Squall leaned against the backboard of the rumbling truck as it road
through the long valleys of Gila Plains, staring at the star dotted sky.
The last time he stared at those stars... He sighed, yawning and shrugging.
"You okay, bro?" Ellone asked, as she sat only a foot away from him.
"Hmm? Yeah... A little boring though, all this riding around."
"It goes on a lot here in the rebellion. Ya get used to it... We can't be flying over Urone in something like that dragon ship you have. That's just a suicide note; you know..." she giggled.
"Yeah..."
"Hey, Squall... About the upcoming mission..." came the smooth young yet worn out voice of Shun, as his fingers drummed his knees, his arms crossed over Saranie's sleeping head as she lay in front of him, head on thigh.
"I learned my lesson, okay? I won't bungle this new one up."
"Ya sure won't. Saranie's in big trouble for letting you live. That's why you, Saranie, and Nanto are staying behind."
"What?! She's the leader!"
"She needs time to gather her thoughts. As for you, you need to get acquainted with the Almasy family. I know Novato and Lucre are awaiting to tell Seifer that they are alive, but now it seems if that happened it'd be on their death bed, since Seifer's decided he's working for Cennaire."
"Hold it... I have to pass the information of his parents on to Seifer instead of letting them tell him themselves?"
"You're the only ever known person to have defeated Seifer himself... You could reason with him, and maybe he'd turn his back on Cennaire... But, until then, do well to get the whole story first. Nanto wants to see his dad and mom anyways, so he'll tag along. We're going to drop you off in Pandemonium, the city that's closest to the Almasy family household."
Squall leaned back, shaking his head.
"Oh, and Squall..." Shun stood up, laying Saranie down on the floor and gesturing for the brunette to follow him as he further back into a deserted part of the van.
"Yeah, what?" Squall asked, eyeing Shun carefully.
"Court Saranie. Make her want you."
"What?! She's your girlfriend, not mine!"
"..." Shun leaned back, staring up at the sky through the exposed roof "I'm thirty five. She's merely eighteen... She needs somebody like you. Young love, it needs to stay with the young ones."
"Uh... I don't follow..."
"Saranie deserves a young man, like you. Especially like you. You nearly killed thousands of people to get back your love. I can see it in your eyes anyways; you want this woman..."
"Shun... Are you saying you might die?"
"... Your smart, Squall."
"Shun... You can't die! Saranie loves you."
"She loves that I'm experienced, she loves that I can fight, and well pretty much she loves how I am in bed... Not loves me... There's just something special in your eyes, the way you look at her... You won't just lust her, you will love her..."
"That doesn't mean you should throw your life away!"
"For this bomb... We need somebody to be inside the building to set it off... That'll be me..."
"What? Why?!"
"We're going after Shauna Laboratory. That's where Cennaire's energy comes from. It's too big for a signal to reach this bomb, not too mention the bombs too complex for a button, so I must be the one who sets it off. I'm used to risking my life for my country, so how's the world different?"
"Shun..." Squall said sadly, in defeat.
"Call me Cid..." he shrugged, and as the car pulled to a halt in the city of Pandemonium and Squall was forced to be left to stand on the street side, next to a messy brown haired boy with a sad face, a tiny kitten demon, and the woman of a great hero in his arms asleep, he watched Cid Shun Wiggins wave to him from the back of a war jeep as it pulled away into the night.
**
Squall stared around. Saranie held her head and leaned on him as they walked through the huge city of Pandemonium, Nanto and kitten Rira guiding the way.
Squall slid his arm around Saranie's waist, ready to carry out Cid's last wish, which Saranie didn't seem to know about or was pleased with.
"So... How big is Pandemonium again?" Squall asked, staring at the huge towering buildings around him, listening to the snappy beat of the city.
"It's the biggest city on Urone, I already told you that. It's... twenty miles long, sixteen miles wide, and filled with prostitutes, sleazy dealers, and drug addicts."
"Not the wholesome environment, huh?" He grinned.
"No..." she smiled.
"Hmm..." he leaned over to kiss her, as this seemed like the best time, but she looked away as soon as she saw what he was doing.
