Original characters, world and backstory belong to Squaresoft, lucky folks.
This version has been censored to R-rating in line with ffnet policy; the full version is at my website, http:www.scribblemoose.co.uk
Feedback very welcome, here or by e-mail (fanfic@scribblemoose.co.uk)
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Memories 35 - Shield
Irvine felt Frila's mouth warm and willing under his, and it felt damn good.
He felt her naked body against his, and it felt damn good.
He felt her breast, naked and firm and filling his hand, and it felt damn good.
At last he'd stopped caring how old she was, how illegal she was, or how not-Selphie she was. She was hot, and here, and she was nice to him. He liked it when she laughed, he hated to see her cry, he wanted to take her away somewhere there wasn't a war and tentacles and make love to her all day.
He could imagine falling in love with her.
"Junction," she whispered. "Let him feed. He'll need it."
He didn't want to. He wanted this for himself, just for him, and her. But he knew she was right. And in some strange way, fair. If it hadn't been for Ether he wouldn't have found this, he wouldn't have ever…
~Ether.~
~Sniper. You called me.~
~Join us, Ether.~
Ether's song roared in his mind, and any thought that he might not have wanted this swiftly vanished. On an impulse, he touched Frila's mind with his own, opening the gateway for Ether to flow between them, sharing its power and its need. She gasped, and looked at him with wide eyes; he could see the lust building in her, and then, all at once, he felt it. He felt her pleasure as if it were his own, he felt her need, her desire, her love, oh, gods, her love…
"Irvine, what… oh, Irvine…"
He held her close, kissing her neck, her hair, stroking her back with tender fingers, Ether stronger and stronger in his mind, in hers, between them, around them.
"Irvy… oh gods, Iry you're so… I'm… you're… oh fuck it's so good…"
"You ready, Hotshot?"
She nodded, although she didn't have to: he already knew. He felt it in the very core of her, the pleasure coiling in her belly, anxious for release. He shifted the angle of his hips so she could rub against him, and supported the small of her back as she arched, ran his other hand down her breastbone. They came together, Irvine emptying himself into her clenching body, their minds woven together by Ether's energy, lust and pleasure magnified a thousand times over.
He closed the mind link carefully as he returned to his senses. Ether thanked him and retreated once more to the quiet corner of his mind where it lived, buzzing and grateful.
She was trembling; he caught her up in his strong arms and held her close.
"Irvy… I…"
"Shh… I know."
"We have to…"
"In a minute, Hotshot. In a minute. Just… take a minute, okay?"
He stroked her soft red hair, and rocked her slowly back and forth, listening to her breath.
* * * * * * *
Squall looked up and noticed Irvine and Frila sneaking conspicuously into the back of the room, looking distinctly rumpled and giggly. He frowned, but caught the smirk on Rinoa's face, and figured hers was probably the better response. They weren't technically late, after all, and his and Rin's trip back from the forest hadn't been without… incident. He found himself smiling rather foolishly, and had to force himself to put his commander face back on.
When this was all over, he was going to spend more time in that forest with Rin, he decided. Whether it was the magical properties the trees were reputed to hold, or the thrill of being outdoors with the smell of wood and growing things, he wasn't sure, but it had been very… inspiring.
He coughed, shifting in his seat, and carefully avoided the amused look Rinoa was giving him.
"Ready?" asked Quistis, a twinkle in her eye that he hadn't seen for… well, ever, actually. She looked startlingly happy.
He allowed himself a moment of smugness at that. His people skills must be getting better, after all. He nodded, and slowly got to his feet to address the packed room.
Selphie had once asked him how he managed to talk so easily to a large audience when he found it so hard to talk to people one at a time. He wasn't sure, really. It was like the moment when he summoned a Guardian: he faded to the background and this other being took over, stronger, more confident and better suited to the purpose than Squall Leonhart. A being that could make difficult decisions and tell people to go fight for him with such conviction that they never questioned what he was asking of them.
