The Return of Ultimecia

Author: SoulOfFlame

Chapter 5: Ultimecia Has Returned. Quistis escapes.

A/N: Okay I would like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed! You guys are so cool! I am going to start using your suggestions to make this chapter better than those before it. So here's chapter 5, hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing save the idea. Squaresoft doesn't even know I exist.

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Seifer walked ahead of the group, leading them over the unfamiliar, barren plains. Quistis was still stunned by Seifer's actions, and watched the tall blonde with hate flowing from her crisp, cerulean eyes. She didn't exactly understand why she hated him right now, but she did. She wanted to lash out with Save the Queen, but couldn't. If Rajin weren't holding her arms so tight she could reach for her whip, which Seifer had forgotten to take from her. She just wanted to take that whip to him and- well she wasn't exactly sure. But whatever it was, she knew she'd never be able to do anything like that. She glanced at Fujin, who glared back at her with her crimson eye clearly showing dislike for their captive. The two held their gaze a little longer before Fujin ran a hand through her silver hair and averted her eyes to the trail ahead of them. No one said anything until Fujin broke the silence with a complaint.

"TREPE." She said stopping in her tracks. "REASON." She demanded. Quistis couldn't understand the other woman's speech, but Seifer and Rajin seemed to have no problem. Rajin looked uneasily to Seifer, who returned the glance with his dangerous emerald eyes devoid of emotion.

"I don't need to explain myself to you Fujin. I already told you what I know and I intend to follow orders. So don't question my authority!" He said icily.

"ULTIMECIA." Fujin murmured as she looked away. The silver haired woman knew better than to try Seifer's patience, Quistis was sure, but Fujin was proving otherwise. Seifer's eyes narrowed at his companions comment and he turned on his heel walking onward to their destination in a deadly silence. No one said anything after that moment until they stopped for the night.

"Follow me." Seifer said turning off of the path and heading into a cave nearby. Quistis had tried to track where they were but Seifer and his "posse" had taken so many back roads and unused paths, that the blonde had no idea where she was now. As the small party went through the dark tunnels of the cave, a strange fear flowed over Quistis. She felt as if she had been there before in a distant time that just barely lingered on her memory. Rajin roughly sitting her down in the makeshift camp jerked her out of her thoughts. She noticed as she looked around that it had, oddly enough, been set up prior to their arrival.

"Fujin, make sure she stays put." Seifer ordered as he beckoned Rajin over to him to discuss their next move. The silver haired woman approached Quistis and sat down next to her. Quistis looked down at the ground and let a tear slide down her cheek. She wondered why she had suddenly stopped hating him, but didn't stop to think about it. She wiped the tear away with a gloved hand and stared at the ground as Fujin looked at the woman oddly.

"TREPE." Fujin rose and stood next to Quistis. "WATER." She said. Quistis looked up upon hearing her name and tried to decipher what she had meant. Seifer looked at Quistis, then Fujin, and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but hurry back." Seifer said. Fujin nodded and turned her attention to Quistis. She took a hold of her arm in what Quistis was expecting to be a rough manner, but the touch was surprisingly gentle. Quistis looked into Fujin's eyes and saw a command of silence in them. Quistis held her tongue and allowed Fujin to lead her down a tunnel, which led to a small underground pool of water.

"SQUALL!" Squall turned to see a petite brunette racing towards him. Rinoa smiled as she recognized their friend and looked at her boyfriend's somewhat pained expression.

"Be nice! Selphie is our friend!" Rinoa whispered into his ear. Squall glared at her to say he already knew that as Selphie skidded to a stop in front of them. Irvine followed complacently behind her a smug look on his face as usual.

Squall watched Selphie try to catch her breath, petite frame heaving in her yellow overalls from a lack of oxygen. Her green eyes looked up at him full of energy and happiness. She straightened and smiled, bouncing as she began to relate her news, sending her already flipped out brown hair bouncing all over the place.

"Guess what, guess what, guess WHAT?!" Selphie cried happily. She paused for a second for her friends to venture a guess but seeing that they had become unusually quiet and had this strange look on their faces, she decided to just tell them herself.

"Irvy proposed to me!" Selphie as if it should be obvious to everyone by now, and in all truth it nearly was. She had been running around happily announcing her wonderful news to any unfortunate enough to come across the hyper brunette.

Irvine walked up in his usual attire consisting of a purple vest and brown leather coat with matching leather pants and his trademark smile firmly in place. He nodded his head as he tipped his hat forward in greeting. The usually smug and flirtatious cowboy was surprisingly calm as he approached, but Squall could tell he was just as happy as Selphie. Squall arched an eyebrow at his friend and Irvine broke into a broad grin.

"Yeah it is true Squall, isn't it wonderful?" He asked answering Squall's questions before he had a chance to voice them. Squall smiled and extended a hand.

