þ

L3[1]3[1] °TÐ[1]ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ¿¬€
Ššššš à=Ð/Ð[1]8


šNote: I can't keep making up silly things for another 49 chapters! I don't own Squaresoft's characters. I just use them to entertain people.

Another note: Whew! That last chapter was tense! I'll bet you can't wait to see what happens. In fact, I'll bet most of you just skipped over these notes, just to get to the main text (laughs). In case you have'nt noticed, this fic will be 52 chapters long. Yeah, that's long. Yeah, I know there are probably spelling mistakes here and there, but you picky people can do NOTHING about it.

Chapter 3: The Fall

      Seifer Almasy screamed as Ultima Weapon's sword came rushing down at him. He quickened his pace, but it was too late. He felt the concussion of the hit, then the terrible burn, as his brain realized his flesh had been cleaved. Quistis! was his last thought as he hit the mud, then blacked out.

      Quistis Trepe was safe, however, hiding behind a very large rock nearby. She watched in horror as the Ultima Weapon brought its blade down on Seifer, and as Seifer splashed down in the mud below it. Stay here Quistis, she rationalized, you can't do anything for him if you're dead. But what if he's dead? No, it was too much a chance to take to rush out, and challenge the Weapon. Ultima Weapon regarded its fallen prey, then lifted off, flying to the top of Odin's old tower, giving Quistis the chance to check Seifer. She ran over to his fallen form, and checked his pulse. Even as she did, he groaned, and tried to get up.

"Seifer, no!" she said, " it might have broken your back, and you might injure yoursel..."

"Shit...." Seifer groaned, interrupting her. For the first time, she looked at the damage Weapon had done. She had to bite her lip as she saw the gash in his back, running from his left shoulder to his right hip. It didn't look as if any of his internal organs, but his spinal column was visible, which made her worry.

"God damn.....thing," Seifer spat, and stood up.

"No!" She cried.

"What? What's wrong with you?" he snarled.

"Seifer, you have a huge gash in your back, and your spinal column is showing!" she warned.

"Wha? Shit. I don't feel a god damn thing." Seifer wheezed.

"Probably because of endorphines. C'mon, let's get you back to Fire Cross," she took him by the arm, and led him back to the ship, looking around for signs of any monsters, or Weapon.

Cape of Good Hope, same time.

      Rinoa Heartilly screamed, as the wicked, scythe-like hand of Adel the Sorceress descended upon her. Squall lept in front of Rinoa, and held his arms out. He took the blow full on. The claws of Adel's hand drove through him, quite forcefully, until they extended out on the other side of him. Squall gasped. He had never felt so much pain in his life. Adel grinned, knowing she had achieved what she had come for. Deep down, he even knew she was right. He was going to die from these wounds. The very thought scared him, as he heard Rinoa scream again, this time, his name. Adel withdrew her claws from his torso. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he fell to his knees.

"Noooooo!!" Came Laguna's shout from behind him, then came gunfire.

Irvine's gunfire soon joined in, as he had pulled his Exeter from his trenchcoat. Adel reached back, and threw a wave of sharp spikes into the croud, scattering them, and distracting her foes long enough so that she opened a time dialation portal, and withdrew herself into the Time-Compressed world.

"Squall!" Rinoa ran to his side, and took him in her arms, which he collapsed into.
"Oh, Squall. Please! Please don't die on me!" she pleaded, tears already flowing freely.

"Heuhhh, Rin.." he wheezed, and he knew he had a punctured lung.

"Don't talk, Squall, save your strength!" came Laguna's voice. Squall ignored his father.

"Rinoa....I had...to save you.." he coughed up blood.

"No...uhn...Squall, please, don't do this to me.." Rinoa sobbed.

"You're all that's...important to me..." he managed a smile. Squall began to shake uncontrollably, death was approaching.

"Rinoa...I...I......love...you..." one last breath escaped Squall Leonhart's body, then he was still.

"Squall?" Rinoa shook him.

"Squall?"

"Rinoa....he's gone." came Zell's voice from behind her. She turned around, and saw his face too was streaked with many tears, as was Laguna's. She looked down at Squall, his eyes glazed over, staring happily up at her. Then she saw herself, covered in Squall's blood, and let out a blood curdling scream.

"Come on Rinoa, let's go," Laguna said, and picked Rinoa up. He guided her with his arm around her shoulder, away from Squall's body, and towards Matron's house. Rinoa heard someone crying off to her right, and turned around. There, on the floor, was Selphie, bent over Irvine, who was propped up on his side, by a spike protruding from his chest. His eyes were like Squall's, cold, and staring. He was dead. Selphie looked up at Rinoa, not paying mind to the spike imbeded in her shin.

"I...(sniff)...didn't even get to say...(sniff) ...goodbye. He just....diiiied!" Selphie wailed. Seeing Irvine dead, and Selphie crying brought Rinoa into a fresh wave of tears. Edea Kramer appeared from seemingly nowhere,  knelt down next to Selphie, and embraced her, letting the young woman cry on her shoulder. Selphie rambled on about Irvine being a good person despite his reputation as a jerk. At last, Laguna stopped at the edge of the path, and told her to stay there, while he looked for Kiros and Ward, who, supposedly had been told to guard the entrance to the Cape. Rinoa looked around, feeling lost, and screamed, seeing her father prone on the ground. One of Adel's spikes had driven clean through his head, and now pinned him to the ground. It was at that time that Rinoa Heartilly fainted.

(*Choke*) I, um, kinda cried. Don't hate me. It had to be done. I didn't do it because I enjoyed it, because I didn't, but it just has to work out that way. Yeah, I know this chapter was about half as long as the last, but I thought I should just leave it at that. Chapter 4 will be up soon. Please review.

l


#
'8Kyz