The faces of the top ranking SeeDs he was addressing were, on the whole, calm, dispassionate, professional. Many of them had been SeeDs for far longer than Squall himself, but still, somehow, they followed his leadership without argument. As far as he could tell, anyway.
He explained to his faithful audience that they were working on a weapon that would defeat the Dia. He went over the characteristics of their enemy again, outlined the tactics for the battle that they all expected to start that night. Explained that each Garden would be responsible for one of the possible routes the Dians would follow. Trabia would take the caves in the mountain range to the north. Galbadia would take the eastern end of Balamb beach where the tunnel had been sealed the previous night, and Balamb would take the west, near to the cave where they'd looked for Oceanus.
He didn't tell them, but Squall was sure they'd come from the west.
He told them that this was more than just another mission. That the Dians were literally spoiling for a fight; their objective simply to provoke violence and hatred, and that the Gardens were all that stood in the way of invasion. If SeeD didn't stop them, the armies of the world would be committed to a war that the enemy didn't want to win, but to perpetuate. Forever.
He didn't give the figures for last night's casualties.
He sent the leaders of the squads from all three Gardens to do battle with clear orders and inspiration that came from somewhere inside himself he didn't recognise.
He sent them to war knowing it was terrible and inevitable, and that some of them would die.
When he'd finished they applauded him, and went to do his bidding without question.
* * * * * * *
It was dark, the beach illuminated in strange blues and purples from the lights of Garden. It was the first time Garden had moved since Ultimecia, except for drills, but it was capable of pumping out sound at an incredible volume, it gave them light to fight by and somewhere to run to if…
That wasn't going to happen, Squall reminded himself. It couldn't happen. Whatever it took, he wasn't going to let Bane win.
He left Garden ahead of most of the SeeDs, Quistis, Rinoa, Irvine, Frila and Zell by his side. Selphie ran to catch up with them, breathing hard and swinging a shiny purple and yellow nunchaka around her head.
"New?" inquired Rinoa casually, as if she was referring to a pair of earrings or a sweater.
"Yeah, cool, huh?" Selphie beamed at Frila. "Your Dad certainly knows his weapons."
Frila grinned back. "He has a way with them," she admitted, a hint of pride in her voice.
"It's good to have you back, Selph," said Squall.
"Good to be back, Commander," she said cheekily. "Now, are we going to kick Dian butt, or what?"
"I hope so," said Squall. "You all know what to do? All the fire magic you can manage while we have Guardians. If we lose the Guardians, try and keep it together, hack and slash, and hope that Xu manages to find something that knocks them out. If you hear music, try and block it out. Listen to the ocean, sing in your head, anything. Just don't listen to it, and try and persuade your Guardians likewise. Alright?"
They nodded and murmured agreement.
"This is where we split up," Squall continued. "Quistis, I'm relying on you to direct all Balamb Squads. If we start to get into trouble you must order retreat. Zell, you're in charge of the cadets. Keep them as safe as you can. The rest of you, you're with me. Our job is to find Bane and Chet, if we can, and eliminate Bane. Failing that, we just take out as many Dians as we can. Especially Frila. Oceanus could be the only Guardian we have."
Frila nodded, wishing he would stop talking so they could get on with it. Her mind was still humming from the link with Ether and Irvine earlier, her body was charged with adrenaline and she had a feeling it would be a bad thing to think too hard about what might happen.
"Good luck," said Quistis, squeezing Squall's shoulder with a steady hand. "Come home safe, okay?"
"You can count on us," said Zell, with a half-salute. "You know that."
"Yes," said Squall. "I do."
They looked at each other for a moment, history and friendship hanging heavy between them, and Frila half expected a group hug. But it didn't happen. Quistis nodded at Squall and strode back to Garden, Zell went to join the ranks of cadets. The rest of them followed Squall's gaze to the ocean.
"We can't fail," Squall said.
None of them thought for a minute that they would.
* * * * * * *
The tide was receding, leaving swathes of slimy seaweed that crunched and oozed underfoot. The inky ocean merged with the clear night sky, the odd flash of surf way out to sea echoed in the stars above.
