[Chapter 8: Rescues and Unpredictability]

"We'll reach the Presidential Palace, Deling City at 0900 hours. From there, we'll proceed to rescue Caraway, wherever he is. Synchronize your watches, everyone!" Irvine's voice resounded clearly through the Ragnarok's exit hallway. His team consisted of four people, inclusive of himself. He looked at the other three. They seemed so ready and calm, but in reality, all their hearts were filled with worry.

All nine of them had spent an hour planning the rescues, eventually splitting into two groups: Esthar Team (Squall, Eien, Ellone, Fujin, Raijin) and Deling Team (Irvine, Selphie, Zell, Korin).

Since a storm had been busy brewing as they planned, there was no need for them to worry about getting in unseen; the storm would provide sufficient cover. He peeked out of one of the glass ports; the sky was as dark as night, and raindrops slid their way down the sleek shell of the Ragnarok in glee.

He took a deep breath as the PA crackled. "…This is Nida speaking from the Bridge. Deling Team; we're reaching the agreed drop-off point in exactly 5 minutes. Ready yourselves." Irvine looked up to meet Selphie's glance. He pulled himself up slowly and strode over to the exit portal control pad.

Selphie toyed with the glowing ruby amulet around her neck. It gave out a soft, red glow and traces of slight warmth emanated from it. How she hoped they could pull off this mission smooth and easy so they could focus their energies more on finding Flame. Then they could do something about Seifer and Laguna! Turning her eyes up, she caught Irvine's glance just as he got up. She watched Irvine as he lazily keyed in the authorization password to activate the portal.

Zell and Korin were examining their weapons for the last time. She flicked her Nunchaku out and swung it around. Yep, top condition and swiftest of the swift. That was the Strange Vision for you.

A bleep and steady hum told her the portal was ready, and the beginning crackle of the PA told her their 5 minutes were up. "Guys, all the best. We'll come back for ya at the pick-up point in 5 hours. Stet." She walked along with Zell and Korin over to the portal where Irvine waited. He grinned at her and cocked his Exeter. "Let's go kick some Galbadian ass!"

***

Squall watched through the glass walls of the Bridge as Irvine's team ported out and slipped into the Presidential Palace. Now they'd be heading to the Esthar Airstation; they couldn't risk the laser security in the Estharian Presidential Palace. None of them wanted to be fried…

"Okay Nida, head off to the Esthar Airstation. Return there in 5 hours. We'll radio if we're early." Nida turned round and gave the thumbs-up before returning to the controls. Squall descended the lift that linked the Bridge to the main body and entered the Passenger room. His team was assembled there waiting. Since it'd take ten minutes to Esthar, he eased himself into a chair to rest.

As Esthar was huge, he'd split his team into two sub-teams. He'd take to searching the city with team A (himself, Fujin, Raijin) while team B (Ellone, Eien) would focus on locating Kiros and Ward in the Presidential Palace.

Since Eien was no longer totally powerless (Edea granted a portion of her powers to Eien), he had no qualms about leaving her and Ellone alone to search; Sorceresses should be able to hold out well enough alone…

Eien sat on one of the chairs, looking out of the window as she stroked Angelo's furry head. She had found a tiny crescent-shaped silver pendant caught on Angelo's fur and had added it on to her necklace. She liked the strange gentle glow that emanated from it. Now it hung beside the clear silver ring only; it had been a few days ago when she discovered she had lost the one that ported her back to Earth, so, no matter how she wished she could return, it was impossible.

Looking at her casting hand, she twirled it around a bit. Tiny blue sparks flew and fell like snowflakes. She smiled. Having a bit of powers was better than having none. She glanced over at Squall. He looked so cute when he closed his eyes... Stifling a giggle, she turned away from him to return to staring out the window.

She jerked up when the PA in the room crackled to life. "Esthar team, we're reaching in five minutes. Please get ready by the exit portal." The crackling stopped and the team got up and shuffled out the door, Eien last. Squall administered the activation sequence as they waited. The same bleep and steady hum greeted them. Eien skipped to Squall's side and threw her arms around him, as a little sister would.

He looked down and stroked her hair wistfully. He then stepped onto the portal with her just as Nida informed them they had reached the Esthar Airstation. They were ported out smoothly, followed by the other three. Angelo leapt down after them all. They instantly readied their weapons and headed to the bottom of the Airstation as the Ragnarok returned to Balamb Garden.

