The Virus
A/N: Wow I'm inspired again! I'm having so much fun!
Chapter 9: Continuing On
Zell sat down heavily on the ground in front of the rest of the group, his chest heaving as he took deep gulps of air.
"Zell, where's Squall?" Rinoa asked, her voice conveying a high level of terror. "He didn't stay behind, did he?!"
Zell looked back in the direction he had just came from, and his eyes widened. "I... I don't know... I saw that thing and I ran... I didn't check and see if he followed or not..." He leaned back on the wet grass covering the ground with a groan. "I should have stayed with him... I really am a chicken-wuss..."
"It's not your fault, Zell." Rinoa said softly, sitting down on the ground next to him. "Squall would have made you go."
"But-"
"No, Zell, it's ok, really." Her voice didn't hold any anger, but her eyes were full of tears. "We should all just set up camp for the night and hope everything's ok. We didn't run that far, and if we light a fire, we can keep the monsters away, and hopefully give Squall a target so he can find us.
"Rinoa, I'm so sorry..."
"You just stay here and rest, Zell. Irvine, Quistis and I will set up the tents. Maybe Selphie will keep you company." Rinoa turned and walked towards the few supplies they had escaped the camp with, and after only a few seconds she cried out.
"What is it, Rinoa?" Irvine asked, turning to look at the distressed girl.
"The kit to make the medicine! We forgot it!" Quistis turned to look at Rinoa, her eyes wide. "No, there's no way... I must have picked it up for I ran!"
"It's not here, Quistis!"
Zell forced himself to sit up, despite the fact he was feeling a little weak and feverish. "Rinoa, calm down... It's gotta be here somewhere... Maybe we... We just need to look for it..." Despite his attempt at cheerfulness, a tightness was growing in his chest, and to his dismay, his eyes began to burn with tears. "We couldn't have left it back there... We'll never find it... And... And... I'll..." He choked back a sob. "Die..."
Quistis quickly joined in the search for the kit, and seconds later Irvine had joined too. Selphie sat across the camp, her bottom lip trembling.
Zell forced himself to crawl over to her, and he hugged her tightly. "We can't give up yet, Selphie... Ok?"
"But... But if the medicine is gone..." A tear rolled from her eye and down her cheek. "I don't want to die, Zell... I haven't even lived yet..."
"I know..." He knew it would have been more comforting if not for the fact that he, himself, was crying. "This is all my fault..." He pulled out of the hug and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
"It's not your fault, Zell. You can't blame this on yourself. We chose to come here... We could have sent someone else to do this for us. We came here because we wanted to help someone we all love." Selphie pulled him into the hug this time. "Even if it meant we would have to die for you... I knew what could happen when I agreed to come here... I knew what would have happened if I hadn't agreed... I wasn't going to sit around and watch you die."
"Rinoa hates me... If he's alive, Squall's going to hate me for running away... Then if he dies, everyone is going to hate me for running away... I... I'm starting to feel like I don't even want to fight this anymore, Selphie..." He rested his head against her shoulder. "It's taking so much outta me..."
"We're both gonna make it out of here alive... You sit here, I'm going to help them find the kit."
Zell leaned back against the tree trunk behind him and watched as Selphie joined in the search... Soon his vision began to swirl, even though he wasn't moving... His friends turned into blobs of color, and their voices as they spoke became random noises he couldn't even understand... He tried to raise his hand to rub his eyes, but found he didn't have the strength. It felt like someone had lit a wall of fire around his body, and he turned his head to one side, trying desperately to end the heat, the searing burning heat. He whimpered... The flames were there still, burning his whole body... He allowed himself to slide to the cool grass, resting his face against the wet surface... For a moment the heat was slightly eased but it quickly returned, it was devouring him... Killing him...!!!
Rinoa turned back to check on Zell only to find that he was writhing on the grass, his face flushed with the fever. "Quistis! Help me, quickly!"
The older woman turned and gasped at the sight, quickly rushing to Rinoa's side. "What do you want me to do?"
"I need you to hold him still! I've never tried this before, but it's worth a shot!"
Quistis held Zell in place and watched as Rinoa began to undo the buttons on his shirt.
"I've been reading up about this in some old, old books... Sorcery not used in battle. Healing magic! If I could just remember the chant..." She put her hands on Zell's chest and gasped. "Oh my god, he's burning up..." She then shut her eyes and began to whisper soft words in another language... Her brow began to furrow and a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead... Her chanting grew louder until she was nearly shouting, and then she stopped and took her hands away abruptly, panting. "I can't... Heal him..." She managed. "But I think... His fever should go down a little."
Quistis cast three esunas on Zell, but frowned when he remained in the same condition. "No, it's not working this time... I think we're in trouble, guys... This definitely what Doctor Kadowaki warned me about..." She shook her head and sighed deeply.
"What do you mean, Quistis?" Irvine asked, concern etched all over his normally smiling face. "What did she say?"
"She told me that if we didn't go quickly, we would begin to see a change in Zell... Mind you, she said it would come on slowly, but this isn't slow! She said once he took a turn for the worst, there was no going back without the cure. Esunas aren't going to work on him anymore guys... The rest of the fight is up to Zell."
Rinoa began to cry now, drawing her knees up to her chest. "It's hopeless. Why should we even go on? We can't make it without the medicine or Squall! He was the only one who knew where we were going!"
The members of the group slowly drifted into their own worlds, thinking about what was going to happen now.
