ReCreating Hell Chapter 7: The One That Is The World, a final fantasy viii fanfic

Re-Creating Hell
Chapter Seven: The One That Is The World
By: PasifikStar

*All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I don't own Final Fantasy or it's characters.

"Smell this one!" Selphie said, shoving a small test tube underneath Irvine's nose. "Does this smell like it? I think it does!"

Behind her, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Seifer rolled his eyes. *If she keeps shoving those tubes under his nose, he'll loose his sense of smell entirely...* Seifer thought.

Irvine gently pushed the tube away and smiled weakly. "One at a time, okay, darlin'?" he said.

Selphie blushed and nodded. He took the tube from her hand and smelled it. Frowning, he shook his head and Selphie's face fell. The door opened and Rinoa came in. "How's it going?"

Quistis let out a heavy sigh and lifted up the last tube. "Keep your fingers crossed..." she said and handed it to Irvine. "It's the last one."

Rinoa crossed both fingers and her arms as Irvine waved the top of the tube under his nose. He paused, thinking a bit, and repeated the motion. "Well?" Selphie asked impatiently.

"This is it," Irvine said. "That's the smell."

Everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief and Quistis took some notes. She looked at her lap top and began to scan her files. "Now what?" Rinoa asked quietly.

"We wait," Irvine said. "That's the only thing we can do until Quistis finds the source."

"It's late," the blonde female said as she turned around in her seat. "We need to get some sleep. Some of us hadn't had sleep in almost twenty four hours."

"That's you Quistis," Selphie said. "You should go to bed."

"No, I have to watch this-"

"Quistis," Rinoa said, putting her hand on Quistis' shoulder. "You've worked non stop for days. You need to get some sleep."

"I'll be fine," Quistis assured her. "I used to do this all time when I was doing projects for school."

"Rin's right, Quisty," Seifer said. "You're of no use to us if you fall asleep every few minutes or collapse from lack of proper rest. So either you get up and go to bed for a few hours or I'll carry you up there myself."

"Please, Quistis," Rinoa said. "I appreciate this...I really do, but we're all already worried about Squall. We don't want to have to worry about you falling down and passing out on us."

"Rin's done enough of that already." Seifer smirked. Rinoa rolled her eyes and Quistis took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I guess you're right..."

"Thank you."

"I'll go to bed as soon as this is done."

"QUISTIS!" Rinoa and Selphie shrieked, frustrated.

"You leave me no choice!" Selphie said as she opened the door wide. "Seifer, if you please."

"With pleasure." The tall blond walked across the room and bent down. Quistis' eye went wide.

"What are you doing!?" Quistis gasped. His arms went around her waist and heaved her up over his shoulder. "Seifer! Seifer, put me down immediately! SEIFER!!"

"I'll open the door to her room!" Selphie announced as she ran out of the room.

"Seifer, so help me, if you don't put me down...!!" Quistis' voice could be heard threatening as they left the room.

"Will you shut up, woman!?" a deep voice replied gruffly. "And stop hitting my back!!"

Rinoa let out a heavy sigh and ran her hand down her face. Irvine put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay, little lady?"

Rinoa merely took a deep breath. "Hyne, Irvine...I'm just happy to know he's alive."

Irvine looked surprised as he followed her out of the room and into the hall. "I thought you knew the whole time that he was alive...?"

"I did," Rinoa said. "But it's good to have confirmation, you know..." Irvine nodded and smiled.

"Okay!" a voice said as they passed the stairs. Selphie came down, clapping her hands together as if to dust them off. "Quisty is all nice and tucked into bed. Seifer's sitting there and making sure she's going to sleep and not do more research."

"Good," Rinoa said. "Let's see...Fujin's sleeping in my bed and Raijin's passed out on the chair..." They looked over into the living room to see the big lycan sleeping soundly on the big leather arm chair. Sprawled out across the couch was Zell.

"We should go to the palace," Irvine said as he studied the sleeping shape shifter. "Laguna might want to know his son's alive."

He walked over to the sleeping hot dog lover and grinned. Rinoa and Selphie looked at each other. "That's right...we forgot to tell him."

"Do you think he'll believe us?" Selphie asked. "What if he's too distraught?"

"There's no harm in trying," Rinoa asserted. "I'll go tell Seifer, we're going." She headed up the stairs and Selphie turned her attention to Irvine, who wore a rather large smile on his face.

