Ch 26 – Tying Up Loose Ends
Darkness.
Then a flash of light. Pain. The memory of a fight.
His gunblade roaring. The feeling of horror as the man slipped past his defences. The feeling of fist meeting his face. Then…more darkness.
The darkness receded slowly, and Squall opened his eyes painfully.
It was daytime. He was outside, in the Estharian alleyway. The fire-escape that Rinoa and he were suppose to use to gain access to the White SeeD's quarters was right next to him, wide open from when the person inside had kicked it open. Gripping his head with a gloved hand, the Commander of Balamb Garden managed to pull himself up onto his feet, trying to shake the chocobos from his vision.
What happened? Was his first question, before he looked about, trying to take his bearings, trying to find a mental keystone.
…The door burst open…Rinoa was knocked out first…Squall tried to fight, but he was no match…
He looked around. His gunblade sat next to where he had laid, the laser-blade still shimmering with a blue glow. Picking it up, he switched it off and clipped it to his belt. He saw the great cuts and slashed carved into the walls around him. He was amazed that the man had been able to fight him off.
Looking around, he saw a dumpster. Just above it was a large crater in the metallic wall, like something had been flung against it, before landing into the dumpster. He walked over to it and knocked on the side. There was a slight groan from the inside, and Squall lifted the hatch. "Rinoa? Are you ok?"
Rinoa groaned again.
"I'll get you out of there, Rinoa. Just hang on."
Flipping the hatch fully open, he vaulted up into the bin, landing in a pile of smelly bags. Rinoa looked ok – the only things hurt were her pride and dignity. "I can't believe he took me out with one blow." She muttered as Squall picked one of the bags off of her. "I didn't even have enough time to pulse out a message to the others. I barely had enough time to put up the Protect."
"I know." Squall said. "I'm not surprised. I kinda figured he'd be expecting us."
"What makes you say that?" Rinoa asked, frowning as he helped her to her feet. "If you knew it was a trap, why did we come!? We could have gone to the party!!"
Squall rolled his eyes. "I thought the both of us would have been enough to detain him…but we're obviously up against someone with incredible power here."
It was Rinoa's turn to roll her eyes. "Gee, ya think?" She wiped down her blue cut-off cardigan and looked up into the blue Estharian sky. "Well, the others must be worried about what happened to us. Shouldn't we be getting back?"
Squall thought for a minute…before shaking his head slowly. "No. The guy didn't kill us when he ran into us – and we're not dead, so he didn't come back. Which most probably means he's not coming back at all. This is the perfect opportunity to check out the White SeeD's place."
Rinoa frowned again. "If he's not coming back, why do we have to check? I mean, if he's not coming back, he's probably covered his tracks anyways."
Squall smiled down at her. "Let's just do it. I'll keep thinking about it unless we do."
Rinoa rolled her eyes again. "Fine. Just give me a hand out of this stinky bin. Ewww…"
* * *
Zell opened his eyes painfully, finding it unbearably bright within the room.
His head throbbed. He had a second heartbeat within his brain – a '5th Circle of Hell' headache, the kinds only attributed to severe tequila abuse and gunshot wounds.
He seemed to be strapped to something – am upright table of sorts. His arms and legs were securely locked down, and several metal straps criss-crossed his torso. Even his head had been strapped down. He had the feeling he wasn't going anywhere without assistance soon.
He couldn't see because of the light – someone had been uncourteous enough to place a burning light right in his face – but he could still hear over the sound of his blood rushing through his ears. A door opened, close by, and he closed his eyes quickly, feigning unconsciousness.
One…two…three…four people walked into the room. One smelled of gun smoke and cheap cologne – Irvine, the turncoat. Another smelled of blood with a slight antiseptic scent – Zell figured this to be Sam. The third person didn't smell at all. No BO, no cologne, no nothing. The fourth smelled like blood, and had a slight perfume odour, female. Zell hazarded a guess for it to be Emily.
Irvine spoke, his voice sounding like he was in a sleepy shock.. "Hyne…what have you done to him?"
"Nothing." The woman muttered, the sound of a slap rebounding around the room. It was defiantly Emily.
Irvine cried out in pain sharply – before his cry was cut short suddenly.