'We aren't getting off this island even if Squall does come back and by some miracle we save Zell...' Irvine thought as he held Selphie close to him. 'The Ragnarok is a mess, there's no way it's flying anywhere.' He looked at the brown haired girl in his arms and kissed the top of her head softly. "Seffie...?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
She turned slightly so she could look in his eyes, and hers held a sly glint. "I know, Irvy. I love you too."
He took her hand in his and kissed it softly as tears ran from his eyes. 'This is the end, then... At least I'm here with Selphie and my friends.' "I promise you, if we get off this island alive, I'm marrying you."
She bit her bottom lip to sustain her joyus cry and instead settled on throwing her arms around his neck. "Irvy..."
Rinoa, still crying, was thinking to herself as well. 'I hope if Squall died he didn't suffer... I hope he didn't get eaten by those things... This whole mission was hopeless... Maybe the only reason we came here was to fail and die...' She looked at Zell through teary eyes and made a silent apology that she hadn't been stronger for him.
Quistis sat alone outside the group, legs folded under her. 'So this is the last chapter for the heroes of the war against Ultimecia... Funny, but I always thought we would all die old and happy... Not young and miserable.' She lowered her head.
'...The heat... I feel like I'm on fire... I must... Be dying...' Were Zell's last thoughts before a deep blackness overcame him.
*****
A droplet of sweat trickled down Squall's cheek, leaving a cold wet trail in it's wake. His arms trembled as he attemped to pick up Lionheart from the ground where it had fallen, they were weak from hours of battle. He mentally scanned through his remaining stocked magic to see what he had left... He had used his small supply of Ultima on the mother, but she had escaped from him... He had been ready to relax and head back towards the camp when the babies attacked for a second time. He had fought viciously, but in the end they had only brought back the mother. This time she had been more furious than the time before, using the quills down her back and tail, swinging them viciously towards him. One had sliced across his abdomen, doing more damage to his shirt than his skin, but the wound still trickled blood down his torso. After much dodging, he had hacked off the end of the mother's tail, then casted curaga three times, hoping to the gods it would bring the creature down... But instead the mother had turned to face him again, eyes glowing blood red, and it had changed. It knocked Lionheart from his hands and backed him into a tree. Cornered, his life in danger, Squall had nothing left to do, so he casted Flare twice in succession. The sheer proximity of the spell to his hands caused them to blister almost immediately, but he hadn't noticed in his panic to save himself. The mother had gone back into the forest, her face dripping blood on the forest floor as she went.
Now he was alone, and it was beginning to get dark. He made another attempt to lift Lionheart, but this time two of the blisters on his hands popped and he dropped the handle as though it was white hot, hissing in pain. "Damn it..." He whispered, looking at the damage on his hands. "I can't wrap them... And I can't carry Lionheart with my hands in this condition..." He looked back at the gunblade, and sighed. "I'll have to leave it here..." Although reluctant to do so, Squall turned his back on the gunblade and began to walk back towards the camp. It wasn't so hard, someone had left a lamp on near the tents, so he followed the light back into the clearing.
After locating the medical equipment, using a potion on the burns, and wrapping them tightly, he began to put leftover items into a pack he could carry with him when he tried to find where they had gone to. He was about to leave the camp when he noticed the metal case lying on the ground... "I can't believe they left this." He picked it up off the ground, brushing bits of dirt off of it. He slipped it into his pack, then began walking in the direction his teammates had run off in. For a long while he was sure of himself, knowing he was going to make it back to them, but it didn't take long for doubts to come flooding into his mind... If the monsters attacked while he was walking, he would be finished. With no weapon, he knew he wouldn't be able to hold them back.
As if answering his thoughts, a howl came from the woods to his left.
He quietly slipped into the woods at his right and began to backtrack, looking for where he had left Lionheart. He passed creature after creature on the way, making sure to avoid them carefully, and soon he had returned to the place where had left his sword. Lionheart was still there, the blade giving off a bright blue light. He reached down and grasped the handle, ignoring the pain in his hands and the trembling of his arms, and lifted the weapon back up and out of the dirt. The stinging in his hands brought tears into his eyes, but he refused to shed them and continued back to the path, Lioheart in hand.
The howling began again, and he heard something moving through the bushes next to him. He stopped and faced whatever it was, holding Lionheart in the ready position.
One of the babies stepped through the brush, foaming at the mouth angrily, eyeing Lionheart. It had obviously recognized the blade that had done so much damage to it earlier.
"If you want me, come and get me." Squall said in a dangerous voice, swinging the blade once in the baby's direction.
It hissed at him ferally, the fur and quills on it's back standing straight up.
Squall was about to slash at it when a heavy weight hit him in back, sending him sprawling forwards onto his face in the dirt. The same growling now came from behind him, and he scrambled to get back to his feet... Before he could do it, the weight pressed down onto his back, pinning him in the dirt. He struggled, trying to knock the thing off, but it was no use. Soon he stopped fighting it and allowed his forehead to rest in the dirt. 'This is it... I'm sorry, Rinoa... I'm sorry, Zell... Everyone...'
Squall had accepted his fate.
*****
Irvine was keeping watch at the front of the camp when it happened. A sound from inside the woods. He drew Exeter and stood up, narrowing his eyes to try and spot whatever had moved. Off to his left, the plants rustled slightly and he turned, aiming the shotgun in that direction. "I'm not going to miss." He whispered to himself, and when the thing came from the bushes he fired his gun, knowing it wouldn't miss it's mark.
