A/N: Thanks, everyone, for the reveiws! Here's the second chapter. Hope you enjoy!



Executioner Chapter 2

"We aren't going far, are we?" Rinoa asked. "I need to stay in town for a couple days."

"What for?" Quistis asked.

"My mother's funeral will be in a few days. It might seem foolish, but I have to go. I'll be reading the eulogy."

"It's Friday now," Squall pointed out. "What day is the funeral?"

"It will be on Tuesday," she replied.

"Then we'll leave town for the weekend, to be safe, and come back on Monday so that way you'll have time to prepare."

For the first time since they'd left Rinoa's aparment complex, Rinoa glanced at Squall, a small half-smile on her face. "Thank you."

"In the mean time," Quistis began as she glanced up at the train schedules posted in the station. A different train station, that is. "We'll got to a small town about fifty miles from here. It's called Balamb. It's where I grew up. It should be safe there for awhile."

Squall and Rinoa both nodded their approval, and they all stepped up to the counter to buy their tickets. Not but fifteen minutes later, the train departed, with the three of them in their own, private compartment.

"It will be nice to go home again," Quistis commented as she seated herself on a sofa near a window and gazed out at the passing land. "I haven't been there in so long, I'm afraid I don't remember what it was like to live in such a peaceful place. Place without all the noise, and commotion of the city. I miss it often."

"I grew up in the city," Rinoa said. "Just me and my mom," her voice choked slightly as she spoke the last word.

"Where was your father?" Quistis asked.

"He ran out on me and my mother when I was about five. I didn't hear anything about him for the longest time. Then, when I was about eleven, we got word that he had been killed in the war, over in some foreign country," she reflected.

"What was him name?" Squall asked out of the blue.

"Caraway," she answered. "That's all I remember about him, really. Me and my mom never talked about him. What do you care, anyway?"

He shrugged. "Just wondering if I knew him. He probably died before my time, though."

"Before your time?" Rinoa laughed, somehwhat bitterly. "You actually have an age?"

He shook his head. "Not really. But I haven't been doing this forever, you know. I was chosen to take over the job when the last Angel of Death quit. I was just a regular Angel, but they said I had the characteristics needed for the job, so I was promoted."

"You're telling me the last Grim Reaper retired?" she asked.

"In a sense. See, after so many centuries of servitude, you have a choice. You can either continue with your job, and serve another few centuries, or you can opt to become human, and live for seventy or eighty years as a human does, with complete freedom and free will. That's what he did. I was selected to take his place," he replied.

"Why you, out of some many others?

"Like I said, I had the characterisitics they needed. I was a loner... and showed no hope of improvement. Death can't be getting attached to anyone. I wasn't, and I'm still not, the type that gets attached to a person."

"Oh, I see. Since you were a cold, lonely Angel, you got to be Death," she speculated. "So what are you going to do after you serve your time? How long will you be doing this?"

"As long as they'll let me," he said. "There's a minumum of three hundred years, and from what I've heard, a max of a thousand. Anyway, I don't want to be human, again."

Quistis, who was half-asleep on the couch, poked her head back up, suddenly intrested in their conversation.

"You were human once?" Rinoa asked, surprised.

He nodded. "Yeah. A very long time ago. I died when I was twenty, if I remember correctly. I kind of enlisted in the 'army' after that. Worked my way up through the ranks. Most humans that die become Angels, but of a different kind. They really don't have to do anything. But I didn't want to spend the rest of my afterlife doing nothing."

"How did you die?"

He turned his head to the side, slightly, narrowing his eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Do I sense foul play in your past?" asked Quistis.

He shook his head, "It's none of your business. Just... leave me alone for the rest of the trip, okay?"

"You know, if I'm going to be stuck with you for awhile, I'd rather you not be an asshole the entire time," Rinoa spoke up. "It's not going to make things any easier, trying to keep us at a distance, you know."

"I don't much care what you think. I never asked for your opinion. If you don't like it, you can just leave," he growled.

"Maybe I will!" Rinoa exploded suddenly. "I don't need this. Yes, I want this killing to stop, I feel bad for those people. But what do I have that's going to help you? How am I supposed to cope with all this at once. You couldn't have chosen a worse time! I haven't even had time to grieve properly!"

"That's not my fault."

She started to open her mouth, but before she could utter the words, he cut her off. "Don't say that it is. It's my job. You know as well as I do that your mother was suffering, anyway. Yet you would've rather she lived on in that condition? For your sake? That's selfish. And hating me for what happened won't solve anything, nor will it 'make things any easier.'"

Silence filled the room as Rinoa sank further into her seat, taken aback by his last words. Finally, she stood from her chair and, before storming off into the bathroom, said, "I don't hate you for what happened. But I'm beginning to hate you for who you are."

The air fell dead once more, and this time, Squall expected that no one, namely Quistis, would dare to shatter it. He was wrong, however. It seemed that the blonde-haired prophetess was unfazed by the vicious quarelling that had gone on.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" she asked.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer."