"How long will that hold him now?" No-Smell said. Zell swore he had heard the voice before.
"Another day or so." Emily replied. "I'm amazed of how many times I've had to cast it on him. For a man who's magically impotent, his will is stronger then I thought."
"Whatever." Sam said suddenly, his voice almost making Zell start. He was really, really close to him. "What are we to do with the Hunter?"
Someone stepped forward, and a delicate hand touched his chest, running a trace down his formal coat. "I say we have a bit of fun…" Emily said, the sound of a knife being drawn making Zell curse inwardly.
"No. We'll need him alive." No-Smell said sharply, his tone commanding.
Emily made a disappointed sound, and there was a small thunk of the knife retuning to its sheath. "I don't see why. If he gets free, I don't think he'd be as lenient on me as he was in the Tournament."
There was a throaty chuckle from Sam. "What's wrong, Sis? Afraid of him?"
Emily said nothing.
"Wake him up. We need to know just exactly how much he knows." No-Smell ordered.
Sam snorted. "Come on. He knows about as much as the puppet."
There was a short, tense silence, before Zell felt the sharp sting of a slap across his tattooed cheek. He opened his eyes then, the light assaulting them relentlessly.
"Good afternoon, Hunter." Sam said, moving to block the light. His usually happy face was now one of business, his hazel eyes deadly, his lips set into a thin line. "Have a good sleep?"
Zell chose not to answer. Instead he tried to pull his arms from the restraints, the metal creaking from the strain.
Sam slapped him again, causing him to stop. "Don't try it, Hunter. Even if you break your adamantine locks, you still have to get past all the guards and, of course, us."
Zell grimaced. "Can you turn the light off? I've got a splitting headache."
Sam turned his head, looking at someone behind the light, and it mercifully died down, turning Zell's headache from a painful throb to an annoying twinge in the back of his head. "Thanks." He muttered.
"Don't mention it." Sam replied, before head butting him viciously.
Zell saw stars, and his nose began to throb, the initial pain now unhindered by the killer headache he had only moments before. Something trickled past his mouth. Blood. His nose was bleeding again. "Ow…fuck…"
Now that the light was down, he could see a little better. Emily stood beside Sam, up close and personal, her pale yet beautiful face not exactly giving Zell a boost in moral. He saw Irvine standing just in the back of the room, now dressed in his usual cowboy gear, his eyes slightly glazed as he rested his shotgun on his shoulder.
And just beside Irvine, stood the former President of Galbadia. President Deling. Zell had no idea what his first name was, and right now, he couldn't give a shit. "Hiya Deling…you're looking surprisingly alive." Zell muttered with a grin.
Deling walked forward, smiling a winning smile, a politician's smile. He was dressed in a politicians clothing too – a suit and tie combo, his shoes shining brightly. "Hello, Mr. Dincht. I've heard a lot about you. I can't say it's a pleasure meeting you, however." His voice was clipped and cultured, the Galbadian accent evident in every syllable.
"The feeling's mutual, buddy."
Sam suddenly punched Zell in the guts, causing the SeeD to gag, his wind knocked out of him. Deling walked forward, placing a hand on Sam shoulder. "He might be a deceptive little shit…but he's loyal to my cause. So make sure you don't get him angry."
Zell spat out something that shouldn't have come up and looked at Sam. His look would have stopped death in its tracks. "Touch me again, and I'll kill you."
Sam simply smiled.
"I know what you're thinking, Mr. Dincht." Deling said, turning and walking back over to the other end of the room, clasping his hand behind his back. "You're thinking, 'this is the bit where you tell me your diabolical schemes for world domination'. I'm a correct?"
Zell smiled his own smile. "Actually, now that I know what the pieces of the puzzle look like, I can fit them into the right places. I don't know how you survived Edea's attack…but I do know you're motive to killing Justice. You figure that taking out the 'man' and putting yourself back in the international hot seat, you'd be able to pick up where Edea left you."
Deling turned slowly. His smile wavered slightly, but remained up. "You're smarter then some people give you credit." He said, his voice full of ice as he looked at Sam.
"Oh yeah. I'm a whole bundle of hidden goodies." Zell growled.
"Tell me about it…" Emily said wantingly, moving forward to press herself against his leg.
