5: Looking Back at Me

"How can it be so warm inside here when it's so freaking cold outside?" Irvine muttered as he discarded yet another layer of clothing. Quistis was fanning herself with her hands and once in a while, Selphie would swipe irritably at her golden brown bangs that were sticking to her forehead. The only who didn't seem to be affected by the cave's warm temperature is Leads, the future SeeD.

Carefully stepping over stones and even boulders, Quistis wondered why she never knew of the cave's existence. Of course, the fact that it was located around five kilometres from Trabia Garden and hidden behind thick, dense forest should give her some idea why it had never been discovered. It also disturbed her how the trees outside could still live in the biting cold climate of the Trabia continent.

If it hadn't been for Leads and his futuristic gadgets, they'd still be flying around aimlessly on Ragnarok. He was the one that pointed out the cave.

"Hey, guys! I think I found something!" Selphie called out excitedly. She pointed to another opening on the cave walls. It was dark and narrow and only allowed one person to go through it. So they marched single file inside with Quistis in the lead and Irvine bringing up the rear.

After walking for what seemed like hours, they finally came to a huge clearing. It was surprisingly bright and that made the SeeDs blink as they tried to get used to the light. After careful inspection, they found out that the light came from the walls. It was as if the walls were made of a thin layer of silk and thousands of candles were burning behind the silk screen, throwing light to the other side.

It was as scary as it was mesmerizing.

"Approach with caution." Quistis warned, raising a hand. She glanced at Leads and his earlier words haunted her.

"The Sorceress is one of the most powerful in my time. But after escaping Time Compression, I'm sure that even with her powers, she would need to regain her energy. She will still be weak and vulnerable. Therefore, she would be looking for a place to refuge. We must find her and kill her as soon as possible, before all her powers are fully restored."

Leads caught her staring and she turned away. She didn't know why but she didn't like him. His suggestion to sneak up on the sorceress and kill her disturbed her. She just didn't like such method. But he was the only one that seemed to be the most knowledgeable about the Sorceress—and Quistis was the second-in-command after Squall's absence—she had no choice but to follow him.

If only Squall was here. She thought. He'd know what to do.

"Quistis, look." Selphie said in a hushed voice. She gestured to the center of the clearing and Quistis saw a small figure lying on a raised platform. Long black hair was strewn across the platform and its ends fell to slightly graze the ground. The figure was not moving.

"Is she…dead?" Irvine whispered. It seemed that nobody wanted to raise their voices in the presence of an unknown. Or perhaps…it wasn't unknown. Why did she feel like she's seen that figure before?

"Is it the Sorceress?" Quistis turned to Leads. He was staring at the figure with burning hatred in his eyes and his gunblade was unsheathed.

"It's Millennia." He muttered and charged towards the Sorceress.

"Stop!" With well-trained reflex, Quistis jumped in front of him and kicked his gunblade away. It clattered to the ground and slid a few feet away from them.

Leads looked from his gunblade to her astonished face. She didn't realize that she had moved, either.

"What are you doing? That was the Sorceress!" he yelled.

"What am I doing? What are you doing? She's unconscious! And can't you see that she's still a child?" she yelled back. A child, here, meant that the Sorceress was probably around their age. Young and perhaps inexperienced.

"A child—what—she's a Sorceress! Does it matter if she's a child? She kills people!" Leads roared and lunged for his gunblade. Irvine made to grab him but he rolled away from Irvine's grasp and stood up, waving his gunblade at them. "Don't stop me!"

Quistis unhooked her Save the Queen and cracked it in midair. The sound echoed loudly and made Selphie flinch. "We don't how you operate in the future but now, in the present, we SeeDs don't kill in cold blood. And we're not about to start." She said coolly. "Now please, put away your weapon."

"Quistis! She's waking up!" Selphie called out. Quistis whipped her head around to look at the Sorceress and her strawberry blonde locks slapped her right across the face. Pushing hair out of the way, she saw the black head lifting.

Then a million things seemed to happen at once. Leads was once again trying to charge at the Sorceress. Irvine was trying to stop him, Selphie was taking out a Sleep spell—probably to use it on the Sorceress—and Quistis was yelling at them both to stop Leads.

Then she saw it.

The Sorceress was sitting upright and was staring straight at Quistis with eyes as cold and clear as sapphire. The face was pale, the eyes almond shaped and a small, slightly pouty mouth adorned the beautifully unblemished face.

Oh, Hyne. It's…me. That's me…with Squall's eyes. It's not possible!

The Universe was moving. Or maybe it was her. Maybe she was the one who had stopped moving and now she was stumbling backwards, crashing into the thousand year old stars—whose stories she had yet to comprehend and whose wonder left her breathless.

But she could sense her control slipping as bewilderment and shock took over.

Herself…staring back at her.

"SeeD! MurDerErs! The tImE shAlL cOme WhEn aLl WiLl bE aVenGed!" The Sorceress said in a voice like silk against stone. She raised a hand and a film of electric blue light shot out to the nearest SeeD. Selphie.

"Selphie, no!" Irvine screamed and shoved Leads away.

But Quistis was nearer—and faster. She reached out to pull Selphie away from the undulating currents and felt a sizzle up her spine. Warm light encased her arm from the hand that had touched Selphie's and traveled to her whole body. Hot, searing pain coursed through her as the unforgiving flame ate away her insides. She felt Selphie jerked violently and she herself felt like her body was tearing apart.

Visions of red and black swarmed behind her closed eyelids and her legs buckled beneath her. she sank to the ground and heard one last voice before she fell unconscious.

"ThE SeeDs ShaLl pEriSh…aNd tHe sOrCereSs MoVemEnt sHalL SuCceEd."

~@~~@~~@~

"Let's head for Balamb Garden first." Squall said as the train stopped at Balamb Station. He glanced at Rinoa for confirmation and the latter just nodded happily.

They boarded off the train and made their way to the city's entrance. But before they could even reach it, they were stopped by three uniformed soldiers. Balamb soldiers.

"Commander Squall Leonhart of Balamb Garden and Miss Rinoa Heartilly?" one of the soldiers asked.

"That would be us." Squall confirmed, frowning. Since when do we have to go through the Balamb military after a mission? He thought uneasily.

Something wasn't right. The Balamb military unit was not in any way connected to SeeD so he had no idea what the three soldiers wanted with him.

To both Rinoa's and his surprise, the three soldiers raised their weapon at them and ordered them not to move. The one who had spoken earlier stepped to the front, gun still raised.

"What's going on—hey!" Rinoa cried out as he pulled her roughly by the arm.

"Squall Leonhart, you are under arrest for the abduction attempt of Rinoa Heartilly Caraway. Put down your weapon and follow us. Do not resist or we will not hesitate to open fire." The soldier said.

Abduction?

His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits and one of the soldiers shivered. But the one assumed to be the leader was unmoved by the cold glare. He stared back at him with equal animosity.

Cautiously, reluctantly, Squall laid his beloved Lion Heart down. It was quickly snatched up by the shorter soldier, making Squall grit his teeth in anger at the rough handling.

"What do you mean abduction? I'm not being abducted!" Rinoa said indignantly.

 "This is under the order of the President himself! Now silence!"

"President Almasy? But why?" Rinoa was still protesting loudly as she was pushed to walk towards a dark blue armoured car. The two other soldiers were moving behind Squall, their guns on his back.

Seifer. Squall thought darkly as his face flashed in Squall's mind.