"Hey, Zell..." Irvine said as he lifted up a large navy pillow from the love seat across from the couch where Zell was sleeping. "WAKE UP!"

"AH!" Zell jumped up as the heavy pillow slammed into his mid section. He jumped to a standing position and looked around wildly. "What the!?" His eyes landed on the smirking cowboy and narrowed. "What the hell was that about, Irvine! Can't you see I was sleeping!?"

"Yep, that's why I did it."

Zell glared at him. "I hate you."

"Okay, are we all set?" Rinoa asked as she came down the stairs.

"Set?" Zell asked. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the palace," Irvine said as he grabbed his car keys from the kitchen counter. "To tell Laguna in person that his boy is alive."

Zell's eyes went large and he smiled broadly. "He'll be glad to hear it!"

"I hope that'll bring him out of his funk..." Rinoa said.

"Don't worry!" Selphie piped as she took Irvine's cowboy hat off his head and put it on her own. "Sir Laguna doesn't seem like one to be in a funk for long!"

The door closed behind them and they headed down the elevator to Irvine's car. He was parked in the visitor's section and they got in. The top was up. "Nice car..." Rinoa mumbled.

"Isn't it?" Irvine grinned as he started it up. "Took me a while to find all the parts of the engine."

"Yeah, didn't you have to seduce that girl at the junk yard to get a look at an old engine for one of the parts?" Zell asked brightly.

"Seduce?" Selphie asked, disapproval lacing her voice. Irvine chuckled nervously as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"I swear, that was a long time ago-"

"What are you talking about?" Zell asked, cutting him off. He sat in the back seat with Rinoa. He looked over at the brown eyed brunette. "He just went to the junk yard last week."

"Shut up, Zell..." Irvine sang behind gritted teeth.

"Irvine Kinneas!" Selphie said as she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

"Selphie, darlin', that was BEFORE I met you!" Irvine said reassuringly. "I won't go any more."

"Until he needs another part for his car..." Rinoa snickered next to Zell. The two gave each other high fives.

"Rin, whose side are you on!?" Irvine shouted over his shoulder.

"Mine!" Rinoa smiled cheerfully. Selphie giggled.

"It's okay!" Selphie said as she turned to Irvine and quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I still love you!"

"That's a relief..." Irvine sighed. He looked up at his rear view mirror and frowned. "No thanks to you two."

The rest of the drive was rather uneventful. Although several ex-girlfriends were mentioned by Zell, who then got into a conversation about what happened to Selphie's ex-boyfriends. One particular example nearly made Irvine crash into a tree.

By the time they reached the front gate of the palace, Irvine had one thing to say. "Seifer is one scary guy when it comes to Selphie."

Irvine rolled down his window and pressed the button that the front gate. "Hey! It's us! Open the door!"

"I'm sorry, Irvine," Ellone's voice said through the speaker. "This is a bad time."

"Ellone, wait!" Rinoa said, sticking her head out the window after pushing Irvine's out the way. "It's about Squall!!"

"Rinoa..." Ellone's tired voice said. They heard another voice speaking to her. "It's Rinoa and Irvine. They said it's something about Squall." They heard a slight wail. "I'm opening the gate."

Rinoa sat back down Selphie gave her a thumbs up as the heavy iron gates opened. They drove to the front steps and Ellone was there waiting for them. As they got out, they noticed her puffy eyes and her worn appearance.

"Sis, are you okay?" Zell asked. "What's going on?"

"I'm afraid it hasn't been going too well..." the vampiress said. She waved for them to follow her inside.

Without saying a word, she lead them up the stairs as they recognized the change in air from when had been there earlier in the week. Instead of older vampires lounging in the lobby, there were scores of younger ones. They were all dressed in dark clothes and eyeing them as they ascended the stairs.

The smell of fresh blood hung in the air and the room was cold. As they reached the second floor, Ellone let out a heavy sigh. Rinoa spoke up behind her. "How long as it been like this?"

"About a day," Ellone explained. "Other elder leaders from other clans have been approaching our clan. It's like they're vultures...just waiting for us to fall and die. It's disgusting."

"Did the leader from the Guado clan leave already?" Zell asked, referring to the big blue haired man that had arrived when word got out that Squall was dead.

Ellone's eyes narrowed. "Fortunately. That sickening vampire just left... I just know he wants to take Uncle Laguna down from his position..."