Zell looked down at her with a bad taste in his mouth. "Down girl." He muttered.
Sam placed a firm hand on Emily's shoulder and pulled her off, causing her to stagger back a step. "Get outside. Now."
Emily gave Sam a look of pure evil, before turning and sauntering out, slamming the door behind her with a huff.
Sam turned to Zell. "Sisters…" He muttered.
Zell rolled his eyes. "Wouldn't know about it, dickhead."
Sam shook his head with a smile. "Bravado wont get you anywhere, Hunter."
"Oh yeah? Try saying that without me strapped up like a gimp."
"What, you want to take me on like we did back at the dance hall?"
Deling shook his head. "Sam, calm down, and Mr Dincht, I'll ask you to keep your words polite, for your own sake."
"Or what? You'll put me under your control like you did with Irvine?"
Deling smiled evilly, his voice laced with malice. "Or I'll put your lovely girlfriend under my control…just like I did with Irvine. I'm sure we will have a lot of fun with that scenario, wont we?" He turned to Irvine. "Guard him. Sam, come with me. We still have the Laguna issue to go over."
Zell's eyes widened, the biting threat of Angel suddenly swept aside but Deling's finishing words to Sam. "Wait! Laguna?!"
But they were gone.
* * *
Rinoa looked up from the over-tuned desk. "Nope. There's nothing of any relevance here."
Squall looked up from the fireplace. "Keep looking."
They had entered the room to find it completely ransacked. The desks and beds had been ripped apart, the closets had been completely emptied of everything, and a large pile of papers had been burned within the fireplace. Squall had begun to sift through the ashes when Rinoa had reported her findings – nothing – and looked back down.
This guy is good…Squall mused to himself. A textbook case of covering his tracks. Even if we got a SeeD Crime Scene unit in here, we most probably wouldn't find any fingerprints or stuff like that. This guy has destroyed all his possible hiding places, burned any incriminating evidence, and disappeared. We most probably stumbled on him as he made his escape…so close, yet so far.
Something suddenly caught his eye as he ran his fingers through the papers once more. "Hello…" He muttered to himself, pulling a piece of blue paper from the bottom of the pile. Amazingly it had escaped the fire.
It was a blueprint of the Ragnarok, right down to it's service entrances and exits. Squall narrowed his eyes. Here it is. Irrefutable proof that a SeeD was a mole. His eyes trailed down to the bottom of the paper, looking for the log-in name for the printout. And the winner is…Irvine. Why am I not surprised?
"Squall?" Rinoa called suddenly from the bedroom. "Can you come in her for a second?"
Squall folded the piece of paper and stuffed it into a pocket, before moving into the bedroom. "What have you found?"
"Photos…of Emily and Grey…" She said, her eyes full of tears as she passed them up from the vent from which someone had hidden them.
Squall flicked through the photos, each one making his face turn more and more stoic. By the time he stuffed them into the same pocket as the blueprint, his face was a stony mask. This isn't right. A blue-print of the Ragnarok with Irvine's name clearly on it…these pics of Grey and Emily…
Rinoa stood, placing a hand on Squall's shoulder. "Squall…you're retreating into yourself again. We can't help each other if I don't know what you're thinking."
She could have easily read his mind, but she respected his privacy, she trusted him. He blinked, looking down at her with a semblance of emotion within his eyes. "There's…there's something not right. The stuff we've found…it's too convenient. It's almost like…"
"…Someone want's Grey…wants SeeD…to take the fall for this." Rinoa finished.
"And Irvine. I found a blueprint of the Ragnarok with his name on the log-in section."
Rinoa lifted her hands to her mouth. "Oh my Hyne…" Her shock was easily recognisable. The only way that the Assassin could have gotten the blueprints would have only been through Irvine's cooperation. The security system on the Ragnarok was too secure, even for a White SeeD. Irvine was the mole. "…I'm sorry, Squall. I didn't think of checking him…he's always been so guarded…so intelligent…"
Squall drew her into his arms. "It's ok. I know Irvine. He's a womaniser and a gambler, but he isn't a traitor. I'll bet you anything he's being forced to do this."
Rinoa gulped back her tears and looked up a Squall. "We…we need to get back to the suite…we need to meet with the others…tell them what we've learned."
