"If there's nothing but survival, how can I believe in sin?" - Bon Jovi
Chapter 22: Dawn Breaks
Seifer flinched, his eyes squeezing shut for just a second as gunfire tore into the boats, sending shrapnel flying up against the hillside. The chunks of torn metal bit into the ground, tossing up plumes of sand in their wake. The constant, unceasing rattle bounced about in Seifer's head until his vision blurred with it. Soon, the nearest boat was reduced to a steaming pile of rubble and the ground was beaten raw with impacts. A still hot section of the ship's hull rolled back down, past Seifer, and into the hungry sea.
Beside him, the sudden onslaught had caused his dark-haired nemesis to look away from him. She was staring now in horror at her ship, her hand lax around the gun.
Raw instinct took over. The bone running up his arm cried out as his fist connected with hers, knocking the gun to the side and allowing his head to narrowly avoid a wild shot that tore off into the crowd still crawling along the beach like ants.
Hyperion arched up in his other hand, a blur of blue steel. His wrist guided it smooth and strong, bringing the blade up in a deadly scythe toward her wrist. She realized his intent to separate her hand from her body in the nick of time and pulled back so that Hyperion connected instead with the barrel of her gun, dislodging it completely from her grip.
Wide eyed, she stared at him.
The expression vanished when Seifer hit her, sending her sprawling dizzily backwards. Her dark eyes rolled in her head, showing their pearly white underbellies.
He hit her again, ruthlessly. The impact made his knuckles sting and she fell backward down the slope. Her feet flew up in the air, her body folding as she splashed down into the shallow water.
Seifer ran down the embankment after her, his feet sinking deeply into the upturned sand and nearly sending him sprawling into the sea along side her. Pinwheeling an arm steadied him, and he took the rest at a slower pace. She was bobbing unconscious in the waves, and Seifer plucked her up by one arm as if she were a rag doll. He clutched her lump, wet form tight to his chest.
They were going to need her, and it was important that everyone on the beach see that she was now in custody. Perhaps then they would lose purpose and direction, allow their anger to mellow into unease. Now that the queen had been crushed, the colony might disperse.
"Seifer!" Kelly yelled over his communication badge.
"Right here," he replied.
"Are you okay? I saw that woman sneak up on you."
"I'm fine," he replied. "I've got her down by the destroyed ship. Can you come in close enough to pick her up?"
"I don't know that I can come in quite that far," she replied. "If I beach, I'll use up a lot of fuel getting back into the water."
Not wanting to be stuck on the island forever, Seifer answered, "Okay. Come in until I can see you then. I'll wade out to you with her." He paused, shifting her weight against him. "I need to get rid of her and back into the fight." Up above, spells were still flying. Quistis was using non-lethal stuff: stop, break, sleep. And it was hard to tell who was lying unconscious in the sand versus who was dead. But as Seifer looked over the melee, everyone on his team was still well and accounted for. Even Brecht.
"I'm on my way," Kelly said.
As Seifer sat waiting for her, the seconds stretched into an oblivion and all of his pains had time to rise to the surface. It had only been a few days since the shadow cat had dealt him one of the most devastating injuries he'd suffered in his entire life, and he still wasn't fully recovered. Now he could feel it, a shadow of trembling exhaustion that Quistis's healing magic hadn't been able to mend. The longer he sat, the heavier he grew.
He'd nearly died, he thought. He damn well had earned the right to feel tired. But for some reason it embarrassed him.
With the whirr of an engine, the passing of moments, Kelly was there.
"I'm as close as I can get."
"Okay. Get something to tie her up with. Or even better, see if we have any way to sedate her. I don't want her to be up and about until we want her to be."
"Right. I'll see what I can find."
Hauling the woman with him, Seifer splashed through the perilous water strewn with debris and sharp bits of metal — some floating and easy to avoid, and others which had sunk to the bottom, a hidden menace.
Kelly threw open the side hatch as he waded toward her, casting her frame in the shadow from the onboard lights. She looked delicate and welcome there, a girl not completely at home against the backdrop of war. She reminded him for a moment of the romantic dreams of knighthood he'd had as a child, of the honor that accompanied serving a woman, defending her and all she represented. It was an old dream. Faded. And it flitted away quickly on the breeze.
"This one woman is in charge of the whole island?" Kelly asked. "Hard to believe that she could cause this much misery."
"You'd be surprised what one woman can do," Seifer replied.
He heaved her up onto the dry floor of the vessel and her head lolled back into what looked like a painful angle. Kelly bent down and laid her flat before offering a hand to help Seifer inside.
She frowned at him. "You don't look to good."
He shrugged off her concern. "Find anything to tie her up with?"
"Yeah." She held up some clear plastic zip ties.
"Great." Seifer took them with a smile and began securing the woman's hands.
"Everything going all right out there?" Kelly asked and sank her two front teeth into her lower lip. "I mean…we're winning? Everyone's okay?"
"They're fine. Should be all over in a few minutes."