"That's not going to happen, sis," Zell told her confidently. He and Irvine had started calling her that after they heard Squall use that to address her. It gave them a sense of familiarity. And for Irvine, an orphan without any siblings, a sense of family. "We have big news."

"I hope it's good news..."

"Any news at this point whould be good news." Irvine said. They arrived at two double doors and Ellone knocked on the right one.

"Uncle Laguna?" Ellone called in. "It's me...I've brought them in."

The door opened and they followed Ellone inside. Ward had opened the door for them and Laguna was sitting at his desk, looking like a complete mess. His hair was uncombed, his shirt wrinkled and probably several days old. He looked up at them with tired, blood shot eyes. It seemed as if hundreds of years had been added to him over night.

"Sir..." Rinoa began as she was pushed forward to tell the vampire the news by Selphie and Irvine. She looked back at them, over her shoulder, and gave them an annoyed frown.

"Rinoa..." he breathed tiredly. He smiled at her weakly. "I told you before... it's just Laguna."

"Right..." she said. She walked over to the desk and looked back at her friends who nodded. She took a deep breath. "Laguna, sir, we have something to tell you. It's about Squall."

Laguna's eyes immediately teared up and his hand gripped the edge of the oak desk tightly. "I don't understand it..." he mumbled quietly. "Squall was my son...Raine gave up her life to have him and I loved him with everything I had in me...what did he do to deserve this? He might have been a little cold sometimes, but he was a good boy..."

"I think I should correct you," Rinoa told him. "Squall WASN'T a good boy. He still IS one."

Seifer woke up to beeping and looked around. The room was decorated in a pale, dusty pink rose color with dark wood furniture and flowery drapes that were closed over white blinds. A framed picture on the desk of three girls immediately reminded him where he was.

He turned back to twin sized bed against the wall and found Quistis starting to wake up from underneath her dark pink comforter. She rubbed her eyes and Seifer, who had fallen asleep on a chair by her desk at the foot of her bed, looked around for the beeping thing.

"It's my alarm..." Quistis said, sitting up and looking around. She reached up to the shelf that was in the wall and took out a small palm sized machine. Her eyes grew large as she grabbed the edge of her blanket and threw it off of her.

"Quistis!" Seifer scolded. "You've only been asleep for...ugh! Less than two hours!" He glared at the clock on her desk as if it had betrayed him some how.

Quistis wasn't listening. Instead, she put her feet into some matching slippers with little hearts on them as she stood up. "It's got it!" she exclaimed as she headed towards the door.

Seifer stood up and went after her. "What's got it!?" He called down as Quistis ran down the stairs and towards the first floor hall.

Grumbling, the tall blond male followed behind her, walking down the stairs at a more leisurely pace. He went down the hall, noticing that Raijin was still snoring away on the chair in the living room. Seifer entered the dark room lab and found Quistis leaning over her lap top, her glasses back on and acting as if she had never left.

"Seifer..." she said. "The chemicals I used to make that scent...those hard elements that I used...they're produced by Compression Industries."

"So?" Seifer asked as he yawned behind her.

"Seifer," Quistis said as she tapped his head with her index finger. "Compression Industries is owned by Adel."

Seifer's eyes grew large. "Are you serious?"

"The computer came up with the exact address," Quistis said proudly as she pointed to her screen. "There is only one place that produces one of the chemicals used and it's in Trabia."

"All the way over there?" Seifer asked. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," Quistis breathed. She smiled. "We're going to find him."

"I don't really care much about vamp boy, you know that," Seifer admitted as he walked over and put his arms on either side of Quistis, pinning her against the counter. "But as long as it makes you girls happy."

"You're such a softy, you know that," Quistis said as she pressed her forehead against the base of his neck, feeling the cold metal of his necklace against her warm skin. "You'd do anything for us."

"That's because you're my girls," he answered with a smirk. He lifted his hand and put it under her chin, bringing her up to look at him. "And you're MY girl."

He leaned down slowly. "I have to call Rin and Selphie." Quistis said suddenly. Seifer frowned as she pulled away, an all too pleased smile on her face, and went to the nearest phone.

"Had to ruin it, didn't you?" he called after her.

"Like I was actually going to kiss YOU." she shouted over her shoulder.

"That was the plan!" Seifer called back. He sighed heavily and tilted his head back. "Hyne, why did you make her so...so...Quistis..."

Laguna's eyes were brimming with joyous red tears as he stood up and hugged Rinoa tightly. Rinoa smiled weakly as the vampire squeezed her. She looked over his shoulder. "Help me..." she mouthed to the others.