It would have hit, had it not been deflected off of something metallic and black. But, since it was, the bullet sailed harmlessly off to the left and landed on the ground, smoking.
"You trying to kill me, you idiot?"
Irvine stepped back, his eyes wide in shock. "What... What are... How did you..."
Seifer shook his head and sighed, lowering his weapon. "I was sent here to save all your sorry asses about three days ago. You left an obvious trail of ruined tents and signs of battle, so I just followed them. Luckily for all of you I happened to come across someone who needed my help along the way."
Irvine watched in shock as Squall emerged from the brush, aided by Kiros. "Squall!!!"
His cry brought Rinoa from her tent, and her face was tear-streaked. When her eyes landed on her love, however, a giant smile lit up her features. "Squall! I thought you were dead!" She rushed to him and threw her arms around him, not noticing his sharp intake of breath as she did so. "We gave up hope, Squall! We were all just about to make the decision to forget the mission and try to go home..." Then her face darkened. "Zell's... In really bad shape, Squall... We don't think he's going to make it."
"Oh, he will." Seifer spoke up, a scowl on his face. "I didn't come all the way out here so chicken-wuss could die and make this entire thing a waste of my time. Where is he?"
"We put him in the tent and made sure he was kept cool... We're trying to keep his fever down now by using ice... We've managed to stabilize him at one hundred and three..." Rinoa crossed her arms. "Now mind telling me what you're doing here, Seifer?"
"Official business of Esthar." He answered. "Laguna got word from Garden that you guys hadn't reported back to them, so he decided to send me and Seagill here to make sure you were all alive and to help you get that cure for chicken-wuss."
"What's so special about you?" Squall snapped while Rinoa tended to his bleeding hands. "Any particular reason Laguna would tell you to come here and save the people you hate?"
"First off, I don't hate all of you. Only most of you." Seifer knew it was a lie, but he continued anyways. "Second, would it kill you to call Laguna your father?"
"...Whatever." Squall looked away, clenching his teeth with anger.
"And to answer your question, you're speaking to the head of the Esthar Army."
Rinoa looked at him, eyes wide. "Seifer! You mean Laguna let you run the entire army?!"
He nodded, a cocky smirk on his face. "He couldn't deny my greatness."
"That's such good news! I'm so happy for you!" She stopped caring for Squall long enough to throw her arms around Seifer.
The blonde stuck out his tongue at Squall, who offered a death-glare. "I'm glad someone's happy for me... I thought I was the only one."
"Hm. So did I." Kiros remarked, then inclined his head slightly to Rinoa. "How are you?"
"I'm fine..." She smiled brightly, offering a hug to the tall man as well. "But I'm really worried about Zell... And... The medicine kit..."
Squall motioned to the pack Seifer was now carrying. "It's in there. I went back to the last campsite."
Rinoa sighed deeply, but it wasn't in relief. "I don't even think it's going to matter... You should go and see him now, just in case he doesn't make it through the night... I don't know if he'll be awake when you go in, he hasn't exactly been coherent since he got into this stage of the disease.
Seifer started towards the tent, but Rinoa stopped him by standing in his way. "...What?"
"Where are you going?"
"To talk to the chicken-wuss. Where else?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You can't call him that right now, ok? I don't want him getting stressed out or upset... It might..." She trailed off and looked at the ground. "Just be nice to him for once, ok Seifer?"
"I was planning on it." He continued to the tent and went inside, ignoring Selphie and Quistis' surprised gasps, and he kneeled down next to Zell's feverish form. "Hmm..."
"Seifer, what are... How did you..." Quistis stammered, shocked by the sudden appearance of a man she hadn't seen in a long time.
"I'm here on Esthar business, and I came by ship. Same as you. Though... Yours isn't in great shape, is it?" He looked over his shoulder at the blonde woman and grinned. "Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you all behind. We're going to cure Zell here, and get out of this place."
"I'm sick, too." Selphie said softly, eyes downcast.
"Ok, then we save you both and get going. There's no point in staying here longer than we need to." A groan from Zell brought Seifer's attention back. "Hey."
Zell's eyes opened, but they were dulled with fever and didn't seem to be focusing. However, he recognized the voice. "....Seifer?"
"Yeah, it's me." Seifer shrugged. "Decided to be nice and help you guys out." He grinned again. "So, how are you?"
Zell growled lightly and narrowed his eyes, which cleared slightly and focused on Seifer. "Don't... Make me get up and kick your ass..."
Seifer laughed. "Same old Zell. You get rested, we're going to start moving again soon. I'm guessing the sick people get carried?" The end of the sentence was directed to Quistis, who nodded.
"Usually Squall carries Zell."
"Well, your fearless leader won't be carrying anything, he burned his hands. I'm guessing cowboy carries Selphie, so I'll take Zell."
"You're not going to drop him or anything on purpose, are you?" Selphie asked, her voice low and dangerous. "'Cause he's our friend, and if you hurt him, we'll hurt you."
Seifer held his hands up in a gesture of innocence. "I wasn't planning on dropping him. We may not be friends, but I don't hate the guy!"
"Who are you and what have you done with Seifer?" Quistis looked at him with suspicion. "The Seifer I know would never do something like this for someone else unless he was in it for himself."
"Then I guess you don't know me as well as you thought, Quistis." He got to his feet and left the tent to return to the other group. "I suggest we get moving, and do it soon. Just by checking on him I can tell he ain't got much time left."