"To-To, where we heading?" she asked, flipping the subject.
"Home, der. You didn't get orders?" Nanto muttered to his sister.
"Uh, nope, actually I didn't. Sleeping at the time. Now, to headquarters, you mean?"
"No, we're going home. Papa wants to tell Squall about Seifer... the whole story..."
"HOME!? But, Squall doesn't know..."
"Squall is not knowing?"
"He is unknowing."
"He knows not?"
"Know he does not."
"Not he knows?"
"OKAY BE QUIET! What don't I know?!" Squall snapped, yet was prepared for the worst.
"Squall..." Saranie pushed her fingers together, smiling "um... You see... Since Urone is such a teeny tiny planet... Papa's not just the general of the Spiral army ... but... The president of the country of Spiral, the largest country of Urone."
**
"Let me get this straight. Urone has countries too?" Squall asked as they walked through the shady forest path, away from the noisy streets of Pandemonium.
"Yes, silly. Spiral is the largest, and the well richest. Cennaire is also for the moment the main head of this country, though. Papa acts like he serves her, to protect us kids and the rebellion. Papa's got magic of his own, in his body, so it's easy for him to lie to Cennaire. The second largest is Omigutsinu, it's filled with samurai and ninja want-to-be, but they do cough out some great fighters. That's where Cennaire is currently established. The third largest is Europangth, that's the one with Ore in it. It's mostly dried up, but it's pretty big. The smallest is Sai, that's the one with Nai in it" Nanto explained, yawning.
"Oh... Huh? I thought we were going to the president's house?" Squall stared up at the ruined building in front of him. It was burned to a crisp.
"... No... No..." Nanto shook his head, horror in his eyes.
"... PAPA! MAMA!!!" Saranie screamed, running into the house, crying.
**
"Mama... Papa... Cennaire found out, I bet she did! It's all our fault... our stupid rebellion!!!" Saranie lay curled up, sobbing into a heap.
"Saranie! I found something that wasn't touched! They look like files..." Nanto called from a distance, behind the ruined once beautiful marble staircase.
"Huh?" Saranie stood up, Squall following as she walked behind the staircase, staring at the neat pile of files that her kid brother found.
"... They're labeled 'Mariah Cennaire Yukirin'"
**
"Squall... this isn't making sense! This woman looks just like me..." Saranie moaned, looking through the countless photos of a beautiful blonde woman, wearing a blue and white sailor girl outfit with gleaming blue eyes. She lay sprawled across the grass with a handsome looking man, whom Saranie said was none other than Novato Sebekia Almasy, in many, a loving look in the Jane Doe's eyes.
Saranie then found an actual file. It was a journal, which was labeled 'The Witch Project'.
"Witch?..." Saranie asked, and began reading it, after a moment out-loud.
"Witches are the usually beautiful creatures in disguise as the human being. They're genetic code is approximately the same as that of a sorceress's, as it is a miniature containment of that called 'magic'. Though these 'witches' are known to be able to manipulate elements, they are not as powerfully enhanced as a sorceress. Except, if they are infected with the powers of the Stones of Divine. They may be able to pass on powers to new generations and be even more powerful than Ultimecia herself in ways. But, this can lead to tragic death in childbirth, as the powers of Shiva, Ifrit, Quesacotl, Diablos, or the Divine himself inside the whelp will overwhelm the mother.
"I have met a beautiful woman. Her name is Mariah, and she will be the new scientific breakthrough. She is a witch of the light. I will breed her with a human, expose the impregnated mother to the stones, and create children. If the first is male, and the second is male, I will destroy the second. I do not want two children of the same gender.
"I have met a young man named Novato Almasy. He is fully another descendant of Adam and Eve, and a perfect breeding partner, as he and Mariah seem to be in love. I will breed the two and expose both to the stones, then run my tests.