The SeeDs of Balamb waited. Squall kept himself and the others close to the cave, the rest of the squads distributed down the beach, waiting.
There was no sign of life from the cave entrance.
Squall frowned, suddenly uncertain. He'd been sure…
"Squall," said Irvine, nodding towards the ocean. "Look."
Squall squinted and tried to follow Irvine's finger, but he couldn't see anything. Damn, but Irvine's eyes were sharp.
"Pink," said Irvine, and then Squall saw it. A subtle pink glow in the sea about a hundred yards from the shore, getting brighter and brighter as he watched.
"Fuck," he said. "They're coming out of the sea."
"Must be another tunnel," said Rinoa. Frila could feel the charge in the air as she gathered her magic. "Whatever. We're ready."
Squall sent an order down the line, and in a wave the other squads turned and moved towards the rapidly growing patch of pink light in the ocean. Squall's eyes flickered back to the cave, and he frowned with uncharacteristic uncertainty.
"What's wrong, Squall? Are we going?" asked Selphie, hopping excitedly from one foot to the other.
Squall shook his head. "I could have sworn…"
"They need me," said Rinoa, gently. "And Hotshot."
The pet name slipped out of Rinoa's lips completely by accident, she didn't even seem to realise it herself. Frila smiled, surprised at how good it felt to hear Rinoa use it.
"Of course," said Squall, still frowning. "You go. Irvine, you're with me. I want to check the cave."
"Are you sure?" asked Irvine. "Last time we were in there…"
"No, I'm not sure," snapped Squall, irritably. "But there's something in there, I can feel it. I can't risk a nasty surprise coming up behind us."
"Okay," said Irvine, placidly. "You're the boss."
Irvine squeezed Frila's hand, trailing his touch down her palm and fingers as they parted. She ran after Rinoa and Selphie, towards the rapidly growing pink blur.
Irvine followed Squall into the cave.
* * * * * * *
Xu watched the swathe of vivid pink emerge from the ocean, and prayed to gods she'd long since stopped believing in.
This had to work. It was all her fault. Selphie was down there. It had to work.
She pressed the button with trembling fingers and watched the quivering sine waves on the monitor in front of her as the odd composition of sound pumped out into the night. She waited.
Nothing happened.
"Quistis?" she said, without turning from her screen.
"Sorry, Xu, nothing," said Quistis, squinting at the cameras ranged in front of her. "No response."
Xu swallowed hard, and clicked swiftly to another tune.
"Anything?"
"Nope."
There were a hundred and fifty seven different compositions on Xu's computer.
One of them had to work.
* * * * * * *
Irvine and Squall made their way to the light in the corner of the cave, boots crunching on something they fervently hoped was seashells and gravel.
"This feels familiar," said Irvine.
"Not surprising," Squall murmured, concentrating fiercely on the opening ahead. "We've been here before, remember?"
"Yeah, but… oh, my, that's pretty."
"It's pink," said Squall. "I swear I'll never find anything pink pretty ever again."
The thought that Squall had ever found anything pink attractive was a new notion to Irvine's mind, and one that distracted him for a moment from his deja-vu.
The cave was beautiful. Crystals glinted from the walls, their dim light reflected in a pool in one corner.
Squall listened carefully. "Music," he said. "Coming from the pool…very, very faint."
"The crystals," said Irvine. "Liquid form, remember? Don't listen."
Squall's eyes widened. "Yes," he said. "I do remember. Something came out of that pool, once, when we were here before… I thought it was Oceanus but…"
"Dian?" Irvine pulled him back towards the doorway.
"Must've been. Maybe that's where they… merge."
"There's nothing here now," said Irvine. "You okay? Eden? Doomtrain?"
"Yeah. Fine. Do you hear it? The music?"
"Yeah, a little bit. It's very faint, though, just background. Not like before. I guess they're not… breeding right now."
"No." Squall looked faintly distracted.