Squall nodded. "You're right. Let's go."
As Rinoa moved out of the room, Squall paused for a second. Looking down at a wheelchair tipped onto it's side, he frowned, confused.
The remaining White SeeD…Sam…he's only got one leg. Where is he?
* * *
Zell looked at Irvine sadly. The glazed look in his eyes – the posture – it all screamed I'm not in control of myself.
Zell had been staring at Irvine for almost a full half an hour. The only response he got back was a blank stare, with the occasional muscle twitch of a body-part wanting to move. Zell had seen it all before. Seifer had experienced the same symptoms – blank stare, twitchy muscles – during his time as the Knight for Sorceress Edea.
"Irvine?" Zell called softly, deciding to try to see if he could get through to him. "Irvine? Do you know who I am?"
"Of course. You're Zell Dincht." Was the autonomous reply.
Another symptom…what other Blue's does Emily have? "Right…so you know that I'm your friend."
"My only friends are Sam and Emily. I serve President Deling. I need no one else."
Right…next you'll be telling me you're Emily's Knight, like Seifer. "Do you know why they are going for Laguna, Irvine?"
"You figure it out."
Zell let his head roll loose, the strap holding it up arresting it immediately. Crap…I can't think like this…c'mon, Dincht, think! Why would Deling want to take out Laguna too?
He narrowed his eyes. Justice needs to be taken out of the picture because then Deling can regain the Presidency and rule Galbadia with an iron fist, like before…but why would he want to wipe out Laguna? I mean, Esthar and Galbadia aren't exactly chums internationally, but… It dawned on Zell, the answer hitting him like a sledgehammer to the head. "In taking out both Justice and Laguna in less then two days, he'll throw the two most powerful nations in Gaia into confusion." He muttered to himself, closing his eyes, as if to block the truth. "And this leaves him with two excellent options for himself."
"Right, Mr. Dincht!" Deling said suddenly, his voice behind Zell.
Zell couldn't turn around, but he had a feeling that Deling could see him – he was most probably in an interrogation room, much like a police interrogation room, with a mirrored window on one side of the room to allow people to look in. And, obviously, these kinds of rooms needed intercom systems. "Is that what you're going to do, Deling? Are you going to take over Galbadia, then immediantly launch an attack on the weakened Estharians!?"
"My gods, Zell, you are very bright indeed."
"Why, dammit! Why hurt the Estharians?! All they want to be left alone!!"
There was a pause, the tension growing as silence burned into Zell's ears. Suddenly the door in front of him opened, and Deling walked in, closely followed by Sam. Deling walked forward, his hands clasped behind his back, his head bowed in silent contemplation, as if he was searching for the right words. "We could let them alone…allow them to flourish, like they did before, under the Sorceress Adel…allow them to grow stronger…allow them to grow more confident, more positive in their defence capabilities…then their offence capabilities…and then, my SeeD friend, the whole world is in danger."
Zell rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Lemme guess. You're going to do the world a favour and squash the Estharians before they actually become a threat?"
Deling looked up, his face deadly serious. "Yes, Mr. Dincht. I will."
Zell looked at him, his face deadpan. If he could shake his head, he would have. "You're a nut, Deling. A big, fat, ugly nut. You're a nutbag! A complete loon. And, if you continue to follow this…idiotic path, I'm afraid I'm going to have to open a can of whoopass…all…over…you."
Deling ran a hand down his face and shook his head sadly. "Make him bleed, please."
Same walked up to Zell and pressed a switch next to his pelvis, the straps around his chest drawing into the back of the table. A small shelf opened just next to where Zell's chest was, jutting out about a few inches. Grabbing Zell's shirt, he pulled it to the side roughly, tearing the expensive shirt open, revealing the coagulating bullet wound in Zell's chest, causing a new pain to flare for Zell to consider. "They say the SeeDs were the first to try this technique…" Sam said slowly, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a few items, placing them on the shelf. "…But I know that it was a small resistance faction in Timber that first began to experiment with these little toys."
Zell watched as Sam deliberately and slowly passed each item in front of Zell's eyes, just to make sure that Zell knew what he was in store for.
A Dymano Stone.