"Uh...Uncle Laguna...Rinoa can't breath." Ellone said. She was wiping her eye with a black handkerchief and smiling from ear to ear.

"I thought I had lost him for sure!" Laguna smiled brightly. "Well... we've LOST him, but not lost him lost him..."

"As soon as Quistis finds the address, we'll set out," Rinoa assured him. "We'll find Squall and bring him back."

"Should I go-"

"No!" Everyone in the room chorused as Laguna took a step back, as if shocked.

"Sir, you're needed here," Irvine said, trying to give a reason. "The way things are going here, you are definitely needed."

"He's right, Laguna," Kiros said, being the voice of reason. "You know what's going on right now in the clan. You know where you're needed."

"But...Squall..." Laguna trailed off, worriedly.

"Laguna, we'll find him," Rinoa assured the old vampire. "We all love Squall very much...we won't stop until he's safe with us again."

Laguna nodded. "If you need, anything...anything at all...just tell me."

Suddenly, someone's cellular phone began to ring and as if trained, almost everyone, save Zell and Ward, looked towards their pockets for their phones.

"It's mine! It's mine!" Selphie shouted triumphantly as she lifted the phone to her ears. "Hello, Selphie here, how can I help you?" she asked sweetly.

Rinoa rolled her eyes. *Only she would answer the phone like that... and have a three minute song as an introduction to her voice mail. No wonder no one ever leaves her messages on that thing...* She shook her head.

Irvine stared at the petite girl with a smile on his face. *Hyne, she's so cute...and I love her voice mail...even if it is three minutes long...*

Zell looked at the clock on the wall. *That's it, when I get a cellular phone, I'm going to pick a different ring tone.*

"Booyaka! Way to go, Quisty!" Selphie yelled as she jumped up. "We'll be right over!"

She hung up. "What is it?" Rinoa asked, her eyes hopeful.

Selphie nodded with a huge smile. "She got it!"

"Yes!!" Rinoa shouted as she and Selphie hugged and jumped up and down.

"She got the address?" Zell smiled. He lifted his fists in the air. "Yeah! Let's go get, Squall!"

"One problem though..." Selphie said. The room got quiet as all the attention was on her. "It's all the way in Trabia."

"That far?" Rinoa asked. She frowned. "Oh, Hyne...we have to leave right away...and the trains! On no!" Her eyes went large. "The trains have already stopped heading out for the night!"

"She's right," Irvine agreed, also frowning. "The last train to Trabia must've already left."

"We can't wait until tomorrow!" Rinoa said as she began to panic.

Zell's head perked up. "We might not have to..."

"What do you mean?" Laguna asked.

"This is official mission business right?" Zell said. He smiled. "Can I use your phone, sir?"

"Be my guest, Zell." Laguna said. Zell, still smiling proudly, picked the phone and dialed a number.

The group was silent as Zell held the phone to his ear. On the second ring, someone picked up. "Matron Edea, this is Zell. I'm sorry for calling so late, but may I please speak to Master Cid?" He winked and Irvine realized what the blond was doing.

"Zell, you son of a gun..." Irvine grinned broadly. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Think of what?" Selphie asked.

Irvine looked at her and smiled. "Ever heard of the Ragnarok?"

Squall groaned. His head throbbed and he let out a swear. Looking around the dark room, it all came back to him...unfortunately. The vampire who kidnapped Rinoa, the maze like compound they were in, the room lined with cylinders filled with beating hearts cloned from Rinoa's DNA...and Adel.

His eyes narrowed as he thought of the mad woman. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the floor. He thought that Adel had been a pure blooded sorceress...but she wasn't. She was only half. At least, he figured she was half.

Among the underworld races, after one is born, their race cannot usually be changed into another. Turning, the term used for when a vampire changes a non vampire, usually human, into one of them, was something quite rare. It was rare not because no one did it, but because typically, the bloods did not mix well, even if they were hybrids, and turning often resulted to death.

Hybrids were natural and were birthed that way, like Selphie and Seifer. Many underworld males and females had died after trying to be turned by their mate. For the vampire, while dripping with sexuality, once they claimed a mate, that would be their mate for life. Lycans were the same, but sorcerers and shape shifters, who shared a lot of commonalities with humans, had the same marriage traditions as they did.

