BLACK RAIN
Disclaimer (Which I really REALLY need to start putting at the start of each chap…) – oh yes As you know, I, like yourselves, we don't own any of these characters…etc except the imagination we have to give them stories of their own.
"Time is like water – it always flows – it never stops" RL
Chapter 10 – Visions Played Out
(Lunatic Pandora – Squall/Quistis/Zell)
They stormed through the first passageway leading for the lift. Monsters flew everywhere, as they were chopped up, punched into oblivion or spirited away into non-existence. And as they reached the lift, Squall turned to the others.
" Keep close, follow me. I know the way." He says to them.
"How could we forget this place?" Zell asks, bringing a smile to Quistis lips.
"It doesn't matter" replies Squall "we wont be long in here anyway. And after that, we can forget about it because this place wont be standing once we're done."
The lift arrives. Squall presses the button, then falls silent, as the lift makes its shaky way upwards.
"Yo Squall, what about the sorceress that's here" asks Zell, "what should we do about her?"
Squall doesn't answer at first "nothing, yet were here to get Odine, if we run into her, then we take her out, but only if she tries to stop us. We've no idea how powerful she is, so she may cause a problem. We'll try to get to Odine without having to fight her. If not, then we'll have no choice."
"Ok man, I wonder who she is? Wonder how strong she is too?"
Squall doesn't reply. I wonder myself he thinks. Odine is here, building a machine of sorts; a sorceress is here also… I hope it's not what I think it is, and what was Rinoa wanting to say to Quistis?
He is broken from his thoughts by the soft 'ping' of the lift doors. The three of them disembark, and fight their way to the next lift.
(Esthar City – Irvine/Selphie/Rinoa)
"What do you mean, Quistis is a sorceress?" Irvine asks Rinoa, staring at her.
Rinoa frowns. "Exactly what I said."
Selphie grabs her arm. "How can you tell? Are you sure?"
"Yes, I can tell because it's a sorceress gift I have. Sorceresses can 'feel' the presence of another sorceress because of their power. And yes, I'm sure."
Irvine shakes his head. "She would know if she was, and she would tell us."
"Not necessarily" Rinoa also shakes her head. "She might not know. And if she does, she might not want to tell us for fear of what we might say or do. I know, because you should have seen the look on Squalls face, when he found out I was a sorceress, he didn't know what to do." She looks at both of them. "I have to tell her."
"I don't think you should" Irvine says to her.
"Why not?"
"It might be too much for her. Also, she's in the middle of a mission. Telling her something like this might put her off, or distract her."
"She has to know!" Rinoa snaps at him "they're going to fight a sorceress up there. She might be too powerful for them, and it might have to take a sorceress to defeat her! Oh Hyne!" she yells, suddenly throwing her arm up. A gate forms in front of her.
"Where are you going?" Selphie shouts at her
"It might be a risk, but she has to know, I have to tell her, because if she doesn't, and she gets emotional, her powers might get released, and she wont know how to control them." As she says this, she desperately tries to remember the spot Squall spoke of in the Lunatic Pandora. Finally she remembers. She turns back to the others.
"I'm sorry if you think I'm doing the wrong thing, but I feel she has to know, for her own safety, never mind ours."
Selphie nods her head. "OK Rinoa, good luck."
Irvine nods his head also "OK, just look after her, and yourself also."
"I will," she says, smiling. She steps into the gate and vanishes. So does the gate.
"Come on Selphie, let's go."
The two of them run to the lifter, which will take them to Odines lab.
(Lunatic Pandora – Rinoa)
She lands softly on her feet as she appears. Glancing round, she realises that she was spot on with her gate, which promptly closes behind her. She turns and runs to where Squall and the others went, fixing on to the small 'power' that belongs to Quistis. She makes it to the lift with little event. She closes her eyes as the lift ascends.
She doesn't know, oh Hyne, I hope she doesn't get distressed or angry and let loose. Because she's powerful, damn powerful…
(Lunatic Pandora - Squall/Quistis/Zell)
Squall smiles slightly as LionHeart slices an iron giant in two, the halves hitting the ground with a satisfying clunk. They enter the lift, which travels upwards further.
"De ja vu huh?" Zell asks lightly.
"Yes, indeed" Quistis replies. "Are you sure this is the way Squall?"
"Really sure, thanks to you" he says
"Me? How?"
"What you told us about your vision. The room you described sounded very much like where we fought Adel" he answers.
"Oh, I see" she smiles "like Zell said, de ja vu"
Squall doesn't reply, staring at the floor in silence.
"Ready guys?" asks Quistis, breaking the silence.
"Yep Kick ass time" Zell grins. "And ill take care of the radio business too, Ill tell Esthar to let rip once were done."
"Wait until we get out of here altogether first." Squall says, not looking up.
"Why? They'll take a while to get here, by that time well be long…"
"Just do it that way" Squall interrupts.
"You OK man?" Zell asks him.
"Just fine… Zell"
He is spared further questions as the lift stops, and the doors open.
"Here we go, watch yourselves" Squall warns as they disembark.
"Will do," says Quistis.
"And here. Man, this place gives me the creeps." Zell mutters at the back.
(Lunatic Pandora - Rinoa)
The lift stops.
"Please, let me catch them" she says to herself, as she steps over the bodies of dead monsters, taking out the odd stray with her Shooting Star. She presses the button, but must wait, as the lift is already gone.
"Come on, come on…"
She is broken from her mutterings as a sensation runs through her.
"That feeling… no it cant be" she sys quietly "I've felt that power before from somewhere before, but not as strong, but it cant be. No!"
Her eyes widen as she realises who it is.
