You ever been given a piece of news that shatters you? Ever been told something that might be true but you refuse to believe it based on the horrible things it implies? I searched long and hard to find my birth mother for many years while I was at Trabia Garden, spent countless hours at a computer terminal trying to back track through adoption records and orphanage records to find the woman that gave me up. I wanted to know the reasons why other children had parents and I didn't. It wasn't that I was angry or hurt that they didn't care enough to keep me, I needed to know for peace of mind. I might be eternally happy on the outside, a perky little cheer leader type, but I also have worries and ghosts, just like everybody else. People think that because nothing gets me down, I'm not concerned about anything but the pursuit of happiness. That's not it at all. I'm happy because I choose to be. I choose to take pleasure in the small things. Life is a lot more interesting if you always look on the bright side and don't let the bad things get you down. And no matter how bad things are, if you look for the good, you can always find it.
Except in this situation. If what Rinoa says is true, if Adel really IS my mother, I can't think of one good thing that can come from it and that's really scary. I can't think of any way I could have benefited from being her daughter.
Slowly, I get to me feet and stare up at her, bombs momentarily forgotten. I don't see any resemblance to myself in her face.
Rinoa's wrong. That's all it is. Adel has brainwashed her into thinking something that's not true. I can't think of one good reason why she'd do that, but she is crazy, after all. Right?
"Damn it!" Squall shouts, his face red and eyes wide with panic. "This isn't some shoddy plan we cooked up. This place is going to be dust in about thirteen minutes. We need to get the hell out of here, now!"
Squall's voice reminds me of what we're here to do. "Rinoa, listen to Squall! WE ARE GOING TO DIE IF WE STAY HERE!" I scream.
"Darling, don't you care that your mother, whom you were taken from so cruelly when you were just hours old, stands before you now, ready to take you into her arms as her own?" Rinoa asks.
"She's not my mother," I say and shake my head.
"Holy Hyne on a stick," Jilly says from the back of the group. "We don't have time for this!"
That's right we don't do we? I think quickly, and turn to Rinoa. I put on my very best happy smile and take her by the hand. "Rinny, we need to get to safety. We can talk about all this later, okeydokey? Right now, let's worry about those bombs and then we can sit down and have a nice little chat and sort all this out."
"No," Rinoa says. "We do this now."
"Squall, do something," Quistis says. Her face reflects the same panic Squall's does and my eyes dart between the two, trying to figure out if they're full of it or if there really are bombs on the way. I've never known either of them to lie, and I can't think of an instance in all my years of knowing them that they've ever even attempted. Squall especially seems about to come unglued, and to a lesser extent so does my former instructor.
This is not a trick. This is the real thing.
Holy shit.
"Adel, Rinoa," I interject, knowing that I'll be reprimanded, but I have a sworn duty to protect them at all costs and if any situation is worth a scolding, it's this one. "I'm afraid they may be right."
"Did I give you permission to speak?" Rinoa demands. Her eyes turn to me, furious that I've spoken out of turn.
"Forgive me, Sorceress. I speak because I fear for your life. Look at their faces," I whisper. "They're serious."
She turns to look at the SeeDs that stand before us and eyes each one cautiously, up and down as if evaluating the sincerity of their words. "You say missiles are coming?"
"Yeah, in about eleven minutes," Squall replies after a glance at his wristwatch.
"Not much time to get out of here," I remark as I glance around the room. From somewhere in the distance, I hear a low, dull rumble. I know that sound. It's the sound of approaching jet engines, and they'll surely grow louder as the seconds pass. "So much for eleven minutes, hero boy."
"Shut up!" Squall fires back. "Do you not realize the seriousness of our situation? You think your sorceresses can protect you from the fuck bombs that they're about to drop on us?" Squall's face is red and his eyes have taken on a certain madness that I have only seen one before.
The first time I cut his flesh with my blade. The day he cut mine for the first time. That was the first time I saw madness in his eyes, the first time I realized what he was capable of.
Adel straightens her posture and waves her hand in the air to get our attention, her long talon like nails shine with polish so red, it appears she'd dipped her fingers in fresh blood. "To the Pandora, then. We will be safe inside."
The low rumble has grown louder and now I can hear the dull shriek of approaching jet engines. They're near, all right, and we've got no time to escape.
This can't be happening. I'm Seifer Almasy. I am knight to the two only existing sorceresses on the planet. Surely there's something they could do to stop the impending barrage of firepower headed our way. We should be invincible. We are invincible, right?
"Ok," Squall agrees, giving Adel a reluctant nod and then looks back at his team. "Let's go."