"Perhaps it's been so long since you've been a human male that you've forgotten, but when you upset a woman like that, you are supposed to go after her and apologize."

"Why should I apologize? I was just telling it like it was."

"You were too hard on her," Quistis explained. "She just lost her mother, she has a right to be pissy."

"But it's not-"

"Your fault, I know," she finished. "Believe me, we all know. It doesn't matter. Humans grieve in different ways. They often need a scapegoat.... someone or something they can blame the tragedy on. And anyway, you're her guardian. It's your duty-"

"I'm tired of duty. Had I known that duty meant putting up with that," he stated, jerking his leather-clad thumb in the direction of the bathroom, "then I would've stuck with my old job."

"I give up," Quistis sighed, just as they train came to a screeching hault. After a quick glance out the window, she announced, "Oh look, we're here..."

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Balamb was a small, mostly neglected town. In fact, Squall, Rinoa, and Quistis were the only three to dismbark there. As they headed through the train station, an old, worn building made of wood and rusted nails, they began to notice something quite strange. No one was there. Not a single person.

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Rinoa spoke, for the first time since her argument with Squall on the train.

"As do I," replied Quistis. "This place is quiet, but this is too quiet. Where is everyone."

Upon furhter investigation, it seemed that the entire town had been abandoned. Cars were missing from their driveways, leaving only skid marks behind. Businesses were closed, and houses were locked. All except for one place that was still open. Quisits tried the knob on the door to the local bar, and found that it opened easily.

In the middle of the floor, in a clearing that had been made by moving a lot of chairs and tables, was a pile of corpses, most with a bullet wound of some sort. Smeared on the wall above them, in what appeared to be blood, were the words 'by The Executioner' in huge print, and beneath it, in smaller print, were the words 'To achieve a sin-free world'. It sounded like some sort of twisted campaign slogan.

"Oh my God..." Rinoa gasped, putting a hand over her mouth.

"I thought I had that feeling," Squall muttered. "Well, I'm late, but better late than never I suppose."

Quistis put a hand on Rinoa's shoulder and gently led her away, knowing what Squall was about to do, and not wanting to stir up any painful memories. "C'mon. Let's let him do this in peace."

As the two women drifted over to the far corner of the room, the heard the sound of music coming through the wall nearby wall, accompanied by loud voices and laughter.

"I wonder..." Quistis began in a near whisper.

"Shut up," Squall hissed as he walked over to them. "Let me handle this."

"But what if you get hurt?" Rinoa asked.

"Since when do you care?" Squall shot back. "Besides, Death can't exactly die."

"No," Quistis agreed. "But keep in mind there are worse things than death that you could fall prey to, depending on who, or rather, what, is in there."

"So long as there's a chance to end this thing now, I'm willing to take it," he replied.

Quistis shook her head. "I have the feeling this is a mistake."

Before another word could be spoken, whether in agreement, or protest, the door swung open to reveal a small group of humans, a couple females, and several males, each armed with a gun.

The man in the front grabbed Rinoa around the waist as soon as his eyes landed on her, and pointed a gun at her head. "One move, and she gets it," he said threateningly.

Squall rolled his eyes beneath the shields of his dark tinted glasses. "Like I care," he muttered.

"Squall!" Rinoa exclaimed, squirming in the man's grip.

He couldn't help but let a small smirk come over his face. He wasn't sure why, but he found he liked teasing her. Her panic was amusing to him, but only because he didn't see any danger. One violent thought on his part, and these punks would fall down cold. Or so he thought.

"I know what you're thinking," the man said. "It's not going to work. Seifer warned us about you. I'll know when you're so much as thinking about killing one of us off, and when you do, she's dead. And I know how valuable she is."

"Seifer?"

He nodded. "The one and only. Who did you think was responsible for all of this?"

"I should've known," Squall growled angrily. "That bastard. He's the reason for all of this. I should've guessed."

"Well, if your done, now, we'll be taking off now," the man replied, and began making his way toward the back door.

At that moment, there was a small rumble from the back of the building, and the sound of wood cracking and splintering. There was a commotion in the back, followed by several screams of pain. A long staff jutted forward, smacking Rinoa's captor in the back of the head and knocking him out. Rinoa jumped away from him, happy to have escaped, and ran behind Squall for cover.

Two figures slowly appeared through the door, a male and a female. The woman, who carried the staff, was tall and pale, with long, dark blue dread locks protruding from her head. She had pale, almost colorless blue eyes and a small silver hoop through her lip, with a deep blue saphire in the middle. Her partner in crime was a tall, muscular man, with bright, spiked red hair with yellowish streaks at the tips. His eyes were a deadly, glittering red that seemed to be filled with a constant anger. Red and green flames wrapped around his wrist and rose up his forearm, the colored ink sheltered deep beneath his skin. He stood shirtless with a small, confident smirk covering his face. His accomplice, sporting a white vest, light, frosty blue cloth that was tied around her hips, and trailed in a triangular shape down to her ankles behind her, with a pair of dark blue pants beneath it, did not seem quite so amused.