"Enough to bring the memories back, though," said Irvine with a smirk. "Last time we were here, you kissed me, remember? You old dog!" He dug Squall suggestively in the ribs with his elbow.
"Shush," mumbled Squall, his eyes searching the cavern, looking for something, anything to explain his uneasiness. "I was so sure…"
"Not surprising you got vibes," said Irvine. "If this is some kind of Dian maternity unit…"
"It's more than that," said Squall. "It's… there's…"
Irvine suddenly grabbed his arm, so hard it hurt. He was staring intently into the corner of the cave just beyond the pool, all trace of his usual teasing good humour gone. Squall felt his heart thudding in his chest, adrenaline surging in his body as he caught Irvine's sudden wave of anger.
"Wha.."
Irvine's eyes were dark indigo with rage, narrowing in concentration.
"Bane," he hissed.
* * * * * * *
Rinoa took out the first swathe of Dians in one blast, with little effort. They hadn't been crystal-bearing, so it wasn't strictly necessary, but Frila could sense the elation her demonstration of power had roused in the SeeDs around them, and understood why she'd done it. Squall's army pressed forward, but to her surprise Frila felt Selphie's hand on her arm, holding her back.
"Selph, what…" Rinoa protested, similarly restrained.
"I'm in charge," said Selphie, a tone of authority to her voice that Frila hadn't heard before. "Now Squall's gone I'm top ranking SeeD here, and I say we wait for the crystals to turn up. The others can cope with this. I don't want to risk either of you getting hurt before you're really needed."
Rinoa relaxed a little. "Of course. Sorry Selph. Wasn't thinking."
Xu's music floated down from Garden, a clash of hiss and hum.
"That sounds awful," said Frila.
"Yeah," said Rin, with a grin, waving an arm towards the fresh mass of pink emerging from the sea. "Let's hope they think so, too."
If they did, they weren't showing it.
* * * * * * *
Chet emerged from the shadows behind the pool, his katana glinting vaguely pink in the reflected light.
"Nice of you to come," he smirked.
Lionheart sprang to life in Squall's hand; Irvine braced himself, strengthening Ether's mind block as he felt the black tendrils of Bane's consciousness reaching out towards them.
"What, no witch?" Chet was gloating. "That's a shame. She was such fun last time."
"She kicked your sorry butt," hissed Squall, the slight shift of his stance warning Irvine he was about to attack.
Squall never was one for bantering with the bad guys.
Irvine threw a protect spell at him as he charged, all out of time to extend the mind block.
Chet was as quick as ever; his sword blocked Lionheart in a flash, and Bane lashed out to crack across Squall's unprotected mind in an instant, just enough to distract him while Chet got another blow in.
Squall fell to one knee, face screwed tight in pain, waiting for the rush that came with near-death, the sudden burst of power that would give him…
~Curaga~
Irvine couldn't let him risk it. Not like this, with just the two of them.
He didn't see the flash of rage on Squall's face at what he'd done, and wouldn't have cared if he had. His eyes were closed, as he reached out with his mind towards the beach. It seemed almost effortless, though he knew it would cost Ether dear, and to his surprise he suddenly found not just Rinoa's mind but Hotshot's, just at the edge of Ether's power, an echo.
~Rin! The cave, now. It's Chet. We need Gemini.~
He pulled Ether back as quickly as he could, and got ready to cure Squall again as he charged once more.
* * * * * * *
Rinoa didn't wait to explain. She turned and ran for the cave as fast as she could, faintly surprised to realise Frila was at her shoulder. Selphie followed, demanding to know what the fuck they were doing.
"Bane, Chet, cave," Frila managed by way of explanation.
"Selphie, you don't have to come," Rinoa panted. "They need Gemini, no-one expects you to…"
"I know," said Selphie, with no sign of turning back.
"And you, Frila…"
"Oceanus," gasped Frila as they approached the cave, their sprint slowing a little. "Important, apparently." ~I can't leave Irvine in there. He sounded desperate, and Ether… I can't leave him.~
They ran through the first chamber to the lit entrance in the corner without breaking their stride.