"Why do you even care?" Squall snapped, earning himself a soft elbow from Rinoa. "What? He doesn't care... He never cared."
"Contrary to popular belief that I'm an asshole," Seifer began, crossing his arms. "I really do give a shit, or I wouldn't have even bothered showing up. I hate to tell you Squall, since you obviously have remained ignorant," This brought a glare from the brunette. "Rinoa and I have remained friends with one another, and it seems she's the only one out of you all who knows how to forgive and forget."
"People don't change." Was Squall's reply.
"Well you're wrong. I've changed, and I know I have. Just 'cause there's still bits of the old Seifer still doesn't mean I'm still an asshole, or that I hate the world. I learned from my mistakes." He shook his head. "It doesn't go without saying, though, I am still here partially because of myself... I want to prove myself again to the world, so they know I've changed. I'm sick of people hating me because of something that happened three years ago. I'm also doing this because Laguna asked me to... He's the only person besides Rinoa who still trusted me after what happened with Ultimecia... He's done alot for me without asking for anything in return, so it's about time I did something for him."
"Which is...?" Squall questioned.
"Bring you home safe, Squall. He cares about you, even if you don't like him. No amount of your frigid cold bastard attitude is going to change the way he feels. I wish it would. All you do is upset him."
Squall's expression changed, only momentarily, to one of guilt before he changed it back to his usual glare. "...Whatever, Seifer. I never asked you to interfere with my life. It's none of your business."
"Considering the fact I live in the Palace with your father, and he considers me his son, I think I do have business in your life. So as I was saying. We need to get moving soon, maybe even tonight. There's no time to rest and get relaxed. We consulted Doctor Odine before we left, just briefly, and he told us where we should be going to find this flower to make up the cure. We were also sent equipped with radioes... Unfortunately, they won't get any kind of signal in the forest." Seifer shrugged. "So we're on our own."
"Do you know what we're up against?" Rinoa asked him, frowning. "These monsters are inter-bred species..."
"Yeah, I rescued our 'Brave Hero' Squall from two of them. He had fairly given up when I got there."
Squall crossed his arms and looked in the other direction, but his face had reddened slightly.
"Given up?"
"Yeah, well, can't blame him. One was standing on his back, right in spot where he couldn't reach it. It knocked his gunblade out of his hands and out of his reach... And you can't aim magic at something you can't see. They must have been after him because of Zell's scent. Monsters tend to be attracted to the smell of sickness... Makes them hungry. Now, do we know what this 'Pheyttia' flower looks like, so we can attempt to avoid it? Don't need anyone else to get sick."
Rinoa shook her head. "We don't know what it looks like. It's purple, but the book says that it closes itself unless it's infecting someone... So we have no clue what it would look like."
"Ok, I guess we'll just have to be careful then. Now, here's what we're going to do-"
"Who died and made you the boss, Seifer?" Squall snapped, turning back to them. "You'll probably lead us right off a cliff."
Seifer opened his mouth to reply, but Rinoa didn't give him the chance.
"Squall, will you shut up and listen?! He's obviously got a plan, something we're in need of! Give him a chance, ok?"
Squall colored slightly and looked at the ground. "....whatever."
"Anyways." Seifer continued, grinning. "What we'll do is pack everything there up except the tents. I'll carry Zell, that should be no problem. Irvine can carry Selphie. We won't switch, we'll carry them as far as we can. Squall, you take the pack that Seagill has, you can carry that still. Seagill, you'll carry food supplies. Rinoa and Quistis can take anything else I haven't mentioned." He clapped his hands. "Let's get working on that right now, and hopefully we can leave before those ugly monsters finally decide not to be scared of Hyperion."
So they set about getting packed up and getting Selphie and Zell out of the tents. It didn't take long since they had two extra hands, and very soon everyone was ready to go. Quistis was carrying Lionheart and Selphie's Strange Vision, and Rinoa was carrying all the remaining items they had in a pack.
Seifer lifted Zell off the ground onto his back and was surprised at the temperature of the smaller man's body. He cast a small ice spell, followed by esuna, and felt the fever go down a notch. "Ok, we're heading sort of South-West... That should be where the flower is. If we walked without stopping it would take us around a day and a half, so I'm guessing we'll be walking for two to three days. It should take about five to six to get back to the ship... That's a little over a week left before we get off this island and back into civilization. It can't happen soon enough. Just tell me if anyone gets tired, I'll try to help you out. I don't plan on stopping until morning. Night is the most dangerous time to let your guard down here." He made sure he had a good grip on Zell, then he started to walk.
Squall was reluctant to follow, but he bit back his pride and did as he was told. His ribs were aching, and his hands were still bleeding slightly, but he wasn't about to show his weaknesses to the rest of the group... Even if it did seem like he was no longer the leader... As much as Squall hated the position, he hated giving it up for Seifer even more. But he had decided that one more chance was in line for the Ex-Sorceress' Knight. Right now his only hope was that his friends would be saved and they would make it off the island alive.
None of them expected an easy ending.
A/N: Wheeee! Done chapter nine! This is good! I am happy now! And proud of myself! Thanks to my kind lovely reviewers! Again A/N: Sorry about the shitty way I keep uploading these things. I originally HAVE paragraphs, ff.net decides to delete them. And sorry about typoes. I try to correct them as I go. I write these things in wordpad.
