Gideon had taken Aida, and I was running out of time. The trouble was, I had no idea where to start looking, and I wasn't getting anywhere by standing in the yard crying my eyes out. I had to get moving if I was to find her, even if I didn't have a clue where she might be. I didn't even want to contemplate that she might already be dead.
I retrieved the phone from the grass and then turned back to the house. There, silhouetted against the porch light, stood Gabriel watching me, and he'd heard every word of my conversation with Gideon. "What was all that?" he asked as he stepped into the yard and blocked my path back to the house.
"Can't tell you," I muttered.
"Why not?"
"I can't ok? I don't have time to explain it. I've got to find her, Gabe, and I have to find her fast."
"She didn't just wander off, did she," he said and crossed his arms. Hyne love him, Gabriel was being stubborn and refused to let me pass him. I was furious.
"I don't have time to explain this," I hissed at him. "I have to go get her, so please, don't make me hurt you."
"I'm coming with you."
I shook my head and pocketed my cell phone. "You can't."
"I'm not giving you a choice."
He wasn't going to let me leave, and I didn't have the heart to throw him out of the way. "Fuck!" I swore in pure frustration. "We'll take my dad's car. Go start it up and get in the passenger side. I'll be out in a minute."
I could see by the look on his face he was satisfied and he hurried around the side of the house as I closed my eyes and composed myself. I had to have my wits about me or I was going to panic and Aida would die. It was already all I could do not to run screaming her name through the night, but where to look?
After I took several deep breaths and checked my junctions, I followed Gabriel and hopped into your Jenova and backed out of the driveway, unsure of which way to go. After a moment's hesitation, I decided to head towards town, though I was sure Aida was not there. Still, I had to look everywhere. We searched for hours, drove down every street in town at least once. I was furious that his clue was so vague.
When I reached the edge of town a second time I pulled the car off the road and leaned my head against the steering wheel. There was less than an hour left to find her, and I still hadn't the faintest idea of where to go.
"Maybe we should get some sleep," Gabriel suggested and yawned.
"No time for sleep," I said and sat back.
"I doubt we're going to find her in the dark."
I glanced at my watch. "You don't understand," I screamed, unable to control my rage. "There's a deadline!"
"A deadline?"
"Yes," I said as I reached over and opened the glove box, searching for the cigarettes I knew you kept there. I'd never smoked in my life, but at that moment, I needed a cigarette. Had to have one or I'd pull my hair out. I found them and pulled one out of the box.
"How much time do you have?"
"About half an hour," I told him and I struck a match. As the
flame met the end of the cigarette, it dawned on me that I'd overlooked
something. The last part of the riddle, and the comment he'd made
about lava. "Fire cavern," I whispered and started the engine of
the car. "Of course!"
"What are you talking about?"
"That's where Aida is. Damn it!" I growled as I stepped on the gas. "If I'd just thought for a moment instead of wasting all this time, we'd be there already. How far do you think it is?"
"I don't know, maybe twenty minutes or so," Gabriel guessed and eyed me as I let the cigarette dangle from my lips, not really inhaling the smoke, but allowing it to burn instead. He snatched it and threw it out the window.
"What the fuck did you do that for?" I cried.
"Smoking's bad for you."
"Don't make me throw you out of this car," I warned. There he was, screwing with me at the worst of all possible times. I couldn't even look at him without thinking of Gideon, and it was difficult to maintain my composure.
We drove in silence for a few miles. I kept glancing at my watch. Twenty minutes to the fire cavern. That left ten minutes to get in and find her. It wasn't much time at all, and I silently cursed Gideon, and I hoped that he was there so I could take care of him.
"So who's done this?"
"I can't tell you. Now shut up and let me drive."
"Come on, Micala. I'm already involved, so you owe me an explanation."
"Damn it, Gabe, I can't tell you. Even if I could, you wouldn't want to know, so just be quiet and let me drive." I became aware of the fat tears rolling down my cheeks.
