BLACK RAIN
Chapter 5 – The Enemy of Time
(Lunatic Pandora – Adel's Chamber)
"How is the machine, Odine?" the woman standing behind him asked.
"It iz… getting there, I don't know what I've done, but I'll fix it. Odine alwayz does." The scientist grinned "Alwayz."
"Take your time, Doctor." The woman replied "I don't want it malfunctioning. What exactly is the problem anyway?"
"Ze calibrations are all wrong for some reason, Instead of ze past, ze machine is transmitting images from ze future. There's going to be a lot of spooked people out there."
"Why?" the woman asked, smiling secretly to herself.
Odine frowned "Well, zere iz going to be people out there seeing glimpses of their own future, zey will think zey are going mad or somethingk."
The woman turned away "never mind Odine" she says softly. "I have a … very good feeling you'll get it working shortly."
"All I know iz I will not give up until I get it working. Then you can do as you please with it. Anything." The doctor turns around and looks at her. "Just remember our agreement."
The woman rolls her eyes skyward. "If you don't stop reminding me, I might" she snaps at him. "Trust me, Odine, you'll get more money than you ever dreamed of for building this thing, also I hope I will have your word of silence on this little 'project' of ours. No one else but us two should know."
Odine grinned "As you wish, madam."
"Good" she replied. "I'll leave you to it, there are some other matters that I must attend to. Summon me if you require anything." She walks out, leaving Odine alone.
"Yes" Odine murmurs to himself "Yes, Madam Luic, as you wish."
The woman walked gracefully down the corridor and into a side room that was only just previously built. She stands at the door, opens it, and walks inside. She waits until the door closes before walking over to the bench-bed and observing the boy lying on it. Ok, he wasn't quite a boy at 18, but still…
She walks over to where his head is positioned and stares down at him, placing a finger onto his forehead. She takes one deep breath, and disappears.
…The boy, wearing all black save for his T-shirt. Long hair, a mark on his face. He's incredibly strong…
…The girl in blue. So she has it then, not for long…
…The boy with the gun…
…The girl in yellow…
…The boy with red gloves…
…The girl in orange…
They're all strong, she thinks. Three of them in particular. The boy, so similar to this one. Squall, his name is. Same weapon. Same mark.
She delves further into his mind, to find other similarities.
A rival? An equal? Hmmm, I may have figured out how to deal with him.
She turns her attention to finding out about the girl in blue.
Now, this one is a real problem. She studies her features. That power, oh how I long to feel it. Rinoa, her name is, and she was also a one-time girlfriend of this boy. Now she's with his rival. No wonder he loathes him so. So she has it then, I'll have to be extra careful with her, and I'll have to get her alone if possible. But I must be wary, for she is more powerful than all of…
She breaks off, something tells her to study the girl in orange. It seems to be just these three that will play in my game of power, life, and death. The other three are strong, but nowhere near these three.
She looks closely at the girl in orange. Suddenly her eyes go wide. "What the?" She says to herself. A spark suddenly shoots through her head and forces her to come back to the outside.
She found something out.
Something herself that the girl doesn't even know.
This girl will become a bigger threat than the other two, if she finds out what she is and what she can do. A tiny tendril of fear begins to uncurl in her stomach. NO! She thinks to herself, what is this? Why didn't I see it sooner? Quistis her name was. I'll just have to hope that she'll never find out…
She looks down, broken from her thoughts as the boy begins to stir.
Time to start the wheel of destiny.
"Unh" says the boy, trying to awaken.
"Welcome" says the woman.
Seifer opens his eyes, and immediately fixes onto hers.
(Balamb Pier – After Ultimecia)
Seifer Almasy watched the garden fly overhead. He smiles.
You did good Squall, he thought, better than I ever expected. Well done man, and good luck.
Raijin comes up beside him, dripping with seawater. "You OK?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna go for a wander about town, I'll be back for nightime at the hotel."
"PLAN STILL ON?" asks Fujin, walking over to where Seifer is standing.
"Yeah. We're outta here tonight."
Seifer walks around, past the hotel and into the main street, ducking down an alleyway that he 'discovered' just after arriving here. I'm a criminal he thinks to himself. No doubt they'll be after me. Damn, I feel like Squall, thinking to myself too much.
He leans against the wall. I must admit I've learned my lesson from you Squall, I just hope you'll forgive me… He smiles. "But that don't mean you're better than me" he says aloud.
…Black rain…
Huh? What was that? Seifer shakes his head a couple of times.
…He punches him in the face…
…He gets tripped up…
…What's that flash…
Seifer grabs his head. "Man! What a headache! Damn!"
"It'll pass in a few minutes," says a woman's voice.
Seifer wheels round, but not fast enough, as he only sees black as his attacker puts him into a deep sleep.
(Lunatic Pandora – Seifer's room)
"Who are you?" he asks, sounding a bit groggy.
"How are you?" the woman asks, not unpleasantly.
"I asked you first" he snaps, and sits up. Sits up? He thought he would have been tied down or something.
"Why would I want to do that?" asks the woman.
"You can read minds?"
"Anytime I wish" the woman smiles pleasantly at him.
Seifer studies her. She is fairly tall, and slimly built. She has reddish – black hair that comes down to just below her shoulders. She is wearing a dark …blood… red dress that goes down to her ankles. She dresses like Matron, Seifer thinks. The woman apparently doesn't appear to have heard.
"Going to answer my question?"
She looks at him. "My name Luic. Just Luic for now. I'll give you my name after, but until then, call me Luic."
"Did you put me to sleep? Did you bring me here?"
"Yes, and yes. I am sorry, but I need your help." She asks.
"Help?" Seifer asks suspiciously. "With what?"
"To get something back that belongs to me. Also, an associate of the person who is carrying this 'something' is also an associate of yours."
"What are you talking about?" All suspicion is gone from Seifer's voice, replaced by curiosity.
"Someone whom you term your rival."
"Squall?" he replies "what's he got to do with it?"
"Everything" Luic says, no longer smiling. "His associate has something of mine, like I told you. A girl. She is his girlfriend, and I understand she was once yours."
How does she know all this? He thinks, but instead he says aloud "Yeah, Rinoa. What do they have of yours anyway? Rinoa, I mean? She has nothing.. except… no, wait! That's impossible! You can't..!!"
Luic's eyes flash a peculiar yellow-blue colour. She raises her hand, and throws Seifer against the wall, knocking him unconscious.
"Poor Seifer" she bends down, and strokes his cheek. "Time to get you to work. I was going to tell you everything, from who I am, to what I can do, even how I'm fooling that idiot Odine and those stupid kids, but… maybe I will. Time for you to make it up to me losing what was mine in the first place, by helping me acquire it to begin with."
For those smart people out there, try and guess where I got the idea for her name from (Hint: read the last chapter for her 'first' name) and see if you can figure it out. I don't see myself as very clever, but I thought it was cool. If you get stumped, I'll include it in a chapter later on. Update after this soon! Promise!