A/N: Wow I'm inspired again! I'm having so much fun!
Chapter 9: Continuing On
Zell sat down heavily on the ground in front of the rest of the group, his chest heaving as he took deep gulps of air.
"Zell, where's Squall?" Rinoa asked, her voice conveying a high level of terror. "He didn't stay behind, did he?!"
Zell looked back in the direction he had just came from, and his eyes widened. "I... I don't know... I saw that thing and I ran... I didn't check and see if he followed or not..." He leaned back on the wet grass covering the ground with a groan. "I should have stayed with him... I really am a chicken-wuss..."
"It's not your fault, Zell." Rinoa said softly, sitting down on the ground next to him. "Squall would have made you go."
"But-"
"No, Zell, it's ok, really." Her voice didn't hold any anger, but her eyes were full of tears. "We should all just set up camp for the night and hope everything's ok. We didn't run that far, and if we light a fire, we can keep the monsters away, and hopefully give Squall a target so he can find us.
"Rinoa, I'm so sorry..."
"You just stay here and rest, Zell. Irvine, Quistis and I will set up the tents. Maybe Selphie will keep you company." Rinoa turned and walked towards the few supplies they had escaped the camp with, and after only a few seconds she cried out.
"What is it, Rinoa?" Irvine asked, turning to look at the distressed girl.
"The kit to make the medicine! We forgot it!" Quistis turned to look at Rinoa, her eyes wide. "No, there's no way... I must have picked it up for I ran!"
"It's not here, Quistis!"
Zell forced himself to sit up, despite the fact he was feeling a little weak and feverish. "Rinoa, calm down... It's gotta be here somewhere... Maybe we... We just need to look for it..." Despite his attempt at cheerfulness, a tightness was growing in his chest, and to his dismay, his eyes began to burn with tears. "We couldn't have left it back there... We'll never find it... And... And... I'll..." He choked back a sob. "Die..."
Quistis quickly joined in the search for the kit, and seconds later Irvine had joined too. Selphie sat across the camp, her bottom lip trembling.
Zell forced himself to crawl over to her, and he hugged her tightly. "We can't give up yet, Selphie... Ok?"
"But... But if the medicine is gone..." A tear rolled from her eye and down her cheek. "I don't want to die, Zell... I haven't even lived yet..."
"I know..." He knew it would have been more comforting if not for the fact that he, himself, was crying. "This is all my fault..." He pulled out of the hug and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
"It's not your fault, Zell. You can't blame this on yourself. We chose to come here... We could have sent someone else to do this for us. We came here because we wanted to help someone we all love." Selphie pulled him into the hug this time. "Even if it meant we would have to die for you... I knew what could happen when I agreed to come here... I knew what would have happened if I hadn't agreed... I wasn't going to sit around and watch you die."
"Rinoa hates me... If he's alive, Squall's going to hate me for running away... Then if he dies, everyone is going to hate me for running away... I... I'm starting to feel like I don't even want to fight this anymore, Selphie..." He rested his head against her shoulder. "It's taking so much outta me..."
"We're both gonna make it out of here alive... You sit here, I'm going to help them find the kit."
Zell leaned back against the tree trunk behind him and watched as Selphie joined in the search... Soon his vision began to swirl, even though he wasn't moving... His friends turned into blobs of color, and their voices as they spoke became random noises he couldn't even understand... He tried to raise his hand to rub his eyes, but found he didn't have the strength. It felt like someone had lit a wall of fire around his body, and he turned his head to one side, trying desperately to end the heat, the searing burning heat. He whimpered... The flames were there still, burning his whole body... He allowed himself to slide to the cool grass, resting his face against the wet surface... For a moment the heat was slightly eased but it quickly returned, it was devouring him... Killing him...!!!
Rinoa turned back to check on Zell only to find that he was writhing on the grass, his face flushed with the fever. "Quistis! Help me, quickly!"
The older woman turned and gasped at the sight, quickly rushing to Rinoa's side. "What do you want me to do?"
"I need you to hold him still! I've never tried this before, but it's worth a shot!"
Quistis held Zell in place and watched as Rinoa began to undo the buttons on his shirt.
"I've been reading up about this in some old, old books... Sorcery not used in battle. Healing magic! If I could just remember the chant..." She put her hands on Zell's chest and gasped. "Oh my god, he's burning up..." She then shut her eyes and began to whisper soft words in another language... Her brow began to furrow and a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead... Her chanting grew louder until she was nearly shouting, and then she stopped and took her hands away abruptly, panting. "I can't... Heal him..." She managed. "But I think... His fever should go down a little."
Quistis cast three esunas on Zell, but frowned when he remained in the same condition. "No, it's not working this time... I think we're in trouble, guys... This definitely what Doctor Kadowaki warned me about..." She shook her head and sighed deeply.
"What do you mean, Quistis?" Irvine asked, concern etched all over his normally smiling face. "What did she say?"
"She told me that if we didn't go quickly, we would begin to see a change in Zell... Mind you, she said it would come on slowly, but this isn't slow! She said once he took a turn for the worst, there was no going back without the cure. Esunas aren't going to work on him anymore guys... The rest of the fight is up to Zell."
Rinoa began to cry now, drawing her knees up to her chest. "It's hopeless. Why should we even go on? We can't make it without the medicine or Squall! He was the only one who knew where we were going!"
The members of the group slowly drifted into their own worlds, thinking about what was going to happen now.
