AN: Here goes the third chapter... in three freakin' hours!!! *keels over* oh yeah, this looks like it's gonna get a little long (@_@) so bear with it... the remaining three chapters are likely to be shorter (at least, at the moment they are!)
Rating: R maybe PG-13 (R in standing with ff.net's policy of picking the highest rating)
Disclaimer: SG characters are (c) MGM (thankie to Morrigan for that :p). FF8 characters are (c) Squaresoft, original characters are mine – ask nicely and I might let you play with them, s'long's you don't break them...
Warnings: SxS Maybe angst (I do like to torture my characters sometimes :p), language (prob nothin u ain't heard b4, but still...)
~Chapter Forty: Lionheart~
The feeling of danger returned with a rattle of metal as the grate of the ventilation shaft was removed. O'Neill, moving awkwardly in the cramped space, managed to fumble the machine gun and himself around to face the imminent threat.
"Sir?" Samantha's whispered query echoed in the shaft. He motioned her to quiet with his free hand. Perhaps, if they were lucky, the Jaffa would decide the noise had been one of the strange rubbery creatures that infested this place, and would leave them be.
"O'Neill?" The voice was distorted, but not Jaffa. Neither was it anyone Jack recognised.
"Sir?" The voice was unsteady, the uncertainty amplified by the shaft's acoustic properties. "Uh, the mercenaries are back Sir. They're mopping up the Jaffa like...like, well, you have to see it to believe it Sir." Awe filled the marine's voice. But O'Neill recognised it nonetheless.
"All right. C'mon Carter." Sam breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't claustrophobic, but what with the fear of being cornered in one of these rat-traps, either by Jaffa or by one of the indigenous creatures, it had been getting a little, fraught.
Jack O'Neill took the hand that was proffered to aid him from the shaft, and found himself surprised by the strength in Squall's slim frame as the brunette effortlessly pulled him free. Immediately he turned to aid Sam as she struggled out behind him.
"So what now?" Squall grinned at O'Neill's question.
"Now? Now we hunt G'ould."
"Jaffa." One of the marines corrected. "The ones with the stamped foreheads are Jaffa." Squall turned an amused eye on the speaker, who seemed to quail somewhat before the sapphire gaze.
"Small fry. The others can deal with them well enough. No, I mean G'ould. The one in charge." That said, the brunette abruptly turned and began walking away. With a shrug, O'Neill looked at the motley group he now seemed to be in charge of.
"Fall in. Looks like we're backup in this 'hunt'." Snapping to attention, the marines fell in behind Jack and Sam, and followed the two after the disappearing SeeD commander.
***
The numbness in his limbs, and the grogginess in his mind was easing. The zat's effect's wearing off. Daniel suppressed the instinct to groan, some survival instinct warning him that doing so could earn him an instinctive second shot. That would be lethal, unless he had fully recovered from the first shot, which he hadn't. There seemed to be some confusion with what to do with him amongst the Jaffa, the debate mainly focussed on whether the G'ould, Shara, wanted him dead or alive.
"Hi guys!" A cheerful, and familiar voice came from behind the Jaffa. Alicia, the SeeD linguistics expert, waved cheerily at the six Jaffa and didn't even flinch at the zat and staff fire that was instantly thrown at her. The Jaffa relaxed as she was enveloped in an electrical firestorm, only to gasp in surprise, and a little fear, when she emerged from it completely unharmed.
But these Jaffa had fought rival G'ould before. They knew the weakness of the personal shields was that they were designed to protect against fast projectiles or energy weapons. An arrow or thrown knife, even a rock from a sling, could penetrate with deadly affect. Staffs and zats were abandoned to the floor in favour of long knives. Still Alicia smiled, only now it was more of a predatory smirk, and Daniel noticed for the first time the two long knives she held.
It was almost as if the SeeD danced into the melee that ensued, moving fluidly to the rhythm of music only she could hear. One by one the Jaffa dropped to the floor, their throats slashed or their chests pierced. There was the occasional unexplained flash of pink when the Jaffa attacked, but as she and the last Jaffa backed away from each other Alicia was unharmed. Making a gesture that Daniel assumed was to ward off evil, the Jaffa advanced once more. But this time something seemed to go wrong for the SeeD. There was a bright flash of pink that temporarily blinded all three, and a loud curse from the girl. When Daniel could see again, Alicia was standing awkwardly, one arm wrapped around her abdomen, and dark blood soaking through her clothes. Victoriously the Jaffa closed in for the killing blow...