Frila took the scene in all at once: Squall was slicing at Chet in a series of moves so fast he was a blur. Irvine stood behind him, casting spell after spell, the magic flowing from his fingers in blue streaks. He was pale and concentrating hard; his auburn ponytail streamed out behind him, fizzing with the energy of Ether's magic. Stronger than last time, she realised. Ether had changed, over the past few days; it had a whole new level of power, and so far Bane hadn't touched it. But it had touched Squall. Chet was putting all his power into his katana, it fizzed with Bane's black energy and brought Squall to his knees with every other stroke. He seemed to have little by way of defence, and wasn't summoning. He must have lost his Guardians already, either knocked out by Bane or just plain defeated.
At the thought of Bane something tickled her mind; Oceanus filled her head with it's protective, soothing song.
~Don't listen. Be still. I will protect.~
Rinoa ran past her and launched herself into the battle with a harsh cry. She was at Squall's side in an instant, calling Gemini's name. Chet rounded on her with a curse, and raised his black blade.
Squall had dropped to one knee, breathing hard, eyes blinking shut against the sweat dripping into them, watching in horror as Chet swung his sword in a frenzied arc, hitting Rinoa on the side of her head with the flat of his blade.
She crumpled to the ground.
Chet laughed, and turned towards Irvine.
Frila recognised the tactic with a shock; eliminate support. Stop your enemy healing themselves and then you can pick them off… Thoughts strobed through Frila's head like the flash of Irvine's pulse ammo.
Squall couldn't heal fast enough.
Chet had taken Rinoa down with one stroke.
He was going to kill Irvine.
He wasn't even using Bane, as far as she could tell. Except to give himself power, like you used any Guardian, making him quicker, stronger, smarter. But no mind tricks. Why?
Maybe Chet realised how strong Ether had become.
He was about to lunge at Irvine and pierce his heart.
Selphie was gathering her power, ready to take over curing Squall. The logical thing to do. If Irvine was going down, someone else would have to take his place.
She couldn't let Irvine go down.
Oceanus' voice was loud in her head.
~Child. No. Stay. Protect.~
~Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.~
She gripped her gunblade in both hands, and charged.
In that moment, she felt she'd touched the perfection in gunblade technique that was Squall Leonhart's charge. All speed and focus, no distraction, no thought, just the pounding of her feet on the ground and the clarity of her target. She painted a mental line across Chet's body and threw herself at it, leaping in the air at the end of her charge to drag her blade down, cutting his fragile skin like tearing silk, squeezed her finger on the trigger for the shot in perfect time, to blast magic-bourne lead through his black heart.
She heard her name being screamed from Irvine's lungs, and knew she'd saved him.
She felt a pain like fire rip through her body, forcing the air from her, the soft caress of Chet's katana sliding from her flesh as she fell off it. She took a rasping breath, and it hurt worse than the fire.
She sensed the faint touch of Ether's gentle power in her mind, and its overwhelming sadness.
She cried out as the ground struck her back, jolting the blade from her already limp hands, and heard Shiva's keening, Oceanus' wail of despair.
She forced her eyes to stay open, wanting one last glimpse of copper hair and violet eyes, but it didn't come.
She coughed, and tasted blood, and knew.
* * * * * * *
"Hotshot! Frila, no!"
Rinoa was pulling herself to her feet, and Irvine saw the multicoloured flicker of Gemini from the corner of his eye, as he surged one full-life spell after another into Frila's unmoving body, forced the electric blue of a pheonix down potion between her lips. Nothing worked. He felt frantically in his pocket for another potion, elixir, megalixir, anything…
~Sniper.~
Ether sounded sad and desperate, even though Irvine knew it had no emotions. Emotions to Ether were just food, or poison…
~Sniper, she is gone.~
Irvine slumped over her still form, and wept.
"Irvine!" Squall's voice, strong and dispassionate. "Irvine, there's no time! I need you! Now!"