The big difference, aside from the magic and the ability to change form at will, was at they were basically immortals, like vampires and lycans. But they had human bodies that once fatally wounded would result in them dying, were as vampires and lycans could be shot, stabbed, and hung and still be fine as long as they kept their heads and were exposed to sunlight for vampires or silver for lycans.

Squall shook his head. He never cared. He never would. He fell back on the small cot he had been dumped after being sedated and closed his eyes. Could he really get Griever and give it to Adel? He shook his head. SHOULD he really get Griever and give to Adel? That was the correct question. He knew he could easily give it to her.

After all, what was a single ring compared Rinoa? The ring could prevent the unsealing of the gates. But then, Adel would still consume the hearts and take Rinoa's power that way. Squall sat up straight as the realization hit him. *The world...or the person who means the world to ME.*

"Why do YOU get to fly it?" Zell shouted as Irvine sat in the pilot's seat of the massive machine. "It was MY idea!"

"Zell, what makes you think YOU can fly this?" Irvine asked coolly as he adjusted his cowboy hat and looked over the panel.

The argument had started before the Ragnarok even arrived. At this point, Selphie and Rinoa had their fill of the argument over who would fly it and were on the verge of flying it themselves.

"I have to hand it to chicken wuss," Seifer said as he took a comfortable seat and grinned. "He really came through this time."

"Well, it was Master Cid who sent it over to us." Rinoa said. Quistis was walking past them to get to her seat when the vehicle suddenly jerked forward.

"Watch what you're doing, Zell!!"

"That was YOUR fault, Irvine!"

"Ah!" Quistis stumbled and fell back, causing her to land right across Seifer's lap.

Rinoa raised an eyebrow and tried to hide her smile as Quistis shook her head and looked up with large blue eyes to look at the highly amused face of Seifer. "Quisty..." he began. "Really, I want you, too, but dammit, we have a mission to do."

"AH!!" another voice shouted from the side. They turned and saw Selphie standing there, covering her eyes with both hands. "Why!? Why must you do that in front of me!?"

"Don't blame me!" Quistis as she struggled to get up and then continuously fail at trying to do so. Her entire face was red. "It's YOUR boyfriend who moved the ship!"

"Rinoa, make them stop!" Selphie said as she took a seat next to Rinoa and hid her face in Rinoa's shoulder. She was still covering her eyes dramatically. "That's ICKY!"

"Come to think of it, it kind of is..." Rinoa grinned. There was a thump and she turned. Quistis had managed to roll off Seifer's lap as the male laughed. She was getting off the floor and slapped his leg as she got up.

"You could've at least helped me up, Seifer." Quistis hissed as she took a seat next to him.

He shrugged and kept that arrogant smirk on his face. "I was too busy enjoying the moment."

"I'M going to fly it!" a voice shouted from the cockpit.

"No! I got better scores than you in school! I should fly it!" a voice retorted.

"Ugh...they've been at it for hours!" Selphie whined as she looked over in their direction. "We'll never get off the ground at this rate!"

"Guys! Can you please just decide so we can go!?" Rinoa called out, slight desperation in her voice.

"I'm flying it!"

"This is getting us no where, ya know..." Raijin sighed in his seat. Fujin nodded and stood up.

"Gun," she said, holding out her hand to Raijin. The lycan looked at her suspiciously, but handed her his gun. She locked both hers and Raijin's and entered the cockpit. A click was heard, signifying that she could shoot at any moment. "Me."

"S...sure thing, Fujin!" a shaky voice said. "Just...uh...put the gun down..."

"Fujin, darlin...just take the gun off of my head..." another voice said nervously. "Ow, ow, ow! Okay, okay! I won't call you darlin' any more!"

"Out." Fujin's calm and collected voice told them. A second later, both Zell and Irvine entered the cabin where the others were seated.

"She's rough..." Zell said, rubbing the side of his head where Fujin had calmly placed the end of the gun.

Seifer had a smirk on her face. "Of course she is, she's my friend." he said confidently.

"She didn't have to be so rough..." Irvine said as he slumped in a chair next to Zell. He removed his hat and looked at it. "She almost made a dent in my hat."

"Ohh...a dent in your precious hat..." Seifer snorted with a roll of his eyes. "The world is over now, isn't it?" he added sarcastically as Irvine shot him an annoyed glare.

The Ragnarok began to ascend and the girls let out a sigh of relief. Finally, they were getting somewhere. "Thanks, Fujin!" Rinoa shouted.

