," she added, giggling at her own attempt to copy him as she followed him.
Fujiin passed Naomi, gazing silently into the thunder mage's yellow eyes with her gray one for a moment, not saying anything. But Naomi understood.
"Yes, yes, I know he lied," she assured the silver haired Fujiin softly under her breath. "Do not let it bother you, Fujiin.I will handle it."
Only after this did Fujiin nod briefly, affirmatively, and climb down into the secret passage.
Ellone climbed in. "My.it's very dark.I hope Squall is all right."
Seifer hastily tried to pass her, trying to avoid the thunder mage's gaze, but to no avail. With a small gesture of her finger Seifer's face faced her own, looking fearful and guilty for his lie.
"If she refused to come with you, Almasy, there was nothing else you could do. She is most likely under the power of Maika. That is probably why she was placed in the Corridor of Thunder, so her powers would be weak against the Queen. But lying to your fellow companions will not help matters. It will only make things more complicated. Do you understand?"
He nodded. "I'm sorry," he muttered thickly.
"It is all right, Almasy. When we find the secret room, and Squall, there will be enough time to tell them. They will understand. They trust you now."
"But-Naomi-" he added quickly. "Kyonae told me that we should leave and forget about Maika, that she would handle it herself."
"Are you insisting that we abort the mission?"
Seifer looked into her eyes, uncertain. Naomi bore into his eyes as well, analyzing his thoughts. He was fighting a war against his feelings, a war for which there was no certain victor. On one side there was his desperate love for Kyonae- the part of him that loved her more than even his own life and wanted to stay by her side no matter what.and then, the frustrating hate, the part of him that wanted to return to his normal life without the young woman, without all the trouble and pain she had unintentionally caused him. The battle raged on even as Seifer gave his answer, his face bitterly set.
"I guess I have no choice but to keep going, do I?" With that, he broke the gaze and headed down the stairs.
Naomi sighed to herself, watching his figure follow the others. That Seifer Almasy.he really did have no choice but to go onward.in fact, it was far too late for any of them to turn back from this.
The thunder mage pushed the portrait shut, and followed her friends into the descending darkness, trying to shake off the feeling that something was watching them from afar.
A/N: I forgot to ask.does anyone object to a Zell/Selphie and a Raijiin/Eve pairing? I've been planning on doing a Zell/Selphie pairing for a while but I just came up with Raijiin and Eve on complete impulse.please tell me what you think! I need opinions! (