'We aren't getting off this island even if Squall does come back and by some miracle we save Zell...' Irvine thought as he held Selphie close to him. 'The Ragnarok is a mess, there's no way it's flying anywhere.' He looked at the brown haired girl in his arms and kissed the top of her head softly. "Seffie...?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
She turned slightly so she could look in his eyes, and hers held a sly glint. "I know, Irvy. I love you too."
He took her hand in his and kissed it softly as tears ran from his eyes. 'This is the end, then... At least I'm here with Selphie and my friends.' "I promise you, if we get off this island alive, I'm marrying you."
She bit her bottom lip to sustain her joyus cry and instead settled on throwing her arms around his neck. "Irvy..."
Rinoa, still crying, was thinking to herself as well. 'I hope if Squall died he didn't suffer... I hope he didn't get eaten by those things... This whole mission was hopeless... Maybe the only reason we came here was to fail and die...' She looked at Zell through teary eyes and made a silent apology that she hadn't been stronger for him.
Quistis sat alone outside the group, legs folded under her. 'So this is the last chapter for the heroes of the war against Ultimecia... Funny, but I always thought we would all die old and happy... Not young and miserable.' She lowered her head.
'...The heat... I feel like I'm on fire... I must... Be dying...' Were Zell's last thoughts before a deep blackness overcame him.
*****
A droplet of sweat trickled down Squall's cheek, leaving a cold wet trail in it's wake. His arms trembled as he attemped to pick up Lionheart from the ground where it had fallen, they were weak from hours of battle. He mentally scanned through his remaining stocked magic to see what he had left... He had used his small supply of Ultima on the mother, but she had escaped from him... He had been ready to relax and head back towards the camp when the babies attacked for a second time. He had fought viciously, but in the end they had only brought back the mother. This time she had been more furious than the time before, using the quills down her back and tail, swinging them viciously towards him. One had sliced across his abdomen, doing more damage to his shirt than his skin, but the wound still trickled blood down his torso. After much dodging, he had hacked off the end of the mother's tail, then casted curaga three times, hoping to the gods it would bring the creature down... But instead the mother had turned to face him again, eyes glowing blood red, and it had changed. It knocked Lionheart from his hands and backed him into a tree. Cornered, his life in danger, Squall had nothing left to do, so he casted Flare twice in succession. The sheer proximity of the spell to his hands caused them to blister almost immediately, but he hadn't noticed in his panic to save himself. The mother had gone back into the forest, her face dripping blood on the forest floor as she went.
Now he was alone, and it was beginning to get dark. He made another attempt to lift Lionheart, but this time two of the blisters on his hands popped and he dropped the handle as though it was white hot, hissing in pain. "Damn it..." He whispered, looking at the damage on his hands. "I can't wrap them... And I can't carry Lionheart with my hands in this condition..." He looked back at the gunblade, and sighed. "I'll have to leave it here..." Although reluctant to do so, Squall turned his back on the gunblade and began to walk back towards the camp. It wasn't so hard, someone had left a lamp on near the tents, so he followed the light back into the clearing.
After locating the medical equipment, using a potion on the burns, and wrapping them tightly, he began to put leftover items into a pack he could carry with him when he tried to find where they had gone to. He was about to leave the camp when he noticed the metal case lying on the ground... "I can't believe they left this." He picked it up off the ground, brushing bits of dirt off of it. He slipped it into his pack, then began walking in the direction his teammates had run off in. For a long while he was sure of himself, knowing he was going to make it back to them, but it didn't take long for doubts to come flooding into his mind... If the monsters attacked while he was walking, he would be finished. With no weapon, he knew he wouldn't be able to hold them back.
As if answering his thoughts, a howl came from the woods to his left.
He quietly slipped into the woods at his right and began to backtrack, looking for where he had left Lionheart. He passed creature after creature on the way, making sure to avoid them carefully, and soon he had returned to the place where had left his sword. Lionheart was still there, the blade giving off a bright blue light. He reached down and grasped the handle, ignoring the pain in his hands and the trembling of his arms, and lifted the weapon back up and out of the dirt. The stinging in his hands brought tears into his eyes, but he refused to shed them and continued back to the path, Lioheart in hand.
The howling began again, and he heard something moving through the bushes next to him. He stopped and faced whatever it was, holding Lionheart in the ready position.
One of the babies stepped through the brush, foaming at the mouth angrily, eyeing Lionheart. It had obviously recognized the blade that had done so much damage to it earlier.
"If you want me, come and get me." Squall said in a dangerous voice, swinging the blade once in the baby's direction.
It hissed at him ferally, the fur and quills on it's back standing straight up.
Squall was about to slash at it when a heavy weight hit him in back, sending him sprawling forwards onto his face in the dirt. The same growling now came from behind him, and he scrambled to get back to his feet... Before he could do it, the weight pressed down onto his back, pinning him in the dirt. He struggled, trying to knock the thing off, but it was no use. Soon he stopped fighting it and allowed his forehead to rest in the dirt. 'This is it... I'm sorry, Rinoa... I'm sorry, Zell... Everyone...'
Squall had accepted his fate.
*****
Irvine was keeping watch at the front of the camp when it happened. A sound from inside the woods. He drew Exeter and stood up, narrowing his eyes to try and spot whatever had moved. Off to his left, the plants rustled slightly and he turned, aiming the shotgun in that direction. "I'm not going to miss." He whispered to himself, and when the thing came from the bushes he fired his gun, knowing it wouldn't miss it's mark.