"Thanks, Fu!" Selphie yelled back.

"Thank you, Fujin!" Quistis chorused as well.

"Welcome!" the white haired shape shifter replied. The machine sped up and they were off to Trabia.

How long were they going to keep him there? He felt like a caged animal as he paced the length of his cell. Each moment, he was growing more and more restless. No one had come to check on him and he had all but lost all sense of time.

He eyed the door. *No more...I'm leaving!* He strode over, his blood pumping as his eyes narrowed and glowed. He let out a growl and shot his hand through the door. He winced at the slight pain he held as he pulled his hand out and hit the door once more, getting his hand all the way through that time.

Bleeding, he pushed his arm through and felt around for the locks. His fingers felt three and one by one, he tore them off. They fell to the floor with a sound that echoed off the empty walls. Squall pulled his bleeding arm through the door. He didn't care. The wounds were small and would heal soon.

Using all his weight, he slammed himself into the door. It budged and he took a deep breath and a few steps back. Gritting his teeth, he ran into the door and grunted as it gave way to his pressure and fell. He stopped himself before falling and looked around.

There were no guards. He tried to catch any blood scents and found none, meaning the vampires weren't there.

*This is strange...why would they leave me unguarded...* Squall proceeded to walk down the empty hall way. *Unless they wanted me to escape...* He narrowed his eyes, but continued to walk aimless. *I might get lost...but, hell...I'm not about to disappoint them.*

"It's COLD!!" Irvine shouted as he wrapped his jacket tighter around himself.

"It's Trabia, of course it's cold," Seifer snapped. "Haven't you ever been here?"

"No!"

"What about those training missions at the Garden?"

"It's amazing what a little flirting will get you." Irvine winked.

Seifer growled and was about to fling his gun blade into Irvine's chest when Quistis passed by with an electronic compass in her hands mumbling. "Selphie likes him...don't forget...!"

*Yeah, unfortunately...* he glared at Irvine as the cowboy slung his arm around Selphie's shoulders.

"You cold, darlin'?" Irvine asked the petite lycan female next to him.

"Yeah, but it's fine," Selphie said casually. "I have a fur coat!" She smiled brightly and Irvine opened up his coat, pulling Selphie in it and closing it back up. She giggled and Irvine put his chin a top of her head.

To their right, Seifer was giving Irvine his own version of Squall's death glare. His hand turned white as he gripped the handle of Hyperion tightly. Rinoa shook her head.

"Your hands better not be roaming, cowboy, because Hyperion's dying to taste your blood." Seifer growled.

"Hey, Irvine," Zell said as he walked along side of them. "You think it's smart to do that? You know...in front of Seifer?"

Irvine just smiled. "Is it smart to jump out of the plane for the sheer hell of it?"

"No..."

"Then there we go. I like to live on the edge." Irvine winked.

Zell looked confused and Rinoa stepped in. "You know how some people go sky diving for a thrill? Well, Irvine goes Seifer taunting."

"Seifer taunting...?" Seifer mouthed behind her with a frown. "What am I, a sport?"

"They say that there's no bigger rush than being close to death and surviving," Zell said. "I guess Irvine likes that kind of rush."

"So are Fujin and Raijin going to stay?" Rinoa asked.

"They'll have the Ragnarok ready and waiting for us," Seifer assured her. "Once we get little vamp boy."

"His name is Squall, Seifer..." Rinoa frowned.

"Squall, vamp boy...same difference."

"There's a building under the snow just half kilometer from here. It's underground, so we'll have to do a little digging," Quistis said. She ran her hand through her hair. "Let's get going..."

Selphie looked up at the sky. It was dark and murky with snow falling from the cloudy depths. It was good in that they didn't have to worry about Squall burning up when he left the lab, but bad in that it seemed to be threatening to get worse.

"What are we going to do if there's a blizzard?" Selphie asked.

"The Ragnarok should be fine," Irvine said. "We'll just have them meet us outside."

"Let's just pray that the weather holds up until we're through." Quistis said.

Rinoa nodded and looked at the sky. *Hyne...please let Squall be all right.*

"Madam," a voice said from the door way of a darkened room. Only a lone chair and fire place decorated the room. A vampire with long white hair bowed his head and closed his greenish eyes as he did so. "We have intruders. Leonheart's...friends have arrived."

"That's fine," said the sorceress who was sitting on the chair and watching the fire dance across the burning logs. "Is SHE with them?"