(Lunatic Pandora - Squall/Quistis/Zell)
A huge robot descends down on top of them, knocking Zell down, and almost decapitating Squall. They immediately take up battle positions.
"A mobile type 9?" Zell gasps, jumping to his feet and registering the large '9' on the machines chest.
"Seems like it" Squall says and charges the machine. Two probes detach themselves from the body, and a laser links the two together. They both fly at Squall. Squall dives over the probes and proceeds to run at the body with his sword. He whacks the machine with his sword, and a blue flash emanates from it.
"Damn Protect" Squall curses as the machine, with unknown speed, suddenly follows him. A bolt of lightning appears from nowhere, thudding into the ground in front of him. Squall barely has time to register as the body bears down on him, brandishing a whip from the base.
The probes charge Zell and Quistis. Zell, using haste on himself, manages to run behind one of the probes, and grabs it. A well-placed fist pierces the shell, and it fizzles to the floor, cutting the laser off. The probe falls to the floor with a satisfying thud.
"One down!" he yells, and is promptly silenced as a thunder bolt slams into the floor in front of him. He dodges as another attempts to hit him.
Quistis grabs her whip and manages to wrap it around the other probe. She tugs the whip downward and the probe slams into the ground, breaking in half. She recoils her whip and attempts to help Squall, but she too is stopped in her tracks as a bolt of lightning grazes her shoulder, hitting the ground in front of her. As she too dodges, she feels a sensation, telling her to look up. She wheels round and looks up. But barely has time to as another bolt keeps her moving. She manages to notice a woman standing on the platform above her, arm outstretched at them.
Squall blocks the machines whip attacks with ease, LionHeart stopping each successful lash. Suddenly he rolls forward, diving under the machine. As he flips up, he points his sword upwards, and drives it into the back of the machine. He rips out his sword and watches as the machine falls to the ground; black plumes of smoke billowing out of its back. Another bolt of lightning hits the ground in front of him. He looks up, and sees a woman running through a door to the next room. Adels chamber. Quistis and Zell come over to him.
"Take it its that way huh?" Zell asks, out of breath.
"Seems like it" he says, "and that seems to be our sorceress."
"It was" Quistis says, "It most certainly was."
"What now?" Zell asks.
"Like I said before" Squall turns to Zell. "She tried to stop us. Looks like she knows we're here, we have to fight it seems."
Squall leads as they take the ladders leading up to the higher level.
(Lunatic Pandora – Rinoa)
Rinoa gets out of the lift, running as fast as she can.
Ultimecia, that power. I sensed it was Ultimecia. Oh Hyne, how? She's here now?
She bursts through the doors and spots the smoking remains of the robot. She senses Quistis, and looks up. She sees Zell running through the door.
(Esthar – Odines Lab – Irvine/Selphie)
The 2 SeeD's burst into the lab. The lab is a mess, as if it was ransacked before. There are spaces on the floor where equipment once stood. Empty shelves and toolboxes, along with a great deal of paper, litter the floor.
"OK Sef" says Irvine "we're trying to find a safe, anything that looks like a safe. I don't know where though, just what's inside it."
"OK then, we search the quick way" she smiles at him. Irvine rolls his eyes.
"Alright Selphie, go ahead" he says, smiling back.
She smiles again, this time it is spiked with mischief. She casts a tornado in the room. The spell rips everything not tied down into the air. Paintings and cabinets fly from the walls, leaving holes where they once stood, except for one.
"There!" he shouts, "There it is!"
Selphie cancels the spell, and everything crashes to the ground. They both dash over to where the safe is, which is embedded in a wall.
"How do we open it? We don't know the combination," Selphie asks, as she examines it.
"Easy, this is my department" he says, grinning. He reaches into his coat pocket, and pulls out a bullet. A small 'AP' is etched on the side of it. "Stand back" he says. Selphie backs away.
Irvine steps back too, loads the bullet, and takes aim. He fires a shot directly into the centre of the safe. After a few minutes, the door falls off, and lands on the floor.
"Easy" he says, blowing the smoke away from the gun barrel. Selphie walks up to the safe and pulls out a folder. A blue folder.
"Creepy" says Irvine, taking the folder and setting it on a nearby table. He opens the folder, and flicks through the pages. Selphie stares at it in horror.
"What is it?" he asks, noticing the look on her face.
"This folder, they're plans. A design."
"For what?"
"Look" Selphie says, turning to the first page. Irvine reads the title
JUNCTION MACHINE ELLONE
"And these are the plans for it" she explains. As they turn the pages, they read parts of it describing as it to be about 3 foot high, with an extension to be attached to the head.
"Look at that." Irvine points to a graph. "I ain't no scientist, but that looks like…"
"Ellones brain pattern." Selphie finishes for him.
"Oh man" says Irvine, "you think he's building it?"
"No," Selphie says quietly, "already built."
"How do you know?"
"Look at the dates"
Irvine looks at the timetable that takes up a whole page. Even with all the dates, it's easy to spot.
The machine was being built before they fought Ultimecia.
"We have to go," he says quickly.
"Where?"
"To the Lunatic Pandora, to tell the others."
"Why? Shouldn't we hand this in first?" She says, following him out of the lab.
"No, well keep it for now." He tucks the folder into his coat. "We'll take the ship. If we're quick enough, we should get there before things get nasty. I have a bad feeling about this"
"OK, lets go." Selphie says, closing the subject.
As Irvine runs towards the lift, an image flashes before his eyes
White light
Hope you liked the chapter; ill add the next one soon… All reviews /C/Comments appreciated (especially a critic one, as it's the best way to improve)