Adel leads us to a small metal door and raises her hand before it, patterning it quickly and then releases a powerfully bright ball of fire that melts the seal around the edges. With a swift front snap, I kick in the door in. It hits the floor with a loud metallic clang and we all file inside, the sorceresses and Selphie first.
As we run down the metal service way that leads inside the Pandora, I feel the ground begin to shake beneath my feet.
Up ahead, Rinoa and Adel have already entered the Lunatic Pandora. A breathless, Selphie is tugged helplessly along by her puny little wrist. I follow, hoping I make it inside before the whole place goes up in a cloud of smoke. I don't care about Squall or any of the others, I care only about living through this. Self-preservation is a sinful thing, but I'm not going to lie and say I give a damn whether Squall and his SeeD friends live or not, because I don't. They don't mean all that much to me. Or maybe that's a lie. I don't know, and right now, I don't care. As long as I live through this, I can think about it later.
We run through the twisted corridors and tunnels of the Lunatic Pandora until we reach the area where the crystal pillar is located, which is empty except for Dr. Odine, who frantically writes notes to himself on a small pad of paper. He seems oblivious to the situation outside, and if he knows about it, he doesn't care.
I hope this damned Pandora thing can withstand a blast. Please, Hyne, let it hold up.
"Vat are you doing here?" Odine demands, eyeing the procession of misfits before him with great suspicion.
"Missiles . . . are on . . . their way," Squall says as he struggles to catch his breath.
Odine shrugs. "Ve vill be safe in here. Nothing can penetrate zis crystal. Not even diamonds. Ve vill be quite safe."
I hope this little madman is right.
"Can it be moved?" Squall asks.
"Yes," Odine says and stares at Squall through beady black little eyes. "Vat, you vant zat I move ze Pandora? You vant me to put off my important research?!"
"If you want to live, you might wanna consider it," a girl I don't recognize says as she steps up behind Odine and places one of her katal against his throat. I don't know her, but I kind of like her already. No one else in that do-gooding crew has the balls to do something like that.
"Ok, ok. No need for violence, I vill do as you ask," Odine says holding his hands in the air. "One thing. Ze Pandora may be drawn to Tears Point. Ve may cause another Lunar Cry."
"We'll deal with that later," Squall says. "Jilly, you go with Odine."
The screech of the jet engines has become deafeningly loud now, the high pitched whine has begun to reverberate within the walls of the Pandora, sending frantic spirals of light through the crystal in all shades of incandescent color, opaque and rather captivating, even in these circumstances. There is also a low, barely audible hum coming from somewhere, everywhere. I look around, trying to locate the source, perhaps a pair of hidden speakers, but the sound seems to be coming from all around us.
Something outside explodes.
Suddenly, the floor shakes violently and every one of us is sent flying. My head collides with something sharp that sends waves of agony through the left side of my face. A second painfully loud explosion is followed by a third, fourth, fifth.
Shit. We're gonna die.
The hum has grown in pitch and volume. It stings my ears, makes my eyes water, makes my skin feel like I've rolled in something disgusting like garbage or blobra slime. And I swear I smell lavender, the perfume my mother once wore. That's the only thing I remember of her. Lavender.
Maybe I'm going mad.
When the ground ceases to tremble, we all get to our feet, glancing at one another.
Rinoa wastes no time in using this distraction to seize Selphie once again. "Selphie, you're being so rude! This is your mother. Say something to her."
"Let me go!" Selphie exclaims and fights against Rinoa's hold on her.
Irvine cocks his gun and aims it at Rinoa. "You heard the lady," he drawls. "She told you to let her go."
A glance at Squall tells me he's torn between intervening and holding his peace.
Finally. My chance to kick some ass. "Not so fast there, cowboy." I draw my gunblade and smile wickedly at him. "You have to go through me to get to her."
"Give it up, Seifer," the cowboy says with a roll of his eyes. "We've been down that road before. I thought you'd learned a lesson, but I guess that head of yours really is thick as a cement foundation."
That's it. The cowboy's going down. All eyes are upon us, with the exception of Selphie and Adel, who stare at one another, both speechless.
"Bring it on cowboy," I say, laughing. "You're not that tough."
"Maybe not, but I never miss my target," he says and spits out the side of his mouth. He pulls the brim of his hat low over his eyes and positions the butt of the rifle against his shoulder. His finger is on the trigger. I don't doubt he's aiming for my head. I raise Hyperion above my head and lunge for him, ready to strike him down before he can even get a shot off.
Before I can bring my blade down upon him, Rinoa unleashes a stop spell on everyone but herself and the mother daughter pair before us. Her eyes flare with a violet light, her expression angry. She looks beautiful. And dangerous.