"Novato Almasy, now exposed to a stone of Divine, and now a witch of earth, seems to have compatibility with a sorceress, proving my theory true. Mariah, on the other hand, is sworn a hatred to all sorceress's and has pledged death to them. It seems the ancestors of the witch's, Merlin and Gabriel, were true as described in ancient stone tablets. Merlin and Gabriel were in love, yet one day Ultimecia, a sorceress, broke them apart by having Merlin fall in love with her, thus making male witches attracted to sorceress's and female witches un-attracted to sorceress's.
"The first child, dubbed Seifer, has been a complete success. He harness's the witch power of darkness, though it is doubtful this power may ever awaken in power. The next child, a complete female, dubbed Saranie, is a complete success as well, as she herself now as a mere infant is awakened in power already, due to my theory of immense radiation to a Stone of Divine. Though, my research will be cut short until maybe I can breed brother and sister, because Mariah has died in childbirth."
"... Saranie... your... I'm sorry, it sounds like..." Squall said slowly.
"I'm not human."
He stood up, walking over to a teary eyed shocked Saranie and hugging her softly, looking down at the file.
"Hey, there's more... newer entry, even..."
"... I can't read anymore..." she moaned.
"... I'll read for you" Squall nodded "now...
"Mariah. The ultimate witch. Reincarnation of Gabriel herself. I shouldn't have been so absent with my work. I should have observed further. She knew, even though I was so well hidden... She knew I was a sorceress... But, being the witch of light, was unable to harm me until I sinned... I am sheer luck that I did not sin, or I may not be alive today. This woman, she haunts me... Nothing more, though. I finally have this Saranie and Seifer in my hands. I can continue my research. Saranie, leader of rebellion... hmm... She knows not she's not the one hunting me, I'm hunting her.
"It seems this fool Novato re-married. This time to a woman named Lucre. There are two more children, named Nanto and Celbie. No matter. Though they hold the power of lightening and ice, they are too meager and young, being more human the witch.
"It is time for I, Cennaire, to trick this Seifer into thinking I am his daughter, and then kill two of the most powerful witches ever born. But, first, I must breed the two and infect their child with myself, giving me an ultimate power. Then, I kill Saranie and Seifer Almasy... The monsters I created...
"But, it seems, as the prophecy says, 'One day when lights dim in the universe, one will burn brightly, then brighter, and Divine himself will awaken in one soul and destroy what is known as the great evils of Pandora's box'. Greek mythology, but could this be true? I must stay on my guard."
"... Cennaire... isn't Seifer's daughter! She's actually... I hate to say it, but almost the reason me and him are created!!!" Saranie stood up "Mariah... she is my real mom? Novato! He couldn't have died in this fire, he's a witch!" Saranie yanked out of Squall's grip stomping towards the door, her fists balled.
**
Squall chased the girl, Nanto and Rira following him. A dark mist settled over the mansion while they were reading, and it was a little hard to spot the blur ahead of them as she trotted down the lane.
She suddenly stopped, turning and looking to the right, muttering something as she walked to the edge of the road, to an opening in the long line of neatly groomed trees.
Squall huffed and puffed as he stopped where she had entered the trees. A little burial graveyard, cute and tiny, for family, sat there. A tall man with long white hair, a strict and stern face, the smallest of eyes, and the lean yet muscular physique stood there, placing a flower on a grave with an angel on it. The engraved words on it were hard to make out.
"Novato!" Saranie yelled, as she was right behind him, arms at her side as she huffed and puffed.
"... Sara... Cennaire found out... I'm so sorry... My magic didn't work..." he looked down.
"Cause you're the witch of honesty, right? Novato..." Saranie growled.
"I laid those files out so you might find them... Lucre wouldn't let me tell you... She loves you because you're her daughter, she doesn't want you to think any different..." Novato sighed.
"... Where's my mom buried?"
"Right here..." Novato sighed, stepping out of the way. The tombstone was much bigger than the one with the freshly overturned dirt, which Squall assumed was Lucre's.
"..." Saranie slowly walked over to the grave of her real mother's, leaning down and stroking the name "Mariah... Yukirin..."
"You look just like your mother... Though, act a little different... No, I suppose not... Your mother threw her life away to destroy a sorceress, and it seems you might too..."