***

Jyrie moaned with a twisted anger deep within her. The Heartilly bitch had the audacity to escape, poof, just like that. Overpowering her as well as taking the…what's-her-name-again …Eien's powers along with her. She felt drained. Angry. Used. Weak. She calmed herself by watching the dancing flames on the silver pedestals around the chamber; she loved fire, which was indeed her birth-element.

Xaron entered the chamber shortly, holding a bowl filled with a sweet, cooling concoction, courtesy of their Aunt, Sorceress Terene Weiur. He had had to go down to his Aunt's cell and force the rejuvenation recipe out of her; Jyrie had insisted Terene be imprisoned. 'She always looks over me like a hawk!' his sister claimed.

He slid his hand under Jyrie's head, lifting it gently, with tender care. He put the bowl to her lips and she drank. As she drank, Jyrie remembered a similar case when she was a tiny 4-year-old. He'd treated her the same way he did now. Minutes later, she fell asleep, her satanic features for once gone, and instead replaced by the calm and genteelness of a normal 8-year-old-child.

He looked upon her face. He knew he wished she'd look like this everyday, but ever since she had a vision from their mother, telling her to take revenge, she'd changed. A lot. Almost as if she had sold her soul to the devil himself in a long done deal. Now he kind of wished they'd not begun their avenging quest. But what's to be done? It was begun, and he had to walk the road to its very end…

He sighed.

***

Back in Esthar, Ellone and Eien crept through the Presidential Palace as Squall, Fujin and Raijin blasted their way through the Estharian streets. The both of them had successfully evaded various security measures and disabled most of them with their powers. Angelo was helpful in warning them about approaching monsters and soldiers.

The duo had scoured the entire palace, using Eien's seeking energies to find human energy patterns. They had searched every room marked on the Palace map, regardless of whether there were human presences or not. The only place left was Dr. Odine's palace lab. They sent Angelo ahead of them as they strode after him. As they entered the laboratory, Eien was washed with a strange feeling… of dread. As if somebody awaited them. She tugged at Ellone's sleeve and told her how she felt.

Both of them moved cautiously. Eien glanced out of the glass panels; the storm still shook Esthar as fiercely as ever. All of a sudden, she caught sight of a foot shuffling behind a mirrored panel, disguised to look like a glass panel. Lunging forward, she touched the foot and administered a swift paralyzing spell. She heard a moan. Sounded like a man' voice.

She looked at Ellone and shrugged. What the heck.

She shattered the panel with a dispersing spell as Ellone dissolved the slivers of glass and mirror so the crashing sound wouldn't be heard. Green and blue spell lights flashed as they casted. Finally, they could see they person that had been hiding from them… Kiros! Ward was trying to get up and drag Kiros away when he recognized the two sorceresses. Eien reached down and touched Kiros as she casted the Esuna spell.

The paralysis wore off and he struggled to his feet, helped by Ward. The girls explained their mission to the two presidential advisors and expressed their thankfulness that they were safe. "We thought you had been captured or something," said Ellone. "Lucky we found you here. Clever hideout. Who designed it?"

"No ozar but I, ze Great Doctor Loki Odine!"

The two sorceresses turned to see Doc Odine standing behind them with a big grin on his face. Eien giggled. He still had the funny-looking frill plate around his neck. Ellone smiled. "Thank you for helping them, Doctor. Now, excuse me please." She picked up the radio and called over Squall's team, informing them they had found the advisors and their location.

Eien sighed and sat down in a corner with Angelo. She lay on her fur, enjoying the warmth that emanated. Angelo wagged her tail; she and Eien were getting along very well indeed. She had half-closed her eyes and rested as Ellone, Ward, Kiros and Loki talked. All of a sudden, she felt strange warmth in her heart. She opened her eyes…and saw streams of flashing blue light darting into her chest.

"What the…"

She jumped up, startling both Angelo and the others. She gasped as she was floated into the air, the streams of blue light encircling her. They gave out comforting warmth as they circled, and finally entered her. She tried to look for the source of the light… none?? The lights seemed to materialize out of nowhere!

Eien slowly felt herself drifting away…losing consciousness… She tried to hold on to the world…hold on to herself…but she couldn't. She just had to let go and see…what else would happen this time…

Ellone calmed down after a while of watching the procedure; she remembered this was how a sorceress's lost, or stolen, powers returned to their owner when close enough. She didn't worry about who was the thief or where it came from now. She was just glad that Eien's powers had come back to her. As the last glimmer of blue light faded into Eien, the young girl's body was gently lowered to the ground. Angelo lay there, so Eien's head would rest on her back.