It would have hit, had it not been deflected off of something metallic and black. But, since it was, the bullet sailed harmlessly off to the left and landed on the ground, smoking.
"You trying to kill me, you idiot?"
Irvine stepped back, his eyes wide in shock. "What... What are... How did you..."
Seifer shook his head and sighed, lowering his weapon. "I was sent here to save all your sorry asses about three days ago. You left an obvious trail of ruined tents and signs of battle, so I just followed them. Luckily for all of you I happened to come across someone who needed my help along the way."
Irvine watched in shock as Squall emerged from the brush, aided by Kiros. "Squall!!!"
His cry brought Rinoa from her tent, and her face was tear-streaked. When her eyes landed on her love, however, a giant smile lit up her features. "Squall! I thought you were dead!" She rushed to him and threw her arms around him, not noticing his sharp intake of breath as she did so. "We gave up hope, Squall! We were all just about to make the decision to forget the mission and try to go home..." Then her face darkened. "Zell's... In really bad shape, Squall... We don't think he's going to make it."
"Oh, he will." Seifer spoke up, a scowl on his face. "I didn't come all the way out here so chicken-wuss could die and make this entire thing a waste of my time. Where is he?"
"We put him in the tent and made sure he was kept cool... We're trying to keep his fever down now by using ice... We've managed to stabilize him at one hundred and three..." Rinoa crossed her arms. "Now mind telling me what you're doing here, Seifer?"
"Official business of Esthar." He answered. "Laguna got word from Garden that you guys hadn't reported back to them, so he decided to send me and Seagill here to make sure you were all alive and to help you get that cure for chicken-wuss."
"What's so special about you?" Squall snapped while Rinoa tended to his bleeding hands. "Any particular reason Laguna would tell you to come here and save the people you hate?"
"First off, I don't hate all of you. Only most of you." Seifer knew it was a lie, but he continued anyways. "Second, would it kill you to call Laguna your father?"
"...Whatever." Squall looked away, clenching his teeth with anger.
"And to answer your question, you're speaking to the head of the Esthar Army."
Rinoa looked at him, eyes wide. "Seifer! You mean Laguna let you run the entire army?!"
He nodded, a cocky smirk on his face. "He couldn't deny my greatness."
"That's such good news! I'm so happy for you!" She stopped caring for Squall long enough to throw her arms around Seifer.
The blonde stuck out his tongue at Squall, who offered a death-glare. "I'm glad someone's happy for me... I thought I was the only one."
"Hm. So did I." Kiros remarked, then inclined his head slightly to Rinoa. "How are you?"
"I'm fine..." She smiled brightly, offering a hug to the tall man as well. "But I'm really worried about Zell... And... The medicine kit..."
Squall motioned to the pack Seifer was now carrying. "It's in there. I went back to the last campsite."
Rinoa sighed deeply, but it wasn't in relief. "I don't even think it's going to matter... You should go and see him now, just in case he doesn't make it through the night... I don't know if he'll be awake when you go in, he hasn't exactly been coherent since he got into this stage of the disease.
Seifer started towards the tent, but Rinoa stopped him by standing in his way. "...What?"
"Where are you going?"
"To talk to the chicken-wuss. Where else?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You can't call him that right now, ok? I don't want him getting stressed out or upset... It might..." She trailed off and looked at the ground. "Just be nice to him for once, ok Seifer?"
"I was planning on it." He continued to the tent and went inside, ignoring Selphie and Quistis' surprised gasps, and he kneeled down next to Zell's feverish form. "Hmm..."
"Seifer, what are... How did you..." Quistis stammered, shocked by the sudden appearance of a man she hadn't seen in a long time.
"I'm here on Esthar business, and I came by ship. Same as you. Though... Yours isn't in great shape, is it?" He looked over his shoulder at the blonde woman and grinned. "Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you all behind. We're going to cure Zell here, and get out of this place."
"I'm sick, too." Selphie said softly, eyes downcast.
"Ok, then we save you both and get going. There's no point in staying here longer than we need to." A groan from Zell brought Seifer's attention back. "Hey."
Zell's eyes opened, but they were dulled with fever and didn't seem to be focusing. However, he recognized the voice. "....Seifer?"
"Yeah, it's me." Seifer shrugged. "Decided to be nice and help you guys out." He grinned again. "So, how are you?"
Zell growled lightly and narrowed his eyes, which cleared slightly and focused on Seifer. "Don't... Make me get up and kick your ass..."
Seifer laughed. "Same old Zell. You get rested, we're going to start moving again soon. I'm guessing the sick people get carried?" The end of the sentence was directed to Quistis, who nodded.
"Usually Squall carries Zell."
"Well, your fearless leader won't be carrying anything, he burned his hands. I'm guessing cowboy carries Selphie, so I'll take Zell."
"You're not going to drop him or anything on purpose, are you?" Selphie asked, her voice low and dangerous. "'Cause he's our friend, and if you hurt him, we'll hurt you."
Seifer held his hands up in a gesture of innocence. "I wasn't planning on dropping him. We may not be friends, but I don't hate the guy!"
"Who are you and what have you done with Seifer?" Quistis looked at him with suspicion. "The Seifer I know would never do something like this for someone else unless he was in it for himself."
"Then I guess you don't know me as well as you thought, Quistis." He got to his feet and left the tent to return to the other group. "I suggest we get moving, and do it soon. Just by checking on him I can tell he ain't got much time left."
