I became aware of voices in the room with me; Gideon's and someone else's as I struggled to open my eyes. For a moment, I thought perhaps someone had come to help me out, Gabriel, Squall, someone, but as I listened, I discovered that Gideon's companion was no friend of mine.
"Don't even think about it. You don't want to leave behind evidence that you were here," Gideon said.
"Who cares? We're going to blow this place up, right?" the unidentified man asked. "What does it matter if I fuck her before we push the button? No one is going to know because all the evidence will burn up once the bomb detonates."
"And what if the plan goes wrong, Danny? What then?" Gideon asked, his tone angry. "What if, for some unforeseen reason, the bomb doesn't go off? You'd be fucked. The plan, all our hard work, fucked. It'd be mighty hard to pin this on her if there was some evidence to the contrary, my friend. Don't be stupid, all right?"
Danny? So, Zoran Danau was in on this too. I wondered what they had planned, what they intended to gain from all of this. I already knew that Danny had designs on ruling the world, but I hadn't figured Gideon for a megalomaniac. I could only classify him as a full blown psychopath, but with this new information, I began to have my doubts. With SeeD out of the way and major economic and political centers in ruins, how easy would it be for two madmen to take over the world? Pretty damn easy, especially if they spouted promises of building a better world, gave the people pipe dreams about peace and harmony. The question was, could they pull it off? I didn't think so, considering each had his own need to be the center, each had a need to be top dog, so to speak. Though that showdown was one I would rather like to see, the reality was, if I didn't do something fast, I wouldn't live to see anything beyond this night.
"I figured you'd want a piece of that too, Leon," Danny chided. "To get back at her for screwing you over. Be a great way to break her down. Hell, I should have done it in the first place."
I heard Gideon sigh. "You have no idea what you're dealing with, do you?" he asked. "That girl right there is one of the best in the world. She's spent her whole life training to take down the bad guys, and now, she's a sorceress! For the last couple of weeks, I've tried my hardest to destroy everything that she cares about, and all I succeeded in doing was to make her stronger. You can't break her, Danny. She'll bend, but she won't break. I can promise you that. So if you fuck with her now, instead of going along with the plan, our plan, you're going to end up with a nasty hole where your head used to be."
His words were a complete surprise. There he was, acknowledging my abilities and my ambition, warning Danny against taking any action which might further aggravate me, and I wanted to thank him for it.
And I knew I had to get up and fight, but I couldn't. My hands were bound to something, though my legs were free, and my head felt heavy. Try as I might, I couldn't lift it from the floor. So, instead of struggling against my bonds, I lay as though unconscious and focused on taking slow, deep breaths. I then began to concentrate on melting the rope that was wrapped tightly around my wrists, deliberately creating a slow burn that would go undetected by my captors. I felt the warmth of the burn against my skin, and I knew my spell was working.
I felt hands upon my legs, hands that caressed my thighs and carelessly pulled at the hem of my dress. I was immediately disgusted by the prospect of being taken against my will, especially by Zoran Danau. The very idea of it infuriated me. I would allow no one but Gabriel to touch me that way!
"Damn it, I said don't!" Gideon cried.
"I wanted to do this the day I met her," Danny growled back. "I'm not going to pass up the chance this time."
"You're signing your own death warrant, pal."
The ropes at my wrists grew ever warmer, and I could feel the nylon melting against my skin. It was difficult not to let my anger get in the way of my concentration, but I knew that if I broke it, I was as good as dead.
When the nylon gave way, I sprang up from my reclining position and seized Danny by the throat. He let out a strangled cry as I pushed him back against the carpeted floor. "Big mistake," I hissed, my face inches from his own. He gasped and clawed at me, but I didn't release him from my grip. "Today is the last day of your life," I whispered in his ear. Then, I backhanded him neatly across the face, spit into his eyes and kneed him in the groin.
To my surprise, Gideon did not attack or try to stop me. He merely stood by with an odd grin upon his face, as if he wanted me to kill his partner in crime. It didn't really matter to me if that was the case. Zoran Danau, Danny to his friends, was merely a small roadblock, and he could be dealt with swiftly and easily, especially when given the opportunity and the time to do so. But should I let him get away, he might block my impending attack upon Gideon.
As I prepared to cast an Ultima spell upon Danny, I was interrupted by the sound of the office door slamming back against the wall. There, in the frame, stood Maia, gunblade in hand. She'd kicked the locked door in, and she appeared ready to fight.
"So the cavalry has arrived," Gideon said with a laugh. "Is this the best you can do, Micala? My weakling little sister?"
Danny used my momentary distraction against me. He threw me off of him, pushed me back against the desk and placed a switchblade with a serrated edge against my throat. "You've got it all wrong. Today is the last day of your life."