A small spool of copper wire.
A Steel Orb.
And an X-Potion.
"Ah crap…" Zell muttered.
* * *
Squall and Rinoa stumbled into their room, feeling dejected, tired and alone. Squall allowed Rinoa to wander into the bathroom to clean up, before he sat on the edge of the bed.
He felt like someone had sucked all the energy out of him, the findings at the White SeeD quarters not helping his mood. Sleeping on the pavement for most of the night hadn't helped either.
He looked over at the phone on the bedside dresser with a bad taste in his mouth. He didn't want to call Selphie to see if Irvine had come in last night. The walk back to the suite had been eye opening in itself.
Everywhere the Sorceress and her Knight turned, they found more information that their unofficial mission was a failure. A radio blared the finding of the President's body outside a service tunnel of the Estharian Presidential House, burnt to a crisp and shot several times at point-blank range. Passing a TV on in a café, they saw the TV news – images of the melted entrance of the tunnel, the body being carried away by paramedics…
Squall shook his head and pulled his gloves off his hands, tossing them over his shoulder and falling back. He looked up at the ceiling in defeat.
He heard the suite's door open, and looked up to see Selphie and Angel walk in. Blinking, he rubbed his eyes and sat up, clearing his throat. Depression later, leader time now. "Hrmph…so, how'd the party go?"
Selphie looked down at Squall's disappointed face and mimicked it. "Terrible. We lost Justice, Zell and Irvine are missing…and we didn't get to have any real fun."
Angel stepped forward, her voice strong. "Squall…sir…I'm sure that Zell can take care of himself. He wouldn't allow himself to get captured without a reason." At the word 'reason', however, her voice broke, a single tear running down her face.
"I'm sure that Zell wouldn't have allowed himself to be captured unless it was voluntary either…however, we do have to assume that he has been captured, against his will…and that Irvine played a part in his capture."
Selphie's face seemed to collapse as she sank to her knees. "Oh, noooo…" she mumbled, looking down at the floor sadly. "Not Irvine…he wouldn't do something like this…he wouldn't…"
"I know, Selphie. But there's nothing we can do in the state we're in now. Rinoa and I are tired, and you and Angel aren't exactly thinking straight. We need to calm down and pool our ideas, figure out who is doing this and why."
* * *
The last shockwave ripped it's way painfully through Zell's body, causing him to fall unconscious, his tense muscles giving up and collapsing without resistance.
Deling, now sitting in a chair, sighed as he looked up at the incapacitated Hunter. "Wake him up."
Sam nodded to his commander-in-chief, and worked the Steel Orb out of Zell's mouth, setting it down with the Dynamo Stone gently on the little pop-out shelf, before reaching up with a hand and shoving a rigid finger into the bloody bullet hole, just left of where Zell's heart should have been.
Zell groaned, before yelling in agony. Sam wiggled the finger around a bit, making sure he had Zell's attention, before ripping the finger out. The procedure had torn the scab the body had been working on over the night, and blood began to seep from the wound once more, causing the already large stain on Zells shirt to grow larger.
Zell gritted his teeth and fought past the pain, battering down the want to grab Sam's head and place his fist where the cold eyes were. Instead he blazed an ice-cold glare at the traitorous White SeeD, a stare that would have chilled any normal person to the bone.
Sam simply smirked. "He got you a good one. Close enough to shock the heart into creating unconsciousness, but not to kill. Headache express, but no lead, unfortunately. I would have had so much fun cutting that little lead sucker out of you…while you were awake, of course."
Zell tried to shake his head, fighting the rage down. "Why…? Why are…you doing this…to me?" He grunted, blinking in a vain attempt to keep the sweat out of his eyes.
Deling laughed out loud, a bellowing kind of laugh that froze Zell's blood. "Why not?" He retorted. "To tell the truth, I was kind of expecting a little more from you, Mr. Dincht. We've only been torturing you for…" He looked down at an expensive looking watch strapped to his wrist. "…Three hours now, and you've already begun to sink into the 'questioning' phase. After that will come the 'anger' phase, then the 'pleading' phase – my favourite – before the subject will finally succumb to our incessant electrocution."