~Sniper.~
"Irvine, please! Now! He's going to use…"
Irvine only had time to look up before he felt the blast of Bane's power against the mind shield. The others staggered briefly, except for Selphie. She must be used to it, thought Irvine, with a shudder.
He let Frila's limp body slide lifeless from his arms and returned to Squall's side.
Chet was worried, he could tell. Not so much by the dripping wound that Frila had added to the fretwork of Squall's gunblade slashes, but by the sight of Rinoa and Gemini advancing on him, glowing vividly with multicoloured light.
"This time," hissed Rinoa, "you don't get to run away."
Irvine stood his ground as he cured Squall yet again, and strengthened the mind block, fully expecting Bane to attack again.
He spotted movement out of the corner of his eye; Selphie was slowly backing away.
"Selph?"
He reached back with his hand, but she dodged it. Of course. Ether. It was a testament to her bravery that she'd managed to come so close, when Ether was so strong…
Except that Ether wasn't so strong, anymore, he realised. He was fading, fast. The link to Rinoa, the constant stream of magic, the mind block, and Frila… Irvine's heart surged grief and Ether cringed in his mind.
He felt stunned. He ought to let Squall know, to tell him they couldn't rely on Ether, that he was weak…
Gemini's blades were whirling, it was only a matter of time. Bane was all Chet would have and…
He braced himself, trying hard not to look at the pool of blood where Frila lay, not to think of how she'd sacrificed herself for him, trying not to remember the feeling of her warm body shivering delight in his arms that afternoon, trying not to cry, not to remember, not to think, not to…
Ether whimpered; the mind block fell away.
* * * * * * *
"Where are they?" hissed Quistis.
"They must be there somewhere," said Laguna. "They must be. Squall wouldn't…"
"No, but… damnit, Xu, are you getting any closer at all?"
Xu shook her head, her whole body tense as she punched new calculations into the computer. "Not a thing. I've tried all of them, and none of them work. I can't understand why, one of them should… shit, Quistis, I'm running out of options here!"
"You're not the only one," said Quistis. "It's chaos out there. Laguna, we're going to have to get the other two Gardens down here. Galbadia, at least."
Laguna nodded. "I'll get on it," he said.
Quistis peered frantically at the monitor in front of her.
"Where the fuck are they?"
* * * * * * *
Chet was forced to the back of the cave, and Rinoa felled him with a kick to the chest that seemed more for show than anything else. She hurled her magic at him as Gemini cut him to ribbons, reducing him to a mess of blood and gaping flesh.
Irvine waited for Bane to attack, but nothing happened.
Squall recovered from the last onslaught enough to pull himself to standing, and cured himself. Irvine didn't dare pull power from Ether to do it for him, it had so little left.
There was a sudden shimmer of icy blue from Frila's body; Irvine's heart surged with hope for a moment, only to sink again as he realised it was Shiva, released from junction, unsummoned. Loyal as ever, she flickered through the air to settle at Squall's side. A willing slave.
Squall welcomed her, his summoning the merest whisper of her name, a token.
Still no Bane.
Rinoa howled as the final blast of her magic took Chet's life, a scream of triumph and vengeance and power.
Irvine gathered what was left of Ether's energy, and waited.
Nothing. Was Bane avoiding this confrontation? Perhaps it couldn't sense how weak Ether had become.
Rinoa stepped back, breathing hard, still surveying the pulp that Chet had become with satisfaction. Squall was looking around cautiously, waiting, proud and sad and angry; Irvine followed his gaze as it settled with dawning horror on something just behind him.
Selphie.
She was on all fours by the time he'd turned, looking up at him with eyes full of pain and fear. She reached out to him, once, and her mouth formed words he couldn't hear, but understood all the same.
As Bane took over Selphie's mind completely, she reached out to Irvine in silence with one, simple request. Her eyes faded from vivid green to grey, her spark of life was gone, and all that was left were the silent words that ripped into Irvine's hopeless heart.
As Selphie fell to Bane's power, she begged for death.
It didn't come.
* * * * * * *