"Finally some silence," Rinoa sighs. "Let's try this again, shall we? Selphie, this is your mother, Adel."
Selphie trembles in Rinoa's grip, eyes wide, her mouth open in shock. She shakes her head and whimpers slightly.
"Don't you want to say something to her?"
"She's not my mother," Selphie whispers. "She's not. She can't be."
Adel takes a step closer to Selphie and reaches out to her, as if to embrace her. Selphie cringes away, but Rinoa gives her a shove towards Adel's open arms. Selphie falls into Adel's embrace and her arms and body go slack, her head tilts back, her face to the ceiling.
"My child," Adel says. Her voice rebounds from wall to wall, and the mind bending hum begins once again. "You are mine for good now. I shall keep you safe from harm. You and only you shall be spared the wrath I will bring upon our world."
Wait, what about me? I'm the Knight. Shouldn't I be spared too? An oversight, I'm sure. After all, she's meeting her daughter for the first time since her birth. She's just caught up in the emotion of the moment.
Adel's eyes turn to me, as she cradles Selphie in her arms. She knows my thoughts.
"Seifer." Her voice echoes through the room, though her lips have not moved to speak a word.
Is she talking inside my head? This is nuts!
I can hear your thoughts.
Oh shit.
Now is the time for you to swear allegiance to me, and only me.
Is she crazy? I'm in this for Rinoa, not this manly looking creature.
Rinoa can not grant you what you truly wish for. She hasn't the strength or the will to do so. But I can. Swear your allegiance to me and I shall give you everything. Fame, fortune, sex, immortality. It's all yours, if you promise me your hand shall protect me and only me.
She can make me immortal?
Of course I can.
How do you know what I really want? I haven't told you anything. How can I trust you?
I know everything there is to know about you. Rinoa will betray you should you align yourself with her.
Rinoa wouldn't do that.
She would betray you for Squall in a second. Right now, she's attempting to convince him to serve her and kill you.
I stare back at her cold eyes, and she returns my gaze without blinking.
Swear that you will protect me.
How can I trust her?
Trust me and I will spare your friends, Fujin and Raijin as well. A Knight needs his comrades, doesn't he?
I must admit, this is a tempting offer. But does she know Rinoa's what I want most? I want her to be mine, for all time.
Then you may have her when my plan is complete.
What do I have to do? I'll sign my name in blood if I have to.
You don't have to do anything but swear your allegiance to me.
Then I swear. I Seifer Almasy shall be your knight.
Adel holds out her hand and casts dispel on me. My gunblade drops from my hand, momentum of the swing shattered by the stop spell. Hyperion clatters to the floor and I bend to pick it up.
"What was that?" Rinoa asks, angry. Her eyes dart from Adel to me. "Are you planning to betray me?"
I shake my head. Adel only smiles and begins to coo incomprehensible baby talk to Selphie, who still sags in her arms, limp and lifeless.
"Answer me," Rinoa demands as she continues to cut her eyes back and forth between Adel and me.
"Of course not," Adel coos. "We're a team. Without you, I can't complete my plans."
"Which are?" Rinoa asks. Her eyes narrow in suspicion and she takes a threatening step towards Adel.
"World domination, of course." Adel's words are as smooth as milk chocolate, and about as cloying. "Really, girl, you have no cause to mistrust me."
Rinoa's head cocks to the side, and she takes another step towards the hideous red-haired woman. "Don't I? One of us will not make it out of this alive, and it won't be me who perishes."
"That sounds like a threat, dear girl."
"Not a threat, just a warning." Rinoa seems to be on the verge of acting out on buried rage, and I must do something to calm her down.
"My lady," I say graciously as I kneel before her, "What shall I do with the SeeD's?"
Her face turns to mine and for a moment, she appears confused. Then
her eyes travel over the frozen group behind me and recognition sets in.
"Leave them alone for now. We will take care of them later."
Rinoa.
Elle?
Yes.
What do you want?
It's time for you to fight. Please say you'll help us.
I don't know if I can. She's too strong.
Are you trying?
Yes, but I can't get through. She's too powerful, and I'm afraid.
Rinoa, you have to try harder. Don't let her win.
I'm tired Elle.
Rinoa, please! Help us! We need you to be strong.
But I'm not strong. I'm weak.
No, you're not. You're stronger than she is. You just have to try.
I'm so afraid Elle. I can't get through.
Rinoa, they're going to kill you if you don't do something, if you don't fight back. Do you want to die? Do you want all your friends to die too? That's what's going to happen if you don't fight harder. They have to know that you're in there, so please, just try a little harder. Please!
