Chapter 10
Squall sat alone outside, pondering over last night and what had happened. How Andria had took him to her bed and then thrown him out, like he was nothing but a piece of cheap meat to her. She had played with his feelings and exploited them. This wasn't the same Andria that he had once known, his Andria would never have done that, and yet they were both the same. Was his Andria really like that?
"Hey," said Sia softly in greeting. "Are you okay, you look really pale."
Squall nodded that he was fine. That was a lie though; inside he was screaming that he was being ripped apart. Okay, fine; the words stuck in his throat and cut away, inside he was drowning with sorrow. He had given up everything for her and lost her so he had ended up with nothing. Maybe Zell was right; maybe he should have stayed with Rinoa.
"No Squall, no you're not okay. I can see it in your eyes. What happened last night? What did Andria do to you?"
"Don't wanna talk about it," Squall said abruptly.
"Well it's eating away at you Squall and you'll need to tell someone soon, or else it'll take over you.
"When I found out that I was a witch, my family disowned me. They thought that I was dangerous like a sorceress, that I would become possessed. Andria was the one who showed me that I could control what was happening around me. When she died it was like something had gone out of me, maybe there wasn't any hope left in the world. Even now, now that she's back in a strange perverse way, that hope's still not there. Andria is gone, that person that you saw last night was not the Andria that you knew."
"But she was so much like Andria. I felt her inside."
"Sometimes we see and feel what we wanna feel. Its not real, but we wish and wish for it, and then we think it's come true, not realising that our minds are playing cruel tricks on us."
Beside her, Squall began to cry softly. Realising that what she had said had hurt him so much, she put her arm around him to comfort him. Squall just shook, trying to get himself under control.
"I loved her like Rinoa. This is my punishment for falling in love with them both," he whispered between breaths.
"Shhhh Squall don't say things like that. Andria, your Anidria loved you very much. That's why you are still here. Always." She repeated it the second time with more force. "Always remember that."
* * *
"Are you sure that we can diffuse the situation before Queen Garnet's troops get slaughtered?" Zell asked Enki.
They were in the main sitting area, discussing the last stages of their plan. "I mean, this whole thing doesn't make sense, Andria is a very powerful person, why does she need all of these people protecting her and what's her interest in Lindblum. It's just not like her. Like I said before, the whole thing just doesn't make any sense at all."
"We don't-" Leraikhe never got to finish his sentence. He froze in mid sentence and stared behind Enki and Zell as if he'd seen something horrifying. When Zell slowly turned round, Andria stood before him in all of her terrible glory.
"Well, well," she said softly. "Isn't this nice. Both my brother and his new friends are plotting my downfall. I'm not too keen on that game, shall we try a new one."
Suddenly, very fluidly and with a lot of force, Andria twisted Enki's neck so that his head was facing backwards. Enki slumped dead to the floor.
"Hindsight is a beautiful thing," she whispered.
Leraikhe stood in front of Zell, stopping him from attacking her. Leraikhe was stronger and faster than Zell, he stood a better chance.
"Why Leraikhe, you think that I am here to kill all that you hold dear. It is not death that I have come for, but life."
Shoving Leraikhe aside, Zell then rushed at Andria. Without even battering an eyelid, she knocked him away with a backhand. Zell flew through the air, and then hit the wall with a sickening crunch. He collapsed next to Enki's corpse, unconscious.
"Shall we go then?" Andria asked Leraikhe, holding out her hand to him. Leraikhe backed away from her hand as if it was a poisonous snake that would bite him at any moment. Four strong fiends grabbed his arms and dragged him away.
"This is definitely a better game."
* * *
Squall rubbed his eyes, trying to get the last traces of his bitter tears away.His eyes still felt puffy and red, but they weren't too bad. Sia nodded her approval, and they set off back inside.
"I wonder what Zell and the others have been doing while we've been away," Sia said, trying to initiate conversation again.
"Probably just going over the last of the plans for sneaking in. Do you really think that we need to take Andria out, maybe she's just possessed."
"Squall," said Sia facing him, sadness in her eyes for her lost friend. "I don't think that Andria is possessed, I think that she's just snapped."
"Well that would mean that she can be saved and helped," Squall argued.
"I don't think so. Its gone much too far now. Partly, I don't think Andria wants to be saved any more."
Squall stared at her shocked at her statement. When he found the words they were slow and emotional. "How can you say that, she was our friend. We owe it to her."
"Listen very carefully Squall for I'm only going to say this the once. Andria has been hurt far too much so because of that the woman that we once knew and loved has gone. In the space of that is this terrible beast who will do to all. You saw it yourself firsthand. She must be stopped and if that means killing her then I'm sure that our Andria wouldn't mind to release her from her torment. I f you don't want to come with us then I understand, but think of what Andria would have wanted."
Squall turned away from Sia while he tried to get the tears that were threatening to form blinked away. "I understand what you're saying, but what I feel inside is that I can save her. I can't explain it, but I know that we were brought here for a reason. Maybe this is it."
"Be careful Squall, please. This may be false hope. If you come with us, try not to stop it. I'm not going, I can't. Maybe you should think the same. It doesn't matter if you can or can't put a stop to what's happening. Be careful of your heart, it can play tricks on you."
"I-" Squall didn't finish as he saw the state of the door to their room. The door was hanging off its hinges. Glass and wood scattered the floorboards. The table and chairs where they had had their meetings was smashed in the middle. In the corner, by the wall lay Zell and Enki. Sia rushed over to them both.
"Enki's dead and Zell's badly injured," she said.
"Where's Leraikhe?" asked Squall looking round, only realising just then that he couldn't see him.
Looking round all of the rooms, they couldn't find him anywhere. By this time Daguero had returned from his reconnaissance at the palace.
"She 's took him," said Squall. "She's going to summon the Ancient Ones. I know her, she'll pick up where Leraikhe and Abadon left off."
"Andria's really that pissed off. Well, I can't blame her really," muttered Daguero as he surveyed the damage. "What are we going to do now, how will we cope without Enki to guide us?" Emotion crept into his voice. With vigour he pushed it away, it wasn't a good time to be thinking about it.
"We are going to find Andria and stop her. That's what we need to do. She can't be allowed to get away with this," Squall said, taking command of Sia and Dagurro.
Zell then started to come to. "Squall," he whispered, it was the highest that his voice could go. "Andria… Leraikhe. Where…?"
"Shhh Zell," whispered Sia cradling him. "Be still."
Squall then prepared himself for war. It had gone too far. Things had to be put right.