***
Alicia could feel the wound was mortal – or would be unless another SeeD miraculously arrived to use a phoenix down on her. As the Jaffa approached once more, the narrowing of her vision not due entirely to concentration anymore, she steeled herself for the final blow. The tall armoured man placed a hand upon her shoulder, perhaps to prevent her trying to dodge, perhaps as a gesture of respect. Either way, it gave her the opening she needed. As the Jaffa's wide blade came down, Alicia's narrow blade went up...
***
Daniel watched in horror, still paralysed by the zat fire that had hit him, as Jaffa and SeeD both crumpled to the ground. The Jaffa was dead before he hit the floor, Alicia's knife driven up under the ribs and into his heart, but she lived still. Not for much longer though. Her blood loss was already severe from the abdominal wound, and the chest wound, where the Jaffa's knife lay, a mere hairsbreadth from her heart, was driving the last of her life from her. Already the brown eyes that had danced with laughter only a few minutes ago were glazing over, the light inside dying and leaving them dull.
As the final spark of life fled, unable to even reach out and close the eyes that saw no more, Daniel closed his own eyes and wept...
***
That was how Seifer, and his small following of three marines, found them mere minutes later. The six Jaffa and lone SeeD all dead, and Daniel, tear tracks staining his cheeks, in the corner.
With a sigh, Seifer crouched, drawing his hand gently over Alicia's face and closing her eyes forever. Daniel looked up at the sound, normally placid features marred with guilt and anger.
"She died in the line of duty. She will never be forgotten." The marines, who had been questioning Seifer for long enough to know what the blond meant, dipped their heads in respect. Daniel, however, heard only the words, and neither the emotion they were spoken with, nor the ritual way in which they were said.
"Death in the line of duty isn't honourable! It's a tragedy!" He hissed angrily.
"Yes, it is. But SeeDs accept that it happens and ensure that none die in vain." Seifer responded calmly. The sentiments felt strange to him, when he considered that less than half a decade ago he had been directing the Galbadian army against SeeD, but the time that had passed had allowed him to reflect on his past actions. It was easier, without the distorting control of a sorceress manipulating his mind, to see where his values and beliefs had been warped, and easier still to reconcile himself with the 'sudden' change of heart.
"How can you believe that? There is no wrong and right in war." Daniel demanded, thinking of all the wars on earth. It was the same argument as war only having losers, not winners.
"Because ultimately there is. Do you fight the G'ould merely because they are there?" Seifer asked patiently.
"No. We wouldn't..." Slowly, as Seifer refused to rise to his bait, Daniel's anger was cooling, and now understanding trembled on the verge of recognition.
"Exactly. We have a small population compared to yours. We have a low life expectancy, and many more indigenous hazards. We do not 'in-fight' without some greater power directing that fighting. That power is wrong, by all definitions."
"What if the victory of the greater power would lead to peace in the long term?" Daniel asked, curious now as to how people who lived with violence every day could still have such pacifistic views.
"The loss of life is not acceptable. Whatever the destination, the road must be worthy of it, and peace forged by blood will never last." The destination reflected the road, and the road the destination. Ultemecia's blood-soaked road had led towards a future that was past and present combined in the here-and-now, a state that none but she would have survived.
The marines behind them shuffled their feet in impatient response to the tension that was slowly filling the excavation site, and Seifer straightened, offering Daniel a hand, and helping him to his feet.
"Come. Or we'll miss the show." Exchanging blank looks with the marines, Daniel followed Seifer with a puzzled expression on his face. What show?
***
The remainder of the journey back to the stargate was, for the most part, unhindered. Well, Jack mused, considering the ease with which the brunette had dealt with the two Jaffa they had encountered, maybe even that hadn't been a hindrance. The main excavation room however, was a different story. It was heavily defended – at least twelve Jaffa from the brief glance he had gotten before being unceremoniously pushed behind some crates – and the G'ould was also there.
"Are you insane?" O'Neill hissed at Squall, seeing the brunette, unconcernedly standing in full view of the room to survey the positions of the Jaffa and G'ould. His only answer was an eyebrow quirked upwards in amusement as the SeeD commander pulled his gloves to a tighter fit.
"Possibly." And then Squall was striding out into the centre of the room.
The Jaffa seemed uncertain whether they should fire or not, then the G'ould gestured, and blue zat fire and yellow staff fire streaked towards the unconcerned brunette.