...............
Rinoa?
I'm sorry, Elle. There's nothing I can do.
Disconnect.
~~~~~~~~
Don't you dare give up hope, Rinoa. You're a sorceress for Hyne's sake. You have powers of your own. Use them.
...............
Rinoa, please answer me.
What do you want me to say? I'm trying my best, but I can't get through.
Promise me that you won't give up on us.
I promise.
Squall wanted me to tell you that he loves you.
I know he does. I love him too.
Then try harder.
Disconnect.
~~~~~
Rinoa?
What?
There's something I need to tell you, and maybe it'll help you believe in something. Maybe it'll give you reason to keep going.
What is it?
You'll soon be a mother. The child you carry already has a voice of his own, and he wants you to live, if not for yourself then at least for him.
.................. !
Disconnect.
We just bombed something. Oh, Hyne. We just bombed something! Did Rowan push a button? I didn't see him push one, but that doesn't mean anything. I was more concerned about losing my lunch all over Iris, who now sits in front of me than I was about what Rowan was doing up in the pilot seat.
We bombed something. This can't be real. Ok, don't panic, Zell. Take a deep breath and think.
This is bad.
As the Edea levels off and begins to fly straight again, I unbelt myself and make my way precariously to the pilot seat. My legs feel like sun-warmed lime jello and I'm having a hard time staying vertical, so I must grip the headrest of each seat in my path.
I have to forcibly remove Rowan from the pilot seat, and I feel like smashing his little boy face in when he shrieks, "That was KILLER!"
He's lucky I didn't kill him.
"Did you touch anything? Push any buttons?" I demand to know as I sit down and belt myself in.
"Didn't touch a thing, but, oh man, that was awesome!" he continues. If he says another word, he's going out the escape hatch. Without a parachute.
"No, it wasn't. We don't know what the hell we just took out. Could have been anything! Part of Esthar, even. Now sit your ass down and shut up before I hurt you," I say, meaning every word of it. Rowan's expression of excitement quickly becomes one of concern and the takes the seat I just vacated minutes ago.
This is really bad.
Ok, concentrate. What are all these buttons? This green one dumps auxiliary power, the blue one controls air circulation, and the white one contacts ground control. Aha. Here's what I'm looking for. Onboard Positioning System. I key in our altitude and the coordinates that my gages display. A small LED monitor immediately locates our position.
13.5 miles south of Dr. Odine's Desert Laboratory.
Is that what we just bombed?
Hyne, let it be anything but that.
I take a deep breath and sit back in my seat. I close my eyes and fold my hands in my lap, praying that we bombed open desert and not the lab. The lab is where Dr. Odine had Adel imprisoned, right? Makes sense to assume that Rinoa, Squall and the rest were there too.
Maybe I should have taken Dr. Kadowaki up on her prescription for those ADHD meds. I'd probably be a lot more in control than I am now if I had, more focused.
Abruptly, the Edea makes a sharp bank turn to the left and we hurtle back in the direction we came from. Up ahead, a thick, black cloud of smoke rises from the general area of the lab. I know sand doesn't smoke like that. We must have hit something.
Like the lab.
I glance at a small monitor to my right in time to catch text scrolling down the screen. Most of the information is incoherent codes and technical terms, but the final words on the page make my blood run colder than the wind in Trabia.
Missiles armed. Locked on target. Firing sequence beings in 15 seconds.
Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit! How do I stop it?
I frantically begin pressing buttons, hoping that I hit one that will interrupt the next wave of air attacks. Nothing happens.
Ten seconds.
Come on, Hyne. If you're up there, I need your help. Now. I've never asked you for a single thing before now, so if you could, do something!
Desperate, I pound my fist against the control panel, praying I might do enough damage to short out the system.
Still, nothing.
5 seconds.
I scrunch my eyes shut and let out a frustrated cry as I hear the bomb bay doors open. I don't want to watch. I can't watch.
But like a voyeur, I can't help but peer out the cockpit window as we race towards a burning pile of nothing and the towering Lunatic Pandora which is half shrouded in the black smoke.
That's our target, I presume.
Helplessly, I watch as the missiles charge towards the structure with deadly speed. The first one strikes the topmost portion of the Pandora and explodes in a ball of fire. A second one follows, a third and fourth and fifth and sixth.
Unbelievably, there's no damage to the hull of the Lunatic Pandora other than mild surface scarring and some burn marks from the explosions on impact.
Amazing.
Six Q-562 hydraulic bombs should have obliterated the damned thing.