"I don't think this is something you should be handling on your own," he said, trying to be kind.
"No, it's not, but I have to. I'll explain when it's all over."
He sighed and rubbed his chin. "I'm sorry I ignored you."
"Don't worry about it," I said as I steered the car over bumps and dips. There was no road to speak of, so I did my best to make one. "Thanks for helping me out tonight."
"Hey, anything for a friend, right?"
I didn't say it, but I was grateful that he'd insisted upon coming along.
If the situation hadn't been so dire, I might have jumped his bones right
then and there. If it hadn't been a life or death situation, that
is. But there was no time to contemplate thoughts of romance when
my sister was about to be put to death.
We made the trip in twenty five minutes. Good time by normal standards, but this wasn't a normal trip. Every second counted, and there were now only five minutes to get inside. "I hope you're ready, because I'm not waiting for you."
"I am," he mumbled and opened the door. I was already out of the car with my gunblade drawn and I sprinted ahead of him, right into the mouth of the cavern.
The odor of sulfur was momentarily overpowering. It stung my nose and throat, and I coughed a little at the first bite of the stench, but I pressed on, not willing to waste a second. I ignored the way the heat burned my skin, and beads of sweat immediately covered my face. Down the twisted paths I went, slicing through random creatures that got in my way. There wasn't time to stop or even think, all I could do was run, and I was thankful for the extra time I'd put in at the track.
Aida was in there somewhere, and I had to find her before time ran out. She was probably terrified, maybe injured, and most certainly exhausted. I called out her name as I ran, and was rewarded with only the sound of my footfalls, those of Gabriel's behind me and the echo of my own voice.
At the end of this path is the fiery pit in which cadets must fight Ifrit before their final SeeD exam. Though I'd remembered it well, it was the last time I'd set foot here. I'm sure you remember it, the molten passageway to the bowels of the planet. More than a few cadets had met their deaths there, having fallen into said pit. We called it the 'Highway to Hell,' and maybe you did too, when you were a cadet. Anyway, I had a feeling that Aida was there, and I followed the path to it's end, braving a glance at my watch.
One minute left.
That's all the time I had to save her, daddy. Sixty seconds. I never knew how quickly sixty seconds could pass until then.
I sprinted through the steam and prayed I wouldn't go careening off the edge into the flaming pot of lava. I stopped short and looked around. A shadowy figure stood behind the illuminated form of my baby sister, who clutched her teddy bear as if it were a life raft and she was in danger of drowning. "Aida!" I cried.
"KALIE!" she shrieked back and jumped to her feet.
"Stay where you are, I'll come get you," I said as the shadow man behind her waved.
"You're a minute late," he said and tapped his watch.
"Fuck you!" I said and dashed around to retrieve my sister.
"Kalie!" Aida cried again and she took several steps forward. I could tell she was disoriented, perhaps injured, and she lost her footing.
"No!" I cried out as I watched her fall. Her hands grasped at the rocks, but they must have burned because she let go, and I watched her tiny body plummet into the hole below. "NO, NO, NO!" I screamed as I threw myself at the edge and leaned down inside. "AIDA!" I screamed her name over and over, and all I could see below was the river of lava rippling and twisting, glowing an orangy red beneath me.
It happened in a blink, Daddy. Just a blink. One second, she was there, and the next she was gone.
I screamed out her name as the rage inside me built up into a hateful crescendo.
Gabriel hoisted me up by the belt, out of harm's way, despite my hysterical protests. "Let me go, Gabe. I've got to go get her. She'll die down there." I know that was madness, and I knew it then, but I didn't want to believe that she was dead. I didn't want there to be a chance to save her and not take it.
"Micala," he whispered, and there were tears in his eyes. He held me in a tight grip to prevent me from throwing myself at the ledge again. "I'm so sorry."