Maia made a move to attack Danny, but I called out, "Stand down, Maia!"
"That's right, baby sister. This is Micala's fight, not yours," Gideon said.
"This is my fight too, Gideon," Maia hissed as she took a step closer to me. She brought her blade up, as if to strike.
"Damn it, Maia! I said stand down!" I swallowed hard and felt the teeth of the serrated blade dig into my neck. I was certain there were already tiny puncture marks below the spot where the blade rested. I could feel the wetness of sweat or blood or both, and whatever it was began to seep down the side of my neck.
"That's right, dollface," Danny said, turning on the charm, "one false move and I'll cut your friend's throat faster than you can say Torama."
Maia gritted her teeth but remained motionless, her blade still raised to strike.
"As for you," Danny continued, gazing at me with a touch of a smile upon his lips, "I'm going to do what I want with you. Simple as that. And when I'm finished, I'm going to cut your pretty neck like I should have done in the first place."
"Like hell you will," I growled and released a Flare spell upon him. He screamed in my ear as I shielded my eyes from the painful brightness and I shoved him away. He dropped the switchblade to the floor. I snatched it up and tucked it into the strap of my dress. "Maia, now!" I yelled.
My gunblade was somewhere behind the desk. I ducked my head underneath it and reached back for it as Maia brought her own blade down upon Zoran Danau. Danny let out a scream and from the corner of my eye, I saw him clutch a large, gaping wound in his abdomen.
I found my blade easily. Once it was in my grip, I got to my feet and turned my attention to Gideon who grinned as his sister relentlessly attacked Danny. "Your turn," I said in a calm and amused voice. I enjoyed the way his eyes showed his uncertainty, his reluctant fear, and these expressions of weakness fed my need to finish him.
Before I could strike, Gideon bolted for the door. "Maia," I called over my shoulder as I followed Gideon out. "Forget Danau. We'll deal with him later."
She didn't need to be told twice. She was at my heels and nearly in front of me as we reached the third floor elevator. The doors were closing, and inside, Gideon waved at us.
Aida appeared at my side and stuck her tongue out at him. "Giddie's a bad guy," she commented. "Make him go away, Kalie."
"I'm trying," I told her and instantly regretted speaking aloud. "Too bad he can't see you. That'd scare the shit out of him."
"Shit is a bad word, Kalie," Aida said and she faded away once again. My pint sized guardian angel was apparently my new conscience too.
"Trying to do what?" Maia asked as she kicked the closed elevator doors. "And see who? What are you talking about?"
"Never mind," I said, thinking fast. I had a feeling that rather than stay and fight me, he'd merely take off and detonate the bomb, consequently killing me and everyone else that might have been in the building. "You go to the second floor landing. Take the stairs. I'll go down to the first. If he gets off on your floor, summon Griever. If he passes you, meet me downstairs."
"Gotcha," she said and bolted for the stairs. I followed close behind and descended the stairs two at a time in attempt to beat him to the mark. If my hunch was correct, he'd be heading to the first floor and not the second.
It wasn't that I wanted Maia out of the way, or that I wanted to steal away her revenge. I just didn't think she had the strength to take him down by herself. Granted, she did have Griever on her side, but would she be able to summon the GF in time to stop him from hurting her? To my knowledge, she'd only used him a few times since she'd proved his existence to me, and likely, he wasn't quite up to a hundred percent yet.
This wasn't her fault, since using a GF of that strength and notoriety wasn't an easy thing to keep a secret. If anyone found out that Maia Leonhart indeed had the fabled guardian, she would not be safe anywhere in the world. For instance, Galbadia Politicians would kill for a force as powerful as Griever, along with every other reactionary, radical or cultist group on the planet.
But Griever wasn't strong enough or compatible enough with Maia to do much damage yet, and I feared, when summoned, he'd dally around a little before making his appearance. Likely, Maia would be injured, or even killed in that time. Then again, perhaps he'd understand the intensity of the situation and help her out. You never know with the Guardian Forces.
Anyway, when I hit the first floor landing, I sprinted to the elevator. I was making terrible time, due to my lack of footwear. Stockings and a highly polished floor don't make a good combination. Still, I made it to the elevator before the doors opened up, and I glanced up at the floor markers above the door. The elevator had come to a stop on the second floor. Maia was in danger! Fuck!
In frustration, I slammed my fist against the button and turned back for the stairs.
"Micala!" a voice behind me called. "Micala, wait!"
I spun around. "Gabriel!" I cried out. "You're alive!"
"Of course I'm alive," he said.
"Gideon said you were dead."
"Well, I'm not," he said.
"We have to get moving. Maia's upstairs with Gideon," I said.
We were on the move, up the stairs and into the second floor corridor. We passed countless classrooms as we ran, our gunblades ready for anything. I regretted sending Maia to the second floor, but I hadn't expected that he'd stop there. Again, a mistake.