"Congratulations Irvine." He said. Irvine took his hand and shook it gratefully, thanking him. Squall turned his hand to Selphie as Rinoa jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. Squall sighed and leaned over, giving Selphie a hug. The petite brunette stood back, startled, once he released her and then cast an impressed glance at Rinoa. Squall stared at Rinoa as she tried to hide her grin.

"Rinoa you have to help me plan it! Irvy and I want to have the wedding as soon as possible!" Selphie squealed. The two girls went off talking excitedly and the two men watched them leave before laughing themselves.

"Hey guys, what's up?" The two friends turned to see Zell Dincht walking up with a hotdog in one hand, and waving the other. Squall nodded his head in greeting as Irvine clapped his friend on the back.

"Guess what Zell? Selphie and I are finally going to tie the knot!" Irvine said proudly. Zell turned to Squall with a surprised expression on his face, but Squall merely nodded that it was true.

"That's great man! Congratulations!" Zell said joyously as he offered his hand to Irvine. He blushed as he realized he had extended the hand he held his hotdog with and switched hands. Irvine took the handshake and then smiled again. He couldn't remember having been so happy.

"Why are you here?" Fujin asked in a normal tone. The sound made Quistis jump as she heard it. She was used to Fujin's harsh, one-word comments and this soft, intellectual tone startled her. The blonde gaped at her "overseer" for a few moments before responding.

"Wh-what do you mean?" She asked dumbly. Fujin rolled her crimson eye at the other woman and sighed.

"Look, I can talk normally when I want I just don't bother to waste my time with those two." Fujin explained referring to Seifer and Rajin. Quistis nodded her understanding. "Why did Seifer bring you with us?" She asked rephrasing her question.

"I don't know. Believe me I wish I did but I don't. He kidnapped me while I was thinking on the second floor bridge. Didn't you know that was what he was doing?" Quistis asked suddenly confused.

"No, he never says anything to us. But one thing is for sure, and it's that you're in danger." Fujin turned and glanced over the water. "Ultimecia is alive." She said softly.

"What?! But that's not possible!" Quistis began to go off on a tangent but was restrained by Fujin's somber expression. "How?" She asked.

"I don't know. She has already been gathering men and women to be her soldiers and defend her in battle. Seifer is planning on leading them. I had hoped... I had hoped that you would be able to stop him but he kidnapped you. I have to stop him, and so I have to let you go." Said Fujin.

"But he'll be furious with you! I can't let you do that!" Quistis argued. Fujin held up a hand to silence her.

"It's the only way. You are the only one who knows what's coming. Go, NOW!" Quistis thanked her softly looked around her. "But, how do I get out?" She asked.

"The pool may seem like water but it isn't. If you go through it, it will take you to Deling City. From there, you will have to hurry and find a way back to Balamb by yourself." Fujin explained. Quistis nodded her head and looked at the water.

"Goodbye Fujin, and thank you again." She said. As she spoke, Quistis noticed that Fujin's eyes were not their normal crimson color, but a gray and blue color much lighter than what Quistis was used to. Pushing the thought aside, she turned and walked into the pool of water which, oddly enough, parted before her.

Once Quistis had been "submerged" in the water, Fujin looked sorrowfully after Quistis. She winced in what looked like pain and a wave of fear swept over the silver haired woman's face. She closed her eyes and held her head, mumbling to herself in panic. All at once, the pain subsided and Fujin opened her eyes, which were, once again, blood red.

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A/N: What's going on anyway? Aren't you just dying to know? Oh, you're not? Okay then I can wait on the update. Anyways, as you can see things aren't quite right with the characters and of course, if you have questions, I have answers! If you want a quick reply to your answer, email me. SoulOfFlame2005@aol.com! Okay now that this chapter is done and I would like to take some time with the reviews I have received:

Cristalina: Thank you very much you are so kind! :)

Water-lily43: Seifer won't be such a pain-in-the- *sees sister in the room* Butt... later on. He has his reasons. You'll see. Thank you for you kind comments. I am working on reading your story!

KyuuketsukiShounen: I'll try to work on that, thanks for the tip! I've sort of noticed that about my writing too.

Elena: I tried your suggestion, thanks a lot.

CelesteSpring: I'm sorry I failed to mention this before. Some of the characters will seem OOC right now but it will be explained later. If you notice she was being so nice to him and thinking well of him until this particular incident. All will be explained. :)

Punky gal: Thanks, and I know he's a jerk... right now anyways... I don't know if they actually are brother and sister but that's what I've been told.

If I missed you (And I don't think I did miss anyone... at the time I am writing this anyway) then I apologize! Thank you all for your kind words and suggestions! I will try to improve.

Oh and P.S.! If you love Final Fantasy VIII, check out our role-playing site! All welcome and we still need a few main characters! Active members and a great plot getting started!

http:www.avidgamers.com/ff_8/ (Lol my talking went on really long this chapter.)