She watched him, her smell hands sitting against her thighs. Seifer had to remind himself that she was out of her element and that she wasn't as comfortable with killing as he was. She had a shell-shocked look about her. Maybe an influx of guilt from thinking about everyone who she might have hurt with the machine gun barrage.
It wasn't much, but he slung a wet arm over her tiny frame and pulled her close, offering what comfort he could give.
0 0 0
Quistis surveyed the scene. Quite a few of the islanders had fled back into the trees, but even more of them were still upon the beach, lying about in various states of distress. Everyone was bleeding. Even she had a nasty gash above her eye that was trickling blood. She dashed the current stream away with the back of her hand.
Her chest and arms ached from casting and swinging her heavy whip.
Honestly, he hadn't been subjected to such a rigorous workout in a long time. Even her hardest training sessions with Seifer hadn't left her feeling quite this drained. But the pain was welcome and wonderful. The last time she remembered feeling this way was during the war, and she was eager to reclaim any of her old glory from those times.
Dawn had broke across the island. The sun was struggling up from its ocean bed, wandering hazily into the sky. She thought that had it been given the choice, it would have stayed away from the island and shined its happy rays on some other place. She didn't like the way it was illuminating the horror of the scene on the beach.
The battle had been decidedly one-sided. Even toward the end, when a shadow cat had emerged screaming from the jungle, the SeeDs hadn't missed a beat. As admirable as it was that the islanders hadn't given in, their resolve had increased the bloodshed and slaughter.
Carson stumbled over to her, a large bruise forming on his jaw and an oozing cut running down the length of his arm.
"Where is everyone else?" she asked him.
He stared at her for a moment, then finally shook his head and said, "I don't know."
"Over here!" Adrian was waving one arm from where he was sitting some distance away in the grass. He had an angry looking gash on his chin. Somehow, he still managed to look charming, despite the fact that he was standing amongst his victims and his arms were covered in a sticky sheen of sweat and blood. He reminded Quistis of a dragon in its lair, carelessly licking its wounds as the bones of its last meal rolled between its claws.
"What about Seifer?" Quistis spun around, searching for him. "Where's Seifer?"
She'd caught sight of him a few times during the fight when a glint of light off Hyperion would catch her eye, signaling her that he was still okay. It was reassuring to see him in a fight because he was steady and solid, the sort of partner who'd always be around to save her if she got in a bind. Now she couldn't see him anywhere. A dark weight filled her stomach.
Adrian groaned and pushed himself up onto his feet. The early dawn made the sea spray come alive with a shower of sparkles that rose into the air like a fog around them. Adrian wandered through it, picking his way over prone bodies and ignoring those who groaned in pain. Quistis might have felt more pity looking at them if they hadn't held her captive, hadn't drugged Adrian. Still, the sight was pathetic. And that pity mixed with her already turbulent emotions to drive her to a tender peak.
"Quistis?" Adrian stopped next to her. "You might want to check in with Kelly."
Adrian's own communicator had been torn open and pieces were still tumbling out of the inside of it. Once the shooting had stopped, Quistis had forgotten all about Kelly. She obviously hadn't escaped Adrian.
"Sure." She nodded, then spoke into her com. "Kelly? Are you out there?"
Silence.
Carson weaved, looking a little dizzy.
Then, the voice that finally came over the com snapped him to attention. "Quistis?" It wasn't Kelly. It wasn't even female.
"Seifer?" Relief swamped her. "Where are you? Where's Kelly?"
"We're both on the ship," he replied. "Kelly's watching over our prisoner."
"You have a prisoner?"
"Yeah. The woman in charge of all this."
Quistis couldn't hide her astonishment. How had Seifer managed to pick out the leader in amongst all the chaos? His intrinsic abilities as a soldier continued to astound her.
"Is everyone okay?" It was Kelly's voice this time.
"We're all fine," Quistis replied. "A little beat up, but okay."
"Good. I was worried." Kelly sounded relieved.
"We need to gather up all of the survivors," Quistis announced. "We'll treat their injuries and hold them until we've got some real answers."
"We're about to get a few of those," Seifer said. "Hold on. We'll come back in toward shore."
"Okay. See you then." Quistis looked up at Carson. "You can Adrian need to start going through these people and helping whoever you can."
The two obeyed her order without hesitation. Carson's obedience was surprising since he'd always seemed so adverse to her playing any kind of dominant role in their relationship. He'd always been adamant about her frailty, refusing to see her as a strong, capable woman. She felt validated as she watched him walk among the injured men and women, finally under her command.
The Garden vessel, sleek and shiny, appeared in the inlet within moments, and Seifer's blond head poked out the top of greet them. He looked the part of a conquering hero with his hair whipping dramatically in the wind. Quistis smiled, then lifted herself up onto her toes and waved.
He waved back.
Carefully, she made her way across the small beach, intending to wade out and join him on the ship. Since this was her mission, the prisoner (despite the fact that she had been captured by Seifer) was her responsibility. So she splashed into the shallow water, hoping to make her intentions clear.
"Morning," Seifer said when he opened the door. He reached out with one hand to help her inside.
"Morning," she replied, business-like.