Daddy, how can someone with a history of completing objectives as a SeeD without a single failure, make so many mistakes? My first mistake was to admit to Gideon my identity in Timber. My second, not killing him when I had the chance in FH. Following those initial two, there was a whole list of things I'd misjudged, things I'd neglected to consider, and situations I'd failed to foresee. My whole reputation was built on not screwing up, and when it mattered, I could do nothing but. How does that happen, Daddy?
Whatever, we hurried down the hall to the walkway over one of the larger fountains, you know, the one that leads from the classrooms to the elevator. We rounded the corner, weapons ready and saw Griever in Maia's place.
"Holy mother of Hyne," Gabriel muttered in my ear. "Is that what I think it is?"
I merely nodded and watched Gideon attempt to dodge Griever's attacks, and he failed miserably. Griever appeared to be toying with him rather than outright attacking. It would have been so much easier to hit Gideon with Shockwave Pulsar, but it seemed the GF was enjoying himself, like a cat batting a mouse back and forth between it's paws just before the kill.
I couldn't help but smile a little at this.
I don't know how Gideon saw it coming, but seconds before Griever let loose his true power, Gideon pulled a Hero from his pocket and then endured the wrath of Shockwave Pulsar with a toothy grin upon his face. He came out of it without a scratch and attacked the GF with several powerful spells of his own. Griever returned the favor by slapping Gideon with his paw and Gideon flew into the elevator doors. Unfazed, Gideon stood up and cast Aura upon himself, bringing about his limit break for as long as the spell would hold.
I remembered Gideon's limit break well. It was the reason for the ragged scar upon my back. In truth, his was far more powerful than my own, and it dealt more damage than his father's ever had.
Gideon paused only to administer another Hero and to cast Aura upon himself. I watched in horror as he repeatedly struck the legendary beast, drawing upon a strength I'd always known he'd possessed, that strength he'd never cared to use when it counted. Gideon' was far stronger than I'd ever anticipated. In FH, he'd merely been setting me up. He could have killed me if he'd wanted to, but he'd held back for reasons that I never did understand. Maybe he really did love me, in his own sick and twisted way, maybe he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
Or maybe, it was all part of his game. Maybe he was like Griever, toying with his prey for a while before moving in for the kill. I guess that's one of those things I'll never know. Sometimes, I think I have to know before I can find peace, and then when I contemplate what I'd do with that knowledge, I realize, it wouldn't matter either way. Sometimes it's better not to know, but it might not make a difference if I did.
I watched the battle continue in complete awe. Griever was showing signs of fatigue, though Gideon was still going strong. Gideon delivered several more blows and the weakened GF collapsed.
I could not believe my eyes. The most powerful GF in creation had just been KO'ed. Our most powerful weapon had fallen before us, defeated as though he were a regular, run of the mill boss. Maia and I had counted on Griever to finish the battle, and it was a shock to find that Gideon was too strong for him. Did that mean, then, that I would also be defeated? I didn't want to consider that possibility, but I was forced to. All along, I'd underestimated Gideon, thinking he was out of shape, that he hadn't been training, that he'd be an easy mark. I was so wrong it hurt. I'd made the biggest mistake of all in thinking that it would be an easy fight.
I suppose that I'd heard for so long that I was the best that I started to believe it. That was another mistake I'd made, the sin of pride. How easy it is to believe what others say about you. What an easy trap to fall into. I think I might have lost my faith in myself then. I doubted my abilities and my strength, even with the second and third best at my side.
The truth was, I wasn't the best, and I never had been. That honor was Gideon's, though he'd never done a thing with it.
"Defeated Griever . . ." Gabriel breathed. "Still think you can beat him, Micala?"
"I'm gonna try," I replied as Maia reappeared in Griever's place.
Gideon chuckled and paced back and forth in front of his sister. "That was fun," he told her. "What else do you have planned for me?"
Maia trembled visibly as she lifted her blade into the air.
"You're going to fight me?" Gideon asked and gave a hearty chuckle. "Oh, that's rich, baby sister. Why don't you just give up now? You're not going to win."
"Then I'll die trying," she said back and lunged at him. She got a good clean hit on him. Her blade sliced into his collar bone and he was sent to his knees. I wanted to cheer for her.
Gideon returned the attack, which she dodged with ease, but she didn't notice the railing behind her as he drove her back until her body collided with the metal pole behind her. He had her trapped. He pressed his blade against her throat and shook his head. "If you're going to fight me, at least give me a challenge," he said.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked in a soft voice. She sounded like a little girl.
"Why? You want to know why?" he asked. "Well, since I'm going to kill you anyway, I might as well tell you. Your friend Micala fucked up my plans. I was going to take charge. Be a leader, but the Micala had to come along and take away my free ride to the pilot seat."