"... She died to destroy a sorceress?"
"Mm. She prayed every night to the god of Divine to bless her with the kindling hope, which would be a fire witch of power that will use her mother's soul in her flames, to destroy the sorceress's. You happened to be a fire witch, and take your mother's soul with you when you were born..."
"... She died for my powers?" Saranie asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
"In a way..." Squall decided that Novato was as caring as Seifer.
"... So... Cennaire wants me to have a kid with my brother, right?"
"Yeah."
Saranie cringed "ew..."
"Hey, Seifer ain't that bad looking, is he?" Novato laughed.
"Ugh..." she stood up, sighing "yay... I'm a monster that's meant to get banged by her brother."
**
"... You won't actually let Seifer... go Flowers in The Attic on you, right?" Squall asked Saranie, as he sat on a bar stool, she opposite of him sitting on the bar itself. The bar was empty, except for a few lingerers on a Monday night.
"I don't know... Squall, I can't trust in human instinct anymore..."
"But..." he sighed, shaking his head "Annie..."
She sat up straight, wide eyed "... Squall... Only Shun has ever called me Annie..."
'Shun...' Squall thought, looking down "Shun... Huh?"
"I know you hate him, but..."
"No, I don't! He was actually... pretty cool..."
"Damn right honey! Shun made a girl hot and made a guy laugh!" came the deep voice of the middle aged African woman with the big round figure as she waddled out of the kitchen.
"Heh... You tell him, Aretha!" Saranie giggled as the woman gave her a scowl for sitting on her bar.
"You get down from there, girly, you'll scare away the customers!"
"Huh?"
"Put on some underwear or a bunny outfit or get down, 'cause a black trench coat ain't gonna help these perverts, honey!" Aretha said, gesturing with her wrist of Saranie getting off the bar.
Saranie sighed, jumping down and onto Squall's lap, making him uncomfortable "Squall, this is Aretha. She runs this here bar. She's an excellent singer!"
"Mm, used to be honey. Now I'm just a bar hostess" Aretha shrugged her shoulders, turning and arranging a few bottles on a shelf.
"But, you can sing..." Saranie said in a reminding voice.
"... Sara, you are by far the worst Almasy I have ever heard of!" Aretha flipped around, putting her hands on her big hips, shaking her head.
"But, you have heard of me..." Saranie giggled, nodding and shaking a finger at Aretha.
"Who hasn't? It seems a little girl was in here just a bit ago, looking for you, and some guy named Squall..."
"... She didn't happen to be wearing a blue overcoat, black undershirt, blue overskirt, and black shorts?"
"And a necklace with a ring on it?" Squall butted in, now scared of the answer.
"Why, yes she did! A friend of yours, Saranie? I say, she sure was annoying, so help me my great lord Jesus!" Aretha said, shaking her head.
"No, not really..." said Saranie, a bit sarcastically, casting Squall a dark look. "Necklace with a ring on it?"
"Er... Well, you see... A while ago, when we were together, I gave Rinoa a ring of mine... It was called Griever... She put it on a necklace, and kept it. I never got it back. I saw she was still wearing it last night when we were captured..."
"? Captured?" was Aretha's answer, and Saranie's was "You name and have jewelry?"
"... I mean, uh, we were caught drunk driving, and the police caught us" Squall answered to Aretha, remembering the rebellion was secret and wanting to get off of the conversation with Saranie that might make him view as sensitive, and he wanted to be pretty much more like Seifer than Irvine's made up look for women.
"...? Was Fuijin and Raijin captured too? Did they get out of Jaromaru alive? Cause, Raijin's my best customer for food, and Fuijin does enjoy a little something on the rocks here and there... Oh, and Ellone is the sweetest little helper! Did they all survive?" Aretha asked, to Squall's shock.
"Dun worry Squall, Aretha is part of the rebellion too" Saranie said absently, her mind still concentrated on the ring part 'He names is rings!? And he gave one to Heartilly?'
"Oh... Sorry, I didn't know. I forgot I've only met some of the major roles..."