"We believe so, Madam. Should we attack them now?"

"No, let them get through."

The vampire looked up. "Pardon?"

"Let them find him, but make sure they don't reach the lower levels," Adel said. She lifted a crystal glass to her lips and brought warm, iron tasting liquid into her mouth. She closed her eyes and smiled. "He'll get us that ring."

Squall's hand slammed into the wall furiously as he looked around. He was sure it had been hours since he managed to escape his cell and yet he was still wandering the halls.

*This CAN'T be right...* He paused for a moment to try and retrace his foot steps, but the map he was trying to create in his mind had become nothing more than a blur. He couldn't smell anything that might have lead him to freedom.

*Is this some sort of joke? Is she watching me right now like I'm some damn rodent going through a fucking maze?!* He looked around for a camera or anything that might affirm his believes, but found nothing but darkness and cement.

Teeth, gritted, Squall began to run. He didn't know where, but he ran. At that point, he didn't care where he would end up, as long as he was no longer there.

"We're standing right over it..." Quistis said as she looked over her hand held companion. "It's five levels down...the lower levels probably have more security."

"Where's Squall?" Rinoa asked.

"According to the floor plans I accessed, he should be two floors down. there's a series of cells there where lab animals are supposed to be kept."

"I don't think they're keeping animals in those cells..." Zell mumbled.

"I agree," Quistis said. She looked around the wide clearing covered in snow. "Now all we have to do is find an opening."

"Like a door or something?" Rinoa asked.

Selphie and Irvine immediately began to look around the area, trying to find something that might lead to an opening.

"Anything," Quistis said. She continued to study the floor plan that was on the screen of her device. "Try that area!" she said, pointing to a spot a few steps from her.

"Over here?" Rinoa said, walking over to where Quistis was pointing.

"Look around there for something...there should be a door there," Quistis said. Rinoa nodded felt something hard under her feet. Her eyes went wide and she jumped. "There might a lever to pull or-"

"Quistis!" Rinoa said as she heard something under her feet give out a hollow sound. She looked up, her face lit up completely as she smiled. "I think I found -" CRACK. "IT...!!"

Quistis looked up just as Rinoa's body fell. "Rinoa!"

"AHHH!!!!!" Rinoa's brown eyes were huge as she raised her arms over her head. She was dropping down what probably was an air duct at speeds that disallowed her to even realize what was going on.

All around her, the metal lining of the duct flashed as she only saw darkness awaiting her. On the ground level above, Quistis slid to a stop over the square hole that Rinoa had fallen through. "Rinoa!" she screamed. "Rinoa, can you hear me!?"

The others gathered around her and all they were able to hear was Rinoa's frantic screaming as she plummeted. "Rinoa!" Selphie cried out.

"We have to jump in after her!" Quistis gasped. Just as she said that, a metal door slid closed, shutting them off from Rinoa's cries.

"No!" Selphie cried out.

Seifer cocked his gun blade and shot several rounds into the metal, doing nothing but leaving bullets embedded in the thick material.

"That has to be several meters thick or something!" Zell said. He hit it with his fist and winced.

"Wait..." Quistis said. "Do that again!"

"What!?" Zell gasped. "No!"

"Zell, do it again!" Quistis demanded, ready to pull out her whip if necessary.

Zell winced and slammed his fist into the door once more. "Happy?" he grumbled as he looked over his hand.

"There's no sound..." she mumbled. She looked up at the rest of the group. "There's NO sound!"

"So?" Irvine said.

"Don't you get it!?" Quistis gasped as she stood up. "It's not hollow any more! They sealed it up!"

"But Rinoa just slipped on through!" Selphie countered feverishly. "How was she able to do that!?"

"They wanted her," Seifer mumbled. He narrowed his eyes and stared out at the frozen wasteland before them. "They wanted Rinoa to enter."

"So they're both stuck down there!?" Selphie cried out.

"No way!" Zell said. He pounded on the door. "Let us in!!"

"Don't be stupid, chicken wuss," Seifer snorted as he looked around. "Quistis, find another way in. There's got to be another way..."

The blond female immediately consulted her device once more. "Over there!" she said, pointing a spot further away from the.

She took off in that direction, followed closely by the others. Immediately, they all began to search the area. "I found something!" Zell shouted. He was digging through the snow, on his hands and knees, until he found a panel. He hit it to loosen it and then lifted up the panel.