"You are very much in trouble, Squall," she said as she shook her head, causing her shoulder-length blue braids to shake against each other. "You have failed."

"Failed the mission?" Quistis questioned.

"Failed to protect the Keeper. That was a very unwise desicion you made just now. You could've gotten Rinoa killed. Then where would you be?"

"On my usual schedule, transferring the dying from the this world to their chosen after-life," Squall replied. "Anyway, how was I to know he could sense my thoughts. It wouldn't have been a problem had it just been me."

She sighed. "This is no time to be a smart-ass, Leonhart. This mission could affect how far you will go in your after-life. If failed, you may be sentenced to life as a human once again, since it's somthing you despise so much. In any case, you are no longer by yourself, as much as you may wish it so. Rinoa is with you now, as well as the prophetess," she gestured toward Quistis. "You are the one with the power. You must protect them. Rinoa's survival is your number one priority. You are to focus on this above all else. Understood?"

"I understand," he replied. "But did you come here just to lecture me, Guardian?"

"So you recognized us?" she replied. "Yes, I am the Guardian Shiva. And the idiot over there is the Guardian Ifrit. We were not sent to lecture you, we are to help guard your lives. Since you seem to do an incompetent job."

Squall clenched his fists, and was on the verge of saying something rude when he felt Rinoa grip his arm slightly, an unintentional action, but one that sent an unfamiliar, as well as unsettling tingle through his senses. He turned his head slightly, allowing him to look at her out of the corner of his eyes. She was at his side now, though still partially covered by the solid protection that his firm, muscualr body provided her as she gazed curiously at the so-called 'Guardians'.

"So, you're going to make sure I don't get taken hostage at gunpoint again?" Rinoa asked.

Ifrit nodded, smiling a big, toothy grin at her. "I'll protect you. You can hide behind me, instead, if you want. And then maybe-" he was cut off when Shive suddenly drove her staff into his stomach.

"I swear, everytime this idiot gets to play human for a while, he starts to think with something other than his head," she said, her naturally icy voice even colder in reguard to her companion.

Squall's usual scowl deepened. "No unwanted advances on the females," he said, throwing a protective glance in Rinoa's direction while Quistis fought back the urge to giggle at his unconcious gesture.

Shiva nodded. "Don't worry. He'll obey. Or else."

"Let's get going. I would rather not stand here all day with decaying corpses in the room," Quistis pointed out.

Rinoa was the first to head for the door, with Shiva and Ifrit trailing close behind her. Quistis waited until they were gone before turning to Squall and smiling. "Did you notice?" she asked.

"Notice what?" he grumbled.

"She feels safe around you. Relaxed. You were the one she ran to for protection. The one she hid behind..."

"Whatever," he replied. "Why should I care? And it's pretty obvious she hates me. She even said so herself on the train."

Quistis shook her head and was about to speak when the slamming of the door caught her attention. He had walked out.

She followed behind him quickly, catching up with him on the road as they all walked aimlessly about. "Upset?" she asked him.

"About what?"

"About her hating you."

He shook his head. "I don't care. I don't like her either."

"Tell me, what went through your head the first time you met her? Back in the hospital?"

"None of you business!"

She laughed. "It's not nice to lie to a prophet. You don't not like her. I could tell without my powers."

"What are you two talking about?" Rinoa asked, slowly approaching them.

"The stock-market," Quistis replied. "What do you think? Bull or bear?"

"Don't ask me," Rinoa laughed. "Can I talk to Squall alone a minute?"

"Of course," Quistis replied, supressing her laughter as she walked ahead.

"What do want?" he asked when she didn't speak for a moment.

"I just wanted to apologize," she said. "I got kinda mad earlier... you were just telling the truth, I guess. I got a little upset, I suppose, and I'm sorry."

"It's fine," he dimissed it with a wave.

She smiled slightly and wrapped an arm around his, leaning her chin on his shoulder, her eyes drifting closed. She was more tired than she had ever been in her entire life, and at the moment his shoulder was the most comfortable thing around.

"Do you have to do that?" he mumbled.

"Sorry," she replied, thinking she knew what he was talking about. "I'm sleepy."

"Whatever," he sighed as they continued walking. Rinoa made note, however, that he made no further attempts to free his arm from her hold.

"Shiva called you Leonhart, earlier," Rinoa said, looking up at him curiously.

"That use to be my last name," he explained. "Back when I was human."

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A/N: I won't say it sucks.... Yeah, I know, the sudden placement of Guardian Forces in the story was odd, especially since they were human in form... the rest of the characters will be along shortly, though. And yeah, Squall talked a lot in the beginning of this chapter, but I felt some things needed to be explained.