"That's it. He's fried." One of the marines commented morosely, averting his eyes. They'd met Squall barely five minutes earlier, had only spoken with him to answer his questions on the whereabouts of O'Neill and Sam Carter, and yet any of them would have volunteered without a second thought if he had requested a suicide volunteer.
"No he's not!" The exclamation burst from Sam's lips along with a laugh of pure wonder. Indeed, as they stared through the thinning cloud of smoke – caused by the volley of shots – it was clear that Squall hadn't even been phased by the attack. He had merely stopped walking, but now he resumed his steady stroll towards the G'ould herself, idly drawing his gunblade as he went.
Another Jaffa, either more determined or less surprised than the others, sent another burst of staff fire towards the brunette. This time everyone watching saw the blue shield that shimmered into visibility as the staff fire hit it. Squall paused, and turned to face the Jaffa who had fired – and now seemed to be regretting it. Gunblade held in his left hand, the brunette raised his right hand to his forehead, muttering unintelligible words before casting the hand in the direction of the Jaffa. The squeak and crackle of ice cut through the sudden silence. The Jaffa stood, turning to run. But he was too late, and his companions watched as he was literally frozen in place by the blizzaga spell.
Evidently - after witnessing the gruesome death of the Jaffa - not wanting Squall any closer, the G'ould brought a small crossbow up. She clearly believed, as did everyone not native to the planet, that his 'shield', so similar to the G'ould personal shield, had the same weaknesses. They were disabused of that notion when the crossbow bolt bounced off the shimmering blue surface to land on the floor with a sad clang.
Squall raised his hand to his face again, casting another spell. Shara vanished into a whirling vortex of black and blinding white... Only to reappear seconds later, looking pale and shaken, but otherwise unharmed. There was a low whistle of awe from one of the marines. Face tightening into a scowl, Shara held her own hand up, the fiery circle in her palm beginning to glow with an unnatural light. Squall didn't even hesitate, casting what could only be a defensive spell, as it bathed him in green light before fading from view. The gold beam so terribly familiar to all those who had encountered G'ould before shot out...
And was blocked by the green shield.
Shara stumbled backwards a couple of steps, perhaps suddenly uncertain of herself, perhaps pushed there by the force of the beam, for it vanished seconds later. Squall's retaliation was swift, a blinding shaft of red light running from his outstretched hand to the G'ould, who seemed to dwindle beneath its force, enveloped by the flare of white light that exploded in her face.
"Holy shit!" The exclamation came from the opposite side of the room to Jack and Sam, who looked over in time to see Seifer intercept a spurt of zat fire intended for the marine who had exclaimed. His response was no more merciful than Squall's had been. The Jaffa, already fleeing having seen the blue shield around the blond, was swiftly overtaken and consumed by a whirling tornado of fire. His screams echoed in the room, but neither Squall nor Shara seemed to hear them.
The G'ould shield had proven a match for both holy and flare, whilst the protect and reflect spells were their equal. It was, seemingly, a standoff. Unless, of course, one or other of the two were merely sizing up their opposition...
***
Shara stared at the human before her. He was only a child, even by their standards, and yet he had met her attacks without flinching, and had shown he possessed considerable power himself. He had shown command of the elements...
"Tsokuwaru Eled'ra." She whispered quietly. Proudly, defiantly, she drew herself up. She would die here, if it was fated that she would, and if it were so, then as befitted her status, she would die with honour. Her sharp eyes narrowed at a faint flicker of blue around the boy. Suddenly he didn't seem so certain. His shield had just failed she realised, smirking triumphantly. It was not fated that she should die here and now.
Shara chanted the ancient words, making the gestures that only a few now knew. Few less had the age and skill to successfully perform this battle rite, even if they could make the sounds and the movements.
The tau'ri were watching closely she knew. She could feel their eyes on her, their surprise, curiosity. Let them watch. Let them watch as their champion fell before her might.
***
At first it seemed as though the G'ould were breaking out in some sort of strange sweat. Beads of darkish liquid began appearing across her skin. But then those beads began to flow together in ways that defied physics. Slowly a serpent-like creature began to form, much like a skeletal oarfish, but fiercer and with leathery appendages along its back that almost resembled wings.
The brunette seemed unaware of the danger he was in, and yet at the same time, seemed to be waiting for the creature to strike.