I gather my wits and punch a purple button that contacts Garden. I need to find out what's going on.
"Garden, this is the Edea. Do you copy?" I state into the small microphone before me. I've always wanted to talk on one of these things, but today it doesn't hold much of a thrill for me.
"We read, Edea, go ahead." It's Nida's voice on the other end. Since when does he work in communications?
"We just bombed something. I think it was an accident, or a system malfunction or something. I couldn't stop it," I gush, realizing for the first time that I may be blamed for the death of my fellow comrades below.
"No malfunction, Zell," Nida says. "The system was programmed to do that."
"What?!" I exclaim. "You mean to tell me this was supposed to happen? Put Xu on, now!"
"Xu's in a meeting with the headmaster right now,"
"I don't give a damn if she's giving head to the Prime Minister of Centra. Put her on now!" I scream at him as if it were his fault. We were supposed to bomb the lab? Why? Why would Garden issue such a directive? Why would Cid approve something like this? This stupid thing can pilot itself, right? So why send three SeeDs to witness the destruction and sit helplessly while it happens? What was the purpose?
My head hurts.
A few minutes, Xu's impatient voice says, "What is it, Edea?"
"What the hell is going on here?" I demand. "Why didn't you tell us we were going to be bombing stuff?"
"We weren't authorized to give you that information," Xu replies.
"Weren't authorized? Are you authorized to participate in murdering your comrades? Do you realize that they're probably dead down there?" I screech at her. Sometimes, I wish there was such a thing as an instantaneous teleportation device, because I'd teleport myself right into her office and throttle her until she turned purple and her tongue swelled up.
"Sometimes you have to sacrifice a few lives to save everyone else."
"I get it. You want to make martyrs out of them," I say flatly. "How do I take control of this thing?"
"You do not have permission to do that," she says, a haughty tone in her voice.
"Does Headmaster Cid know about this?"
"I can't give you that information."
"He doesn't, does he?" She set this whole thing up without Cid's knowledge, didn't she?
"Zell, don't anger me. You have no idea what you're dealing with," she says. I can hear the threat in her voice.
"How do I take control of this thing? Tell me or I'll expose you as the traitor you are when we return," I say, imitating her threatening tone.
"I am not a traitor. I'm just as concerned as you are about our friends,"
"Like hell you are!" I shout.
"You don't have to believe me," she replies, "but I do care what happens to them."
"If you care, then tell me how to fly this thing," I plead. I have to do something. Even if they're dead, maybe I can at least bring their bodies back to Garden so they have a proper burial.
Oh, Hyne. Burial? Fat angry tears well up in my eyes at the realization that my friends, my closest, dearest friends, are most likely dead.
"Please, Xu," I say as I wipe my eyes free of tears. I can't cry in front of all these kids. That's undignified. Embarrassing.
There's a pause on the speaker, then Xu finally says, "There's a white switch in the upper left hand corner of the panel. It's unlabeled. Push it to the right. It turns off the auto pilot."
I reach out and flip the switch. It makes a loud popping noise in the silence. "Ok," I say. "Now what?"
"That's up to you," she says. Abruptly, the com link cuts off and I'm
faced with a deep, dead silence.
The girl is much stronger than I anticipated. I have taken over both her body and her mind and I control them to my heart's desire, but I can feel her pulling at me, looking for a way to push me out. She's not as much of a weakling as I thought. I find it strange that it is now that she has chosen to fight back, considering her knight stands by ready to fight her should he have the need.
He is everything my own knight is not. I know much about the boy from Rinoa's memories of him, and it is a pity that he will not serve us. He is powerful, courageous and pure of heart. But he would betray me for Rinoa in an instant, I know this for certain. Is it because of him that she has chosen to attempt to release herself from my control? I am not certain. There seems to be some other factor, but I can not discern what that is.
Where before I could read her thoughts, I am unable to now. She
has succeeded in constructing a barrier around herself that I can not penetrate.
It worries me that she is capable of doing this, but I doubt she has the
time or energy to reclaim herself before this is all over.
=====
Notes
=====
This chapter was accidentally posted to Oceans Apart....not paying attention to what I was doing. I appologize to anyone who got excited and thought that I had updated. Don't worry, it's coming, just not today.
Thank you to all my reviewers!
He he. I love plot twists. There are two new sections in this chapter that were not in the original story, and the ending will be significantly different than the original.....it won't change anything on the whole and it won't change the outcome . . . .
I just read the funniest fic I've ever seen here on FF.net.....it's Sorted Laundry by Wayward Tempest. If you haven't read it yet, give it a look. It made me laugh so hard I cried.