And, as usual, Doc Odine was gawking and taking notes as fast as he could, muttering and muttering about sorceress power studies and the such. Ellone went over to Eien and knelt beside her, stroking the girl's face gently. She was glad that somehow, somehow…Eien's lost powers had been regained.

Squall reached them 15 minutes later, panting and huffing. He was drenched with sweat and so were Fujin and Raijin. But they were a good team. Fujin would heal and administer good status magic on them and power up the already strong Squall and Raijin. Squall slung his Gunblade over his shoulder, spun it around for a while before sheathing it. He drew his hand past his forehead, wiping away the sweat drops and brushing away the hair that stuck to his face.

Ellone filled him in on what had happened, and she swore she could almost see a smile on his face as she got to the part where Eien regained her powers.

"Good job, we found Kiros, Ward and Doc Odine (the doctor had insisted on following when they left). We're an hour early. Ellone, radio Nida, tell him to come. We'll go over to Deling and—hey!"

Suddenly, a blue, shimmering oval glinted and expanded in the center of the lab, interrupting Squall in the middle of his sentence. He jerked into action and drew his Gunblade, poised for battle. Raijin and Fujin followed him up with their weapons; Fujin drew out her disc as Raijin steadied his staff. Ellone charged ready for a spell to protect her and the others.

None of them disturbed the slumbering Eien, who was lying on Angelo, as they prepared for whatever that may appear from the portal that was beginning to form. As it was completed, Squall saw a familiar lady pass through it, her face pale from overexertion and over-usage of energy.

He scrutinized the lady as the portal faded, taking with it the only source of light, but strangely, the lady exuded a glowing aura. Light blue? He was puzzled. It was a familiar energy signature, though. Slowly he advanced, motioning the others to stay behind him. He felt that he could handle this alone.

All this while her face was obscured by light, as she had arrived. All of a sudden, the bright portal light disappeared, the aura spreading all round the small room, and she looked at Squall. Squall looked back, and froze. The others relaxed their poise and dropped their weapons in astonishment as they recognized the lady.

He knew who she was! He heard her murmur his name and then she was a blur of tears and blue light as she ran towards him, arms outstretched. He caught her and pulled her close to him. They kissed, tears streaking down their faces. He broke the kiss for a moment, and gazed at her. Bending down, close to her ear, he whispered softly, "Don't cry…I'm here now, Rinoa…" They kissed again.

***

Considering the amount of manpower they had, the others in Deling City were holding out pretty well, but not for long. The SeeDs were beginning to tire as they knocked off soldier after soldier; Caraway himself had to take up a fallen soldier's weapon to fend for himself.

"Selphie!!!! Have you gotten the radio working yet??"

"I'm trying, Korin! It isn't working!"

The exchange of words was made through the sounds of clashing weapons. Korin was expertly weaving her way through the group of attackers, slashing their vital body parts with a sharp, accurate dagger. Her usual bow was slung across her back.

Selphie was swinging her Nunchaku, banging away attackers as she tried to fix the spoilt radio. Irvine would occasionally help her by stunning a few attackers with a spray of bullets before turning back to handle the enemies on his side. Zell was fighting by Korin's side; stunning opponents with swift kicks and punches.

They had found Caraway minutes after they had arrived at Deling City; it's not hard to miss a group of angry soldiers shouting and surrounding a man in a corner. He had been fending them off with a fire-lit torch before the rescue team had arrived.

Now, the five of them were trapped in the clock tower as they tried hard to seal off the entrance trapdoor. But it was hard work as the soldiers and men had inserted a wooden rod to block off the sealing mechanism. Four hours and thirty minutes had passed and they weren't any closer to the pick-up point, which was the top of the central gate way in Deling City. Worst of all, as you would have probably noticed, their radio was spoilt. ("YEAH! NOT FAIRRR!!!" – Selphie _)

"Look," quipped Irvine. "Let's just summon our GF and break our way out!"

"We'll decimate the building!!" Yelled Zell.

All of a sudden, Korin screamed as a burly soldier brought his sword down on her. She quickly shoved her dagger up as she lurched back violently. She moved too late; all she saw next were shreds of clothing and blood. She felt pain. Looking down, she saw a deep gash across her leg. Damn. Now she'd be a burden to the rest of them.

Zell, seeing what had happened, quickly ran over to her, fighting off the soldiers that were beginning to crowd in. He lifted her into his arms and checked her wound as Selphie and Irvine covered them. Caraway crouched close by, behind the duo. Korin moaned in pain; what the soldier did to her leg was bloody painful.