Fiddling around with it, he turned on something and there was low rumble underneath them.

"Zell, what'd you do!?" Irvine gasped.

Selphie felt something move under her feet and looked down. "Hey!" She jumped down from a large rectangular block at seemed to move up from the snow. They stood aside and looked at it.

"You are one lucky guy, chicken wuss..." Seifer mumbled as elevator doors opened from the block.

"Should we take it down?" Irvine asked as he looked over the thing.

Selphie and Quistis were already inside. "Rinoa is down there," Quistis said. "And so is Squall. If you're not going down there to save them, WE are!"

Zell nodded and quickly joined them along with Seifer. Irvine smirked and stepped into the elevator. "So...which floor?" Zell asked.

"We'll start off where the cells are," Quistis said. "Rinoa sounded like she was falling for a while, so she might've ended up there."

"And Squall's there for sure." Irvine agreed.

Zell nodded and pressed the button. "This seems a little too easy, if you ask me."

"No one asked you," Seifer said. "Selphie, when the doors open, have a shield spell ready. You don't know what we'll encounter."

"Right!" Selphie piped loudly.

Irvine looked at Selphie and smiled as the doors closed. "Well... I never thought we'd go down together for the first time in an elevator."

As Selphie blushed and giggled, Irvine never saw Seifer's fist heading for his stomach.

"AGH!! Hyne, dammit, Seifer!" Irvine groaned. "It was a joke!"

"SEIFER!!" Selphie said as she hit her brother's upper arm mercilessly. "Didn't I tell you to be nice to him!?"

"No." the highly pleased green eyed blond responded as he watched Irvine rub his stomach.

"Enough," Quistis sighed. "Let's split up. Zell, you go with Selphie and Irvine. I'll go with Seifer."

"Why can't I go with Selphie and Irvine?" Seifer asked.

"Because you'll kill Irvine."

"She has you there." Zell agreed.

"We're here." Quistis said. Selphie raised her hands and prepared to put up a shield spell as Quistis raised her whip. Seifer held his gun blade and Irvine and Zell prepared to fight.

The doors slid open. There was no one there. "This has got to be a trap." Zell mumbled.

"Trap or not, we're going to find them!" Selphie said. She walked out of the elevator without a second thought and sniffed the air. "Lycans on patrol!"

"All right!" Zell said as he rushed forward. "I'm ready for some action!"

"You're always ready for action..." Seifer grumbled. He tilted his head in Quistis' direction. "We'll head that way. Use those communicators that Laguna gave us."

"They better be on!" Quistis called out as she looked at her device. "If you find them, call us right away and we'll meet you back here!"

"Right!" Selphie said. She held her nunchuku in her hand and waved at Irvine and Zell. "Let's go!"

Squall heard screaming. It was long and loud, filled with panic and seemed to be echoing. The sound was coming behind him and turned around. He ran back where he came from until the screaming had died down and stopped him in his tracks.

*What the hell am I doing!?* Squall's mind screamed as he stood there. *I shouldn't be panicking over a scream!*

Suddenly, he heard something behind him and he turned around. There was a air duct cover on the wall and he took a step closer. The sounds of something coming down was coming from the duct. The lid burst forward and Squall jumped several steps back as he was momentarily blinded with cold snow and wind.

Someone let out a yelp and Squall looked up. His eyes opened wide with disbelief as someone seemed to fly out of the shaft and stumble forward, as if coming off a very long slide. Black hair flew back from a pale face as arms were being raised. The look of panic left her face as unbridled relief replaced it.

Brown eyes met blue ones and suddenly felt as if it were some sort dream. She was wearing her favorite light blue duster, the one he had placed in her room the last time he had laid eyes one her. The blinding white snow that flew around her seemed to create and effect, as if she were falling from heaven and into the arms of one of the damned.

Her mouth opened, soundless speaking out his name as he took a step forward, his arms extended to catch her. Her head landed smoothly against his shoulder, as his arms tightened around her body. Her arms went around his shoulders and wove her cold fingers into the fluff around his neck.

Squall leaned his head against hers and slowly stroked her black hair with his hand as she closed her eyes and buried her face deeper against him. Her body molded against his, as if they were made specifically to fit each other and her heart beat against his chest, a testament to the reality of the moment.

He made his decision at that moment as Rinoa's body was against his and all he could hear, smell, and touch were her. There was no more doubt. He would choose Rinoa over the world because to him, Rinoa WAS the world.