Kelly was sitting in the pilot seat, still looking flushed from the small part she'd played in the battle. It had been her first, probably her only, battle. And the look she had reminded Quistis of the first time she'd been taken out into the field.
Another woman was lying slumped against the wall. Plastic ties were wrapped tightly around her hands and ankles, rendering her completely immobile. Fully awake, her dark eyes were narrowed angrily and her mouth was turned down into a nasty grimace. She was tall and thin, wearing a pair of plain black pants and a white shirt that fit tight over her ample breasts. And she had a few yellow bruises that were just forming, including one that covered the length of her jaw from chin to ear.
The woman met Quistis's gaze and locked on hard, her expression one of blind hostility.
Quistis crossed her arms. "Do you know what's happened to your friends?" she asked, allowing a hint of malice to slide into her voice. The woman didn't respond, so she continued. "The battle is over. We haven't counted up the dead and wounded yet, but all the casualties are yours. Several people ran back into the woods. So I hope they're all good at avoiding the shadow cats."
The woman stared, unflinching.
"Kelly?" Quistis turned. "I think Adrian could use your help on the beach."
Kelly wasted no time exiting the boat. Her splash into the ocean was loud in the heavy silence that had fallen since the battle, and it made both Seifer and Quistis jump involuntarily. Jittery, they looked to one another for stability, then turned back to the task at hand.
"Listen," Quistis began. "We need some answers. You can give them to us, or we can force them out of you. But either way, we're going to get them. And we've got all the time we need to do whatever it takes."
"I'm not telling you anything," she barked, her voice low and serious. "You're SeeDs."
"Good ones, too," Seifer replied. "We know how to handle the shadow cats, you're our prisoner, and all your people are either dead or on the run…face it; it's over. Just answer our questions."
"I'd rather die."
Grimacing, Seifer cast a pain spell on her. The pink halo of the spell surrounded her and wrung a cry from her lips. The spell itself was slow and agonizing. She arched her back, closed her eyes, and groaned as another shudder of pain ripped through her body. Used by an expert at magic like Quistis, the spell was deadly. Under Seifer's hand it was merely uncomfortable, but persuasively so.
"Well?" Quistis prompted.
"Fuck you!"
The spell hit in another horrible wave, leaving her panting and sweaty.
"What's your name?" Quistis asked, undaunted.
The woman clenched her teeth, unwilling to divulge anything, even something innocuous. The pain came again, and then Seifer flashed his intimidating blade. "Name!"
"We'd rather not do this," Quistis said. "And the sooner you cooperate, the sooner I can get back out there on the beach and start healing the injured."
Again, they received stubborn silence from their captive. Quistis was well versed in several ugly methods of getting information out of unwilling subjects, but she had always found the most effective one involved no pain, just irrepressible fear. It was easy enough.
Searching the back of her mind, Quistis found her guardian force — Diablos. Immediately, she knew that she'd gotten his attention. The air in the small vessel grew heavy and dank. Then time itself shuddered, peeling open and dropping in unfurled chunks upon the ground. The effect was instant and severe disorientation, vertigo and deja vu combined into a potent, heady stew. Quistis was protected from the effect of Diablos's presence and saw Seifer step closer into the protective bubble around her.
Bats materialized out of nowhere, racing black and screeching through the ship's cabin. They tumbled over one another, wings beating against flesh, and a number of them caressed the woman's shuddering form. Turning and twisting, they swirled into a single black ball that hovered and quivered in the middle of the air.
Diablos crawled out of the muck, his throat releasing a snake-like sigh. Then there was a crack like thunder as his wings snapped forth, sending a spray of black ooze everywhere. He crawled near the woman on his bulky arms, his beady red eyes never leaving her face. As his tail and legs were freed from the dissolving ball, he flapped to raise himself up off the floor and ran his claws down the woman's arms, too close and too eerily gentle for comfort. The pain spell was still running hot in her blood though, unaffected by the distorting effects Diablos had on time.
His white teeth glistened, and he gathered her up, pressing her close against his black and red skin.
Quistis didn't even know exactly what was happening. She had no idea what the effects of being embraced by the ethereal demon were, but she knew that this method of breaking a prisoner had never failed. The results couldn't be argued with.
The woman screamed long and loud. Her shrill cry vibrated between Diablos's wings, then stuck in the odd folds of time. She struggled to get away from him, her dark eyes wide and horrified.
"That's enough," Quistis said, calling the whole scene back into her head. Diablos resisted for a moment like he always did, then finally bent to her will and dissipated with a haughty poof of bat wings. The woman was left crumbled on the floor, still shaking with terror.
Seifer stepped forward.
"What's your name?" he asked quietly.
She sucked in a shaky breath. "Aurelia."
Finally, they were getting somewhere.
"All right. Good. Where are you from?" Seifer asked.
She looked up, sweat beading on her forehead. "Centra," she finally replied.
Quistis crossed her arms. "No one is from Centra. Except for a few small places southern shore, the entire continent has been deserted since the Lunar Cry."
"The Lunar Cry which we survived," Aurelia said. "And now…we've made sure it will never happen again."