"I don't understand," Maia said and Gideon pressed the blade a little harder against her neck. She gave a soft cry, but she didn't flinch.
I would have moved to help her, but I wanted to know too.
"The nukes, Maia. Don't be dense. That man you killed back
there, Danau, he was my little gopher. He did all the hard work for
me. We had it worked out so perfectly, Maia. No one ever knew
that we were more than just casual business associates. We even exchanged
money from time to time, just to make it look like business. If Micala
hadn't gotten in the way, those nukes would have been mine, and everything
I've dreamed of would have been mine."
"I still don't understand," Maia said. "What is it that you want?"
"I want everything," Gideon said. "I want the whole world under my control. I want money. Power. But to do that, I have go get rid of SeeD."
"You'd kill your whole family, Gideon?"
"To get what I want, yes."
"What about Micala? What about her family?"
Gideon smiled then. "What about them?"
"This is madness," she whispered.
He gave her a kiss on the cheek and she shuddered in revulsion. "Baby sister, maybe one day, you'll understand. If you help me, I'll spare your life."
"Help you?" she spat out.
"Help me take Micala down and I'll give you anything you want."
I couldn't believe he was bargaining with her for her life. I knew that he couldn't mean a word of it. As soon as this was finished, assuming I died, he would kill her as surely as he would have killed Danny. And the expression on Maia's face was cause for concern. She looked as if she were actually considering his proposal. I prayed she wouldn't be stupid and say yes. I didn't want to have to fight her.
"What I want," Maia said slowly as she placed her hands upon Gideon's blade and lowered it from her neck, "what I want is to see you dead." That said, she punched him in the face with her free hand and tried to break away.
Blood trickled from the corner of Gideon's mouth. He wiped it away with his sleeve. "Nice right hook," he murmured. He surged forward and rammed her body with his, and she flew backwards into the railing.
I could sit there and listen no longer. Gideon meant to kill her. "Gabriel," I whispered to my companion, "Go downstairs and take the elevator back up to this floor."
"Why?"
"Just do it. I'll take care of things up here until you arrive."
"Don't die on me," he whispered.
"I promise I won't," I swore.
Gideon did not see me coming. He was preoccupied with Maia, who was having difficulty catching her breath. He was talking to her, but I didn't hear what he said. I only saw his lips move as he stroked her hair as if she were a pet. He picked her up in his arms kissed every inch of her face. She fought his embrace, but he wouldn't put her down or let her go. I sensed her horror as I approached, and I wasn't sure what he intended to do with her, but I knew it was likely something as sick as what he'd done to her before.
Imagine my terror as he leaned over the rail with her in his arms, Daddy. Imagine the fear that gripped me as I watched him release her, as I saw her slip from his arms and I heard her piercing scream. She gripped his arm, nearly pulling him down with her. I broke into a run as her hand slid down his arm.
There was a splash from below, and I prayed that she'd remained conscious, for the water in the fountain was shallow, and she'd probably hit the bottom. Though the water cushioned her fall somewhat, it was possible that her head struck the concrete bottom. It was also possible that she'd lost consciousness upon impact.
I charged him, my blade held high above my head, and I brought it down upon him. I felt the impact of my first hit all through my body as my blade wedged itself through flesh and into bone. Every cell in my body felt as if it was on fire as I savagely pulled the blade out. I twisted it a little as I withdrew, just to inflict pain, and was satisfied to hear his anguished cry.
I was hungry with the need to destroy him, to finish this and avenge my lost family, for I considered the Leonhart clan my family too.
"Shall we dance?" I asked, pleased to hear how cold my voice sounded to my own ears.
Then, Daddy, rage took over.
****Notes****
Gracias for your reviews, faithful readers. I won't comment on them at present, but I do appreciate them. Instead, I'll say that this chapter was hard to write, so if it seems a little dry, I can only say I did my best.
As far as Griever goes, I know some of you might say that it's impossible to beat Griever alone, but when I played the game, I pretty much only used Squall to attack (because his physical attacks were the strongest and did more damage than magic), with the others to provide curative magic, Haste and Aura. He wasn't that tough a boss, nor was Ultimecia for that matter (she was soooo slow....I usually got in a couple of hits before she'd even do anything) it just took forever to get through all five sections.
Anyway, I'm not having much luck health wise...since christmas, I've had an ear infection, the flu and I'm currently four days into a case strep throat, so if the updates are a little slower than usual, don't think I'm punishing you for not reviewing.
I believe there are two more chapters left, and a epilogue to follow them. As far as a sequel, don't count on it I don't know where I could go from here, so if you need a fix, go read Broken Wings and it's sequel Ocean's Apart if you aren't already.
Review, flame, do what you want.....