"Excuse me?! I am one of the greatest roles in the rebellion! In fact, the rebellion is so tiny, it consists of less than twenty-six minor members..."
"What!? Then what about all these people I keep seeing at all of the headquarters?!"
"Those are all the same people. Those are the minor members, the people you see. We always split up and head to different locations. The minor member group consists of twenty-six people, the middle class, those are Shun's team, I think six members, and Celbie and Nanto, and the leaders are me, Shun, Elle, Fuijin, and Raijin. Your... Just kind of a hired hand. We were hoping for the rest of your team... We sent Ellone and Celbie out to get them. We were going to send Celbie, cause she's warm and good at persuading, and Fuijin, because she's one of our strongest and careful Silent members, those are members sent out for missions that involve disguise, but Ellone knew that Quistis, Zell, Irvine, and Selphie would believe somebody that they had already known, like her" Saranie said, getting off of Squall and slumping into a chair '... Griever, it is a cool name, but you name a dog, not a ring...'
"Oh... So, they'll be coming with us?"
"What? Four more mouths to feed?" Aretha moans, "I'm the cook for the rebellion, that's my main participation. I gotta feed... Lets see, plus you, Squall, and your friends, that makes thirty-nine people to feed!"
"... That'll be only thirty-eight..." Squall said, looking down.
"What? No, minor, middle, and first class... those all put together is thirty- nine" Saranie muttered.
"No. Shun won't be with us anymore."
"? Squall, Shun's never let me down, nor anybody else. Especially not his home planet, you know that much. He'll stick to the rebellion to the very end" Saranie said, now even angrier at Squall for saying that about her lover.
"This will be the end for him..." Squall looked down.
"Huh? Squall, you aren't making since..."
"Saranie, this bomb needs to be activated with a button. Shun... Volunteered to be the one who activates the bomb. I'm sorry, he told only me... He just couldn't hurt you..."
Saranie backed up, a look of horror in her eyes "y- you're lying! Shun can't die! It's not his time!!!"
Aretha sighed, looking down "sugar, this does sound like something Shun would do, through and through..."
"... But... after this, we were going to get married, have a family, in a place where nobody had to fear a witch..."
"... No... Saranie... I-... I'm sorry..." Squall stood up, sighing and looking down, as he wasn't really one to comfort, but even more he feared that temper. The same temper that he was sure all Almasy kin had. The temper that went by the motto, 'When things go wrong, when the lights go out, when your scared, run around and scream and shout'. This was something wise to fear, his scar reminded him.
"NO!!! I can't do this without Shun!!! He can't die!!! I have to stop him!" she shook her head, her long black coat flying behind her as she turned, whisking away and out of the door, causing as much commotion that could be cause in a nearly empty bar.
"I should have stopped him!" Squall shouted, pounding his fists on the bar.
"Honey... Nobody can stop Shun... He's a wild thing, he really is... You'd think he's an Almasy himself... You can tack 'em to a wall, in a concrete room, with six titanium steel doors... and after swallowing that key, you turn around and they're standing right in front of you, sporting that 'I love a good fight' grin..." Aretha sighed, looking down.
"... You're... right!" Squall said, something good coming out of this.
Fight Seifer. Show him right from wrong. Teach him once again. But... Seifer was now revealed as something Squall didn't want to know. The files said he also came from Mariah... What if Cennaire awoken Seifer's 'craft'? Squall barely stood a chance, now that he had some sort of connection with the misguided Almasy, not being able to do more than just pummel him. Now, Seifer might send Squall into a swirling vortex of darkness, with no end, just down and down and down...-
"NO!!!" there came a screech from outside. Saranie!!! Aretha jumped up from her confusion in Squall's response, turning and heading for the door quickly "honey, are you okay- What and the hell!?"
A small ball flew into the bar past Aretha, landing in front of Squall, where it began spewing purple gas into the room.
"Knockout gas!" Squall yelled, as he started running for the door, but as his legs seemingly grew into an ooze, his arms floppy, he fell face down on the floor, and shut his eyes into a deep sleep...