"Why do you even care?" Squall snapped, earning himself a soft elbow from Rinoa. "What? He doesn't care... He never cared."
"Contrary to popular belief that I'm an asshole," Seifer began, crossing his arms. "I really do give a shit, or I wouldn't have even bothered showing up. I hate to tell you Squall, since you obviously have remained ignorant," This brought a glare from the brunette. "Rinoa and I have remained friends with one another, and it seems she's the only one out of you all who knows how to forgive and forget."
"People don't change." Was Squall's reply.
"Well you're wrong. I've changed, and I know I have. Just 'cause there's still bits of the old Seifer still doesn't mean I'm still an asshole, or that I hate the world. I learned from my mistakes." He shook his head. "It doesn't go without saying, though, I am still here partially because of myself... I want to prove myself again to the world, so they know I've changed. I'm sick of people hating me because of something that happened three years ago. I'm also doing this because Laguna asked me to... He's the only person besides Rinoa who still trusted me after what happened with Ultimecia... He's done alot for me without asking for anything in return, so it's about time I did something for him."
"Which is...?" Squall questioned.
"Bring you home safe, Squall. He cares about you, even if you don't like him. No amount of your frigid cold bastard attitude is going to change the way he feels. I wish it would. All you do is upset him."
Squall's expression changed, only momentarily, to one of guilt before he changed it back to his usual glare. "...Whatever, Seifer. I never asked you to interfere with my life. It's none of your business."
"Considering the fact I live in the Palace with your father, and he considers me his son, I think I do have business in your life. So as I was saying. We need to get moving soon, maybe even tonight. There's no time to rest and get relaxed. We consulted Doctor Odine before we left, just briefly, and he told us where we should be going to find this flower to make up the cure. We were also sent equipped with radioes... Unfortunately, they won't get any kind of signal in the forest." Seifer shrugged. "So we're on our own."
"Do you know what we're up against?" Rinoa asked him, frowning. "These monsters are inter-bred species..."
"Yeah, I rescued our 'Brave Hero' Squall from two of them. He had fairly given up when I got there."
Squall crossed his arms and looked in the other direction, but his face had reddened slightly.
"Given up?"
"Yeah, well, can't blame him. One was standing on his back, right in spot where he couldn't reach it. It knocked his gunblade out of his hands and out of his reach... And you can't aim magic at something you can't see. They must have been after him because of Zell's scent. Monsters tend to be attracted to the smell of sickness... Makes them hungry. Now, do we know what this 'Pheyttia' flower looks like, so we can attempt to avoid it? Don't need anyone else to get sick."
Rinoa shook her head. "We don't know what it looks like. It's purple, but the book says that it closes itself unless it's infecting someone... So we have no clue what it would look like."
"Ok, I guess we'll just have to be careful then. Now, here's what we're going to do-"
"Who died and made you the boss, Seifer?" Squall snapped, turning back to them. "You'll probably lead us right off a cliff."
Seifer opened his mouth to reply, but Rinoa didn't give him the chance.
"Squall, will you shut up and listen?! He's obviously got a plan, something we're in need of! Give him a chance, ok?"
Squall colored slightly and looked at the ground. "....whatever."
"Anyways." Seifer continued, grinning. "What we'll do is pack everything there up except the tents. I'll carry Zell, that should be no problem. Irvine can carry Selphie. We won't switch, we'll carry them as far as we can. Squall, you take the pack that Seagill has, you can carry that still. Seagill, you'll carry food supplies. Rinoa and Quistis can take anything else I haven't mentioned." He clapped his hands. "Let's get working on that right now, and hopefully we can leave before those ugly monsters finally decide not to be scared of Hyperion."
So they set about getting packed up and getting Selphie and Zell out of the tents. It didn't take long since they had two extra hands, and very soon everyone was ready to go. Quistis was carrying Lionheart and Selphie's Strange Vision, and Rinoa was carrying all the remaining items they had in a pack.
Seifer lifted Zell off the ground onto his back and was surprised at the temperature of the smaller man's body. He cast a small ice spell, followed by esuna, and felt the fever go down a notch. "Ok, we're heading sort of South-West... That should be where the flower is. If we walked without stopping it would take us around a day and a half, so I'm guessing we'll be walking for two to three days. It should take about five to six to get back to the ship... That's a little over a week left before we get off this island and back into civilization. It can't happen soon enough. Just tell me if anyone gets tired, I'll try to help you out. I don't plan on stopping until morning. Night is the most dangerous time to let your guard down here." He made sure he had a good grip on Zell, then he started to walk.
Squall was reluctant to follow, but he bit back his pride and did as he was told. His ribs were aching, and his hands were still bleeding slightly, but he wasn't about to show his weaknesses to the rest of the group... Even if it did seem like he was no longer the leader... As much as Squall hated the position, he hated giving it up for Seifer even more. But he had decided that one more chance was in line for the Ex-Sorceress' Knight. Right now his only hope was that his friends would be saved and they would make it off the island alive.
None of them expected an easy ending.
A/N: Wheeee! Done chapter nine! This is good! I am happy now! And proud of myself! Thanks to my kind lovely reviewers! Again A/N: Sorry about the shitty way I keep uploading these things. I originally HAVE paragraphs, ff.net decides to delete them. And sorry about typoes. I try to correct them as I go. I write these things in wordpad.