***
Shara watched as the boy just stood there, waiting for her to attack. Did he know that running would merely increase the damage the phantom would do? Or was it fear that held him in place? No...she thought. There was no fear in his frozen eyes, only patience and determination. No matter. She had yet to find the enemy who could withstand the phantom's venom.
Ritual finished, the phantom slithered from its position, draped around her shoulders and neck, down her arm, the chill touch of its passage soothed away by her G'ould healing abilities. Fanged mouth wide, venom already dripping to the floor, where it burned the metal with its chill poison, the phantom coiled at the end of her outstretched arm and lunged.
***
Squall felt the creature's chill body loop around his own several times, its acid scales burning their way effortlessly through his clothes and into his skin, imparting more of the lethal venom even as its fangs sank deeply into his shoulder to deliver their deadly poison.
With difficulty he did not need to feign, Squall drew in harsh breaths, sinking to his knees as the phantom vanished. His clothes slid, falling away from his torso to hang from his arms. Deep red wounds, already inflamed from the poisonous touch, were visible beside older and paler scars from the Ultemecia war.
His vision began to darken at the edges, tunnelling so that all he could see was the G'ould, smirking down at him. Squall struggled for the control, the strength, to snarl back at her.
***
Shara nearly laughed aloud at the defiance in the brunette's eyes. Such a shame that she was unable to make him a host. He would have been perfect. Still, he was fading fast now, the red of his wounds beginning to spread as his traitorous body distributed the venom in his blood around itself. Not, though, fast enough for her liking. Smirking, she drew a long, slim dagger and stepped towards him...
***
Edea watched reverently as first Harena's body, and then Yarege's, shimmered and vanished. Then there was nothing but the white mist pouring from the earth itself, rising into a whirling pillar that then condensed itself into a brightly shining cloud. The sorceress fell to her knees as it drifted towards her, bowing her head in acknowledgement of Hyne's power.
"My Queen..." She breathed, still staring fixedly at the ground beneath her knees.
"Rise daughter... You are no less for having only a fraction of my power." Edea did as she was bidden, and found herself enveloped in the cloud, floating, cradled in the arms of Hyne as they sped across the land. She felt no fear. How could she in the embrace of the one to whom she owed her powers? Hyne the mother, bearing her daughter to witness destiny's turning point.
***
Daniel started to rise as Squall sank to his knees, only to be pushed back down by Seifer. He stared up at the blond in horror and confusion.
"You'd let your lover die?" Seifer blinked in surprise.
"How'd you know...?"
"I listen." Daniel snapped. Oh well, Seifer realised, that explained the dirty looks some of the female – and male – SeeDs had been giving him.
"Hmm. Well, don't let yourself be fooled. He's taken far worse wounds from me without wincing." Of course, that was a lie, but Seifer was confident Squall knew exactly what he was doing. Even if the blond did have his fingers crossed tightly behind his back where no one else could see them.
Across the room a similar conversation was taking place...
***
"Sir, we can't just let him die...!" Jack patted Sam somewhat awkwardly on the shoulder.
"Does the blond look worried?" She squinted across the room.
"No..." Although...did he have his fingers crossed behind his back? Sam couldn't quite make it out.
"Well, if he's not worried about his boyfriend who are we to interfere?" There was a moment's pause as Carter digested this new information. It certainly explained why O'Neill had relaxed around them. He was too damn protective for his own good – or hers – sometimes.
"What if he ~does~ look worried?" Jack shot her his own worried look.
"Then we start planning for Armageddon." Sam would have laughed, only Jack O'Neill was 100% serious...
***
Shara stepped closer to the brunette fighter, savouring the sound of his laboured breaths. He was fighting the phantom's poison, but it was a useless fight. Even without her intervention he would die. It would just take longer, and be far more painful. In a way, she was being merciful. He had been a worthy opponent though, he perhaps deserved this mercy.
Another step and no reaction. He was staring defiantly through her now, his eyes unable to track her movement and refocus on her new position. Her last suspicions of a trick faded and died. If he were to make one last attack he would have done so by now. There was no way he could be strong enough to hold off the phantom's venom this long and still attack with a force sufficient to threaten her now.
Another step brought her within two feet of him and his strange weapon. She halted there suddenly, as the weapon began to glow with an unnatural light. Did it, like the planet had, sense and object to her presence? The youth hadn't moved. Shading her eyes from the glow, which was rapidly becoming painfully bright, Shara started to take another step, only to be pushed backwards as the youth surged upwards, the glowing blade slicing cleanly through her arm.