"You…you bastard…" Zell was having trouble talking, the effort to speak taking up way too much energy for him in his situation. "You…you should have stayed…in hell where you…belonged, Deling."
Deling stood then, walking up to Zell, his smile seeming almost too happy, verging on the psychotic. "Who ever said I was that Deling?"
And Zell watched, in absolute horror, as Deling opened his shirt, revealing a mixture of wires and metal, a mechanical heart beating right alongside the glass container with a brain swimming in some blueish fluid.
…A flash of light – the voice of a man – pain…
Sam nodded to his commander-in-chief, and worked the Steel Orb out of Zell's mouth, setting it down with the Dynamo Stone gently on the little pop-out shelf, before reaching up with a hand and shoving a rigid finger into the bloody bullet hole, just left of where Zell's heart should have been.
Zell groaned, before yelling in agony. Sam wiggled the finger around a bit, making sure he had Zell's attention, before ripping the finger out. The procedure had torn the automatic healing the body had been doing over the night, and blood began to seep from the wound once more, causing the already large stain on Zells shirt to grow larger.
Zell gritted his teeth and fought past the pain, battering down the want to grab Sam's head and place his fist where the cold eyes were. Instead of wishing Sam was dead, he tried to take his surroundings in. What the?
"He got you a good one. Close enough to shock the heart into creating unconsciousness, but not to kill. Headache express, but no lead, unfortunately. I would have had so much fun pulling that little lead sucker out of you…while you were awake, of course." Sam said, Zell watching as his own confused face was reflected in Sam's.
"You…you just said that…" Zell gasped.
Sam frowned. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Zell ignored him. "Deling…you should be deader…then the T-Rexaur burgers…I had made a few days ago. Edea's attack…should have killed you… killed you!"
Deling stood walking forward slowly. Zell tried to fight the images of Deling opening his shirt in the hallucination from the torture, but kept having them pop back up in his brain. Deling, however, didn't reveal any wires or jarred-brains stored in his torso. He simply stopped before the bleeding and sweating SeeD and cocked his head to one side, his smile not wavering one iota. "Should I tell you…it would be terribly cliché, the evil genius revealing his miraculous escape…"
Zell failed to shrug, instead snorting a small laugh. "What the hell…you may as well. It wouldn't really…matter anyways."
Deling's smile grew larger. "No…even in the possibility of your rescue, the information of my resurrection wouldn't mean much to anybody." He turned and walked back to his chair, laughing as he went. "That's what I like about you SeeDs…you put too much faith in brute strength, and not enough in careful planning."
Zell couldn't argue, even if he had the strength to. He had always been one for the 'punch first and not ask questions' routine.
Deling sat back. "Are you ready?"
"It's not like…I'm going…anywhere."
"As you've already guessed, the attack Edea made on my body was an absolute one. It had been like she had cast Ultima on me – instead of utterly destroying my corporeal body, she drew my spiritual essence into herself, thus rendering my body a literally lifeless husk, unable to hold anything." He leaned back in the plush chair, savouring the comfort that Zell was being denied. "However, unlike your SeeDs, I made sure to fully check on all my resources on a Sorceresses powers before even considering using the mad woman's powers for my own gain."
"I found that, in the event of a Sorceresses death, the Sorceress must pass her powers to another Sorceress in order for the original to die in peace. Ancient studies have shown Sorceresses have walked for days and days to find a worthy receiver of her power…but all the while, the Sorceress, her own corporeal body unable to contain her massive powers under the immense damages it had sustained, leaked the energies she had built within her life."
Zell closed his eyes. "Shit…when Edea passed…her powers onto Rinoa…"
"Yes. In that instant where she passed the power from her to your young friend, my spirit escaped, travelling immediately back to my body, where it had lay in deep freeze for the months and months it had taken for you to finally catch up to her." Deling chuckled. "However, our own cryogenics laboratories aren't nearly as good as the ones at Esthar – my body had been fully healed, but had suffered severe internal damage."
Zell sighed. "You're not human." He spat. "You're a Zombie."
Deling's smile grew even more. "That's right. When the scientists tried to revive me, they found that their magic and items wouldn't work on my corpse. In a flash of blind inspiration, a young lady cast Zombie on me – and, to the scientist's surprise, it worked. Unfortunately, I cannot smell or taste anything, and my sense of touch has almost completely left my body – but, for lack of a better word, I am immortal."