(Sorry for keeping you all waiting! You shnee... I umm... hee hee comps not working so well.)
"You okay, bro?" Ellone asked, as she sat only a foot away from him.
"Hmm? Yeah... A little boring though, all this riding around."
"It goes on a lot here in the rebellion. Ya get used to it... We can't be flying over Urone in something like that dragon ship you have. That's just a suicide note; you know..." she giggled.
"Yeah..."
"Hey, Squall... About the upcoming mission..." came the smooth young yet worn out voice of Shun, as his fingers drummed his knees, his arms crossed over Saranie's sleeping head as she lay in front of him, head on thigh.
"I learned my lesson, okay? I won't bungle this new one up."
"Ya sure won't. Saranie's in big trouble for letting you live. That's why you, Saranie, and Nanto are staying behind."
"What?! She's the leader!"
"She needs time to gather her thoughts. As for you, you need to get acquainted with the Almasy family. I know Novato and Lucre are awaiting to tell Seifer that they are alive, but now it seems if that happened it'd be on their death bed, since Seifer's decided he's working for Cennaire."
"Hold it... I have to pass the information of his parents on to Seifer instead of letting them tell him themselves?"
"You're the only ever known person to have defeated Seifer himself... You could reason with him, and maybe he'd turn his back on Cennaire... But, until then, do well to get the whole story first. Nanto wants to see his dad and mom anyways, so he'll tag along. We're going to drop you off in Pandemonium, the city that's closest to the Almasy family household."
Squall leaned back, shaking his head.
"Oh, and Squall..." Shun stood up, laying Saranie down on the floor and gesturing for the brunette to follow him as he further back into a deserted part of the van.
"Yeah, what?" Squall asked, eyeing Shun carefully.
"Court Saranie. Make her want you."
"What?! She's your girlfriend, not mine!"
"..." Shun leaned back, staring up at the sky through the exposed roof "I'm thirty five. She's merely eighteen... She needs somebody like you. Young love, it needs to stay with the young ones."
"Uh... I don't follow..."
"Saranie deserves a young man, like you. Especially like you. You nearly killed thousands of people to get back your love. I can see it in your eyes anyways; you want this woman..."
"Shun... Are you saying you might die?"
"... Your smart, Squall."
"Shun... You can't die! Saranie loves you."
"She loves that I'm experienced, she loves that I can fight, and well pretty much she loves how I am in bed... Not loves me... There's just something special in your eyes, the way you look at her... You won't just lust her, you will love her..."
"That doesn't mean you should throw your life away!"
"For this bomb... We need somebody to be inside the building to set it off... That'll be me..."
"What? Why?!"
"We're going after Shauna Laboratory. That's where Cennaire's energy comes from. It's too big for a signal to reach this bomb, not too mention the bombs too complex for a button, so I must be the one who sets it off. I'm used to risking my life for my country, so how's the world different?"
"Shun..." Squall said sadly, in defeat.
"Call me Cid..." he shrugged, and as the car pulled to a halt in the city of Pandemonium and Squall was forced to be left to stand on the street side, next to a messy brown haired boy with a sad face, a tiny kitten demon, and the woman of a great hero in his arms asleep, he watched Cid Shun Wiggins wave to him from the back of a war jeep as it pulled away into the night.
**
Squall stared around. Saranie held her head and leaned on him as they walked through the huge city of Pandemonium, Nanto and kitten Rira guiding the way.
Squall slid his arm around Saranie's waist, ready to carry out Cid's last wish, which Saranie didn't seem to know about or was pleased with.
"So... How big is Pandemonium again?" Squall asked, staring at the huge towering buildings around him, listening to the snappy beat of the city.
"It's the biggest city on Urone, I already told you that. It's... twenty miles long, sixteen miles wide, and filled with prostitutes, sleazy dealers, and drug addicts."
"Not the wholesome environment, huh?" He grinned.
"No..." she smiled.
"Hmm..." he leaned over to kiss her, as this seemed like the best time, but she looked away as soon as she saw what he was doing.
"To-To, where we heading?" she asked, flipping the subject.
"Home, der