She glanced out of the coloured glass panels of the clock tower. The storm had begun to lighten, but it still provided enough cover for the Ragnarok, should it come by. She winced. Her leg was beginning to throb so hard she could feel her pulse.

Zell looked at her. "Korin?"

"Hmm…?"

"Uh…would it be okay if I…went to fight off those…y'know…" He jerked his head towards the enemies.

She smiled. Nodded. "I'll be fine."

Zell laid her in a corner and left to fend off attackers. She took to looking out the windows. All of a sudden, a soldier lurched towards her, yelling with a sharp dagger in his hand. She effortlessly swung her dagger at him. Even before he could injure her, he fell in a slump in front of her. "Scum…" She muttered under her breath.

She was about to close her eyes and rest when suddenly; she noticed a snake of blue light from the corner of her eye. She turned for a closer look. It was gone… Was it the light, or was it just her? She sighed and shifted her position a little.

There it was again! She couldn't be mistaken…the light just flew past Selphie's nunchaku. She felt a tingling around her wounded leg. Upon looking down, she saw the same blue light encircling the wound. To her amazement, as she watched, the wound slowly healed and closed up, then the light dispersed. She got up in shock and felt her leg; it was as good as new!

Meanwhile, Selphie was sweating profusely as she twiddled with the wires and intricacies of the spoilt radio. She muttered and cursed, single handedly swinging her Nunchaku at the occasional soldier that tried to do away with her as she twiddled with the other. Suddenly, a soldier struck her with his foot from behind, causing her to fall backwards and kick out towards the radio. The soldier cackled evilly as the radio smashed through a stained glass wall to its demise far below.

He didn't have the time to gloat anymore as a very painful, spiked ball hit him in the face. He stumbled backward and passed out due to the pain and bleeding. "Bloody…" Selphie muttered murderously as she slowly got up, wincing in pain as she rubbed her head and butt, where she had gotten kicked.

Irvine had gone over to her and fought off a few more soldiers to give her some time. The radio was gone. Now what? She sighed and picked up her Nunchaku, smashing it into a few more soldiers. All they could do was to fight their way out of the room, into which a steady stream of Galbadian soldiers kept barging.

All of a sudden, a bright, blue light filled the room. All the soldiers paused their battling in shock as they saw a glittering portal emerge in the center of the room. The SeeDs and Caraway glanced at each other, and then took the opportunity to regroup and rush to the door. Zell ran over to Korin, expecting her to still be sitting down and trying her best to stem the bleeding from her wound. Greeted by the sight of her standing up as if she had not been injured, he stood there blinking in shock. The only trace of the wound was a torn trouser-leg and bloodstains on the surrounding cloth.

"I thought you were injured?"

"The blue light healed the wound…"

She lifted a hand, pointing over his back towards the blue portal as she grinned. He turned to look, and paused in shock. Selphie, Irvine, and Caraway rushed back in. "Guys!! We gotta go soon 'Cuz…what the…?"

She too stopped and watched in amazement, along with the rest. One by one, the soldiers dropped to their feet, moaning, clutching at their chests and passing out as the dark-haired lady that had appeared pointed at them. Her entourage were slowly getting used to their surroundings. After all the soldiers and men had fallen, the light faded, leaving the room as dreary and dark as it had been.

Rinoa blinked once, then twice, as she got used to the sudden dimming of light. She rubbed her temples; using her powers too much gave her a headache. She looked up, and upon seeing Selphie, Irvine, Korin, Zell, and her father, grinned. "Hey!" She strode forward, Angelo running at her side gleefully. Her dark hair floated softly behind her as the long hem of the white gown she wore trailed out gently.

Selphie and Korin gazed at her in joy and disbelief as they realized that it was, yes, it was Rinoa. They both screamed her name in unison as they lunged for her. The three girls hugged as tears poured down their faces…

Squall emerged out of the shadows, his trademark pout on his face as he steadied Eien, who was still quite blur as an aftereffect of regaining her powers all in one go. She had woken up while Rinoa was creating a portal from the Ragnarok to wherever Irvine's Team was, which happened to be the Clock Tower. He was happy that they had found them, safe and sound.

The other five, Ellone, Kiros, Ward, Fujin, and Raijin, had gotten used to the lighting and stepped out. The two Presidential Aides greeted President-General Caraway cheerfully as Fujin and Raijin watched on, evidently happy. So was Ellone. She grinned as the three girls reunited.

This day was indeed a happy one… or was it…?