Zell's eyes were opened in a flash, his fatigue disappearing as quickly as the pain. "Piss off! I've experienced the side effects of the Zombie magic!! The mind-numbing need to feed…the burning of the Holy Water…the knowledge that your soul was this close to rotting into nothingness…"
Deling stood, loosening his tie and opening the top-button of his formal shirt. "You do not believe me? Sam?"
Without warning Sam suddenly spun away from Zell and slammed his fingers into Deling's throat, the sheer force of the attack causing the knife-like hand to stab straight into the oesophagus. Normally a killing blow, Sam pulled his hand out succinctly, wiping the black blood on his shirt.
Deling didn't heed the blood flow one bit, instead craning his severed neck back, allowing Zell to see the full repercussions of the revival.
The wounds bleeding spluttered out, before slowing to a trickle, before stopping altogether. Zell could see the windpipe reform, the torn muscle melting back into itself, before the neck muscles reformed around that, and the skin covered the red muscles pulsing beneath. He lowered his neck and smiled at Zell. "What did I tell you? Immortal."
"This…this is bullshit…" Zell muttered, finding it hard to keep speaking. I think I liked it better when he was a robot…dammit, c'mon, Zell! Keep em talking! You need to regain all the strength you can!! "A Zombie spell is a Status magic…it's not suppose to give the receiver immortality…" his voice wavered off as he suddenly remembered the words that Clara had spoke to him on the battlefield, the words smashing into his mind like a freight train.
"Right again, Zell. Unlike Emily, Sheran and I have recovery based Blue magic. Not Status. You're going to have to rip all my limbs off to kill me."
"Hyne…Emily used a Blue on you…"
Deling shook his head in amazement. "I thought he wasn't smart, Sam! This boy just keeps pulling surprises out of nowhere!!" He leaned forward, creating a steeple with his fingertips. "That's right, Mr. Dincht. Emily did cast one of her Blue's on me. I'm amazed it's lasted this long, to tell the truth."
"So you've been waiting in the wings for an opportunity like this for…three? Four years? Why now? Why not two years ago?"
"That, Mr. Dincht, is a complicated and political answer, that even you might not understand – but I'll try and dumb it down for you. In order for my plan to take it's fullest and be it's most effective, it had to be pulled off when people thought that the Deling regime was dead. Buried. Forgotten."
It all tumbled into place in Zell's pain-addled mind, like an intricate jigsaw puzzle. "People wouldn't fight a hostile takeover after almost five years of living under Justice's regime…and the Estharian people would fold like a bad hand if Laguna ever bit it…you've really planned this out, haven't you?"
"Exactly, Mr. Dincht. My gods, apart from the betrayals, the torture, the gunshot, you've become very inquisitive."
"Maybe it's loosened a rusty part of my brain."
Deling's smile wavered. "Unfortunately, it's also loosened your manners. Sam, place proceed, I think we've allowed Mr. Dincht enough time to recuperate himself without the X-Potion."
"Yes, Mr. President." Sam agreed, picking up the Steel Orb once more. He narrowed his eyes, tossing the ball from hand to hand, the copper wiring twisted around it springing it like a ball on a tether, before he shoved it roughly back into Zell's mouth.
It surprised Zell a lot more then Zell would have figured, however. For something had drawn his attention from his attacker, distracting him.
Irvine had blinked.
* * *
Ouch! Poor Zell!! I kind know how he feels! Having to listen to my sister's dance music whilst she drive makes me feel like grabbing an small metallic ball with an electric current running through it and shoving it down my throat!! When you listen to as much heavy-rock as I do (my ears are bleeding as I write! YES!!), anything seems pale and confusing by comparison.
You know, a lot of you people e-mailed me saying that I killed Zell! Now, I'm all for hurting the poor bastard – but for Hyne's sakes, I'm not gonna kill him!!
…or am I? Teehee…I love it…
Keep reading and reviewing!! This story will be winding up soon! And I've just had an epiphany!!
A tag battle…Rinoa and Zell VS Sam and Emily…just a thought…talk to me, people, do you wanna see that, or do you want this to remain a one-man show?