Too close! Too close! She had stepped too close, and her shields had passed over the boy she had thought harmless. Her left arm from the elbow down now lay on the floor in gruesome testament to the mistake she had made. There was no shield now, not with the mechanism forcibly removed from her person. Why had the phantom's venom failed?! How?!
There was no time for answers though. No time for anything but panicked defence as the glowing blade flickered across her vision again and again, inflicting multiple wounds. None should have been fatal, not even when combined with the others, but when the attacks ceased she found that something was wrong. Her wounds were not healing, though she could feel the process of healing trying to begin. A faint abnormal redness gave her the clue she needed. Poison. As she had poisoned the youth, so he had poisoned her.
A laugh escaped her lips. Such a worthy foe. Such a worthy victor. For she realised now that she was indeed fated to die here and now. And you cannot cheat fate...
***
Squall stepped back from the G'ould as his limit break finished, and the glow left his gunblade. He could see her wondering why the wounds did not heal, saw as she realised the irony in the situation and understood the soft laughter. When she straightened and looked him straight in the eyes, he realised she had seen her death and was determined to meet it with the dignity fitting her power.
Slowly he saluted, the SeeD salute that was the beginning of his casting gesture anyway. Then he cast ultima. The ultimate spell for, perhaps, the ultimate enemy.
***
All were silent as Shara crumpled beneath the onslaught of the ultima spell. It was a fitting funeral pyre for such an ancient and powerful G'ould. She did not scream or contort in pain, but simply died with a serene expression on her face. Squall stepped forwards when it was over, gently closing her eyes. Whatever she had done in her long lifetime, she had died a warrior's death, and died it well.
The spell was broken by a series of thuds. The Jaffa who had still been alive crumpling as one to the floor. Confusion broke out amidst the marines and SeeDs, allowing Seifer to hurry to his lover's side without being noticed, and heal his wounds.
"You might as well discard those tops." Seifer pointed out.
"Hmm." Squall agreed, stripping the remnants from his arms. "Thought you'd be jealous if I stripped for her." Seifer looked at him askance. "What?"
"Nothing..." But the blond continued to watch his lover as if he might collapse at any second. Squall glared at Seifer in warning. "I'm just worried. You actually made a joke." Squall growled, elbowing the taller man in the stomach before turning and dropping gracefully to one knee. "Squ..." Seifer began, then suddenly followed suit.
The silence returned full force as a glowing cloud of energy fell through the roof of the room, drifting to a halt about a foot from the floor in front of the two kneeling fighters.
"Rise, my chosen knights." The melodious voice materialised along with its owner, and Edea. The ethereal being, Hyne, looked around the room with a pleased smile, the SeeDs falling to their knees in reverence before it. "Rise, all of you." Slowly, with some further urging from Hyne, they did so, gazing upon her with awe.
The marines weren't quite sure what to make of the situation. She was not a G'ould, and appeared friendly, but what ~was~ she? ~Who~ was she?
"I am Hyne. I was the first, and someday I will be the last, but not today." She smiled at those not native to the world, and a sense of relaxation, calm, swept over them. This powerful being meant them no harm. She was willing to answer their questions.
"Why did the Jaffa all die?" It was a marine who spoke, but in the aura of calm benevolence it seemed unthinkable that Jack should call him to task for speaking without permission.
"Shara was a very old G'ould. She was of the 'old school' if you will. Her Jaffa were linked to her to ensure their loyalty. If she died, they died." Hyne sighed. "In many ways it is a shame she chose death, for she might, having seen the discord into which the younger G'ould have fallen, have joined forces with you."
"You're like Oma Desala..." Daniel realised, only becoming conscious of the fact he had spoken aloud when Hyne answered him.
"Perhaps, a little. But I was old before her existence even began, and older still when she became as she is now. I am only a legend now, even to those who seek to follow my path. But come, we have yet to end this."
Then, before anyone could object, or even realise her intentions, Hyne vanished from the room, along with Squall, Seifer, Sam, Jack and Daniel. Outside it was several seconds before the startled SeeDs there realised that Quistis and Irvine had vanished from their midst.
AN: yeah, sorry bout the length n all *unapologetic grin* well, three chapters in one day o.O Heh, now I just gotta do it again *yawns* well, fraid that may not happen, so it could be a week or so before the final three chapters are up :( oh well, I've tried *wails* now, where's that coffee gone? *wanders off in search of coffee and a bed to collapse on*