"No, Gabe, I've got to help her. Please," I begged. I was hysterical in my grief and pain, and I knew it, but I could not convince myself to let it go. "Please let me go help her."
Gabriel pulled me into his arms, though I fought him, screeching like an animal. "Shh," he said in my ear. "She's gone, Micala. You can't help her now. She's gone."
"Let me help her," I cried as I sobbed against his chest.
Something inside me shattered then, something broke into a million pieces and I let out a tortured scream as I sat down hard against the rock beneath my feet. Gabriel took me by the shoulders and said my name. I saw his lips move, but I didn't hear his voice. I saw only the man in the shadows.
Gideon.
I didn't hear my own shriek of rage, merely felt it in my throat as I leapt to my feet and began to pursue him through the cavern, my blade drawn. Daddy, I don't remember what I did after that. I only remember the steady stream of curse words that ran through my head, and more than likely came out of my mouth as I chased him. It was like chasing a shadow. Every where I turned, I thought I saw him, only to discover that it was a trick of light.
Gabriel told me later that during all this, he was more afraid of me than he was for me. He said that I even tried to attack him, I was so out of control. I regret that, but I probably thought he was Gideon. In my madness, I couldn't tell the difference.
When I came out of it, I found myself on my knees, dripping with sweat
and sobbing hard enough to shake every inch of my body. Gabriel was
beside me, crying just as hard, though silently as men do.
"Gabe," I whispered and grabbed his hand. He threw his arms around
me and let me cry into his neck. I felt like I might cry forever,
for the tears didn't stop. I'd never hurt so badly in my life.
To loose Aida that way was worse than having twenty spikes driven through
my hands, and had I been given a choice, I would have picked the latter.
No physical injury had ever hurt worse than that, Daddy. I wanted
to die too, and I would have given my life to save her. I hope you
know that.
As I sat there in Gabriel's arms, I realized I'd been lured into a game of chess, and now, I would have to play to the death. To hell with missions. To hell with SeeD. This was my life, and I wasn't going to let Gideon Leonhart take it away from me.
Gabriel convinced me that it was time to go home and tell everyone the news. After a hellish night, it was the last thing I wanted to do. It seemed cruel and unfair. It was even more unfair to Aida, who was the only one of us that was truly innocent. She'd never killed or hurt anyone. She'd known nothing of politics or warfare or weapons or espionage. She didn't deserve to die, and I blamed myself for not reaching her in time.
I'd never felt the way I did that day when I walked in the front door to tell you that Aida was gone. My cheeks were stained with tears, I'm sure, and I couldn't meet your eyes. You knew just by looking at me. I didn't have to say a word for you to know that she was gone.
By the time I'd arrived home, our entire support unit had arrived to help you look, and they were all there. The Leonharts, The Kinneas Clan, the Chicken Wuss family, all of them. I couldn't look at any of them, though they stared at me as I leaned on Gabriel to keep from collapsing. I thought I'd failed all of you, and most of all, I'd failed Aida.
Mom began to wail, and her cries echoed those I felt in my soul.
"Mr and Mrs. Almasy," Gabriel said as he squeezed my arm. I heard the tears in his voice as he spoke to you. "There was an accident . . . at the fire cavern. Aida, she must have wandered in some how, and she . . . fell. I'm . . . sorry."
Why didn't he tell them about Gideon? He'd seen him hadn't he?
It was a terrible thing to see you cry, daddy. I'd never seen you do it before, and it was more awful than I ever imagined.
I had to get out of there, daddy. I hope you weren't angry with me for bringing bad news, and then leaving, but I had to go. I didn't want to see your faces or your disappointment in me for failing you.
Gabriel followed me out. "Micala, wait," he called after me.
"Leave me alone, Gabe," I croaked.
"I'm not going to let you deal with this by yourself," he said. "I'll take you anywhere you want to go."
"Take me somewhere quiet," I said. "Somewhere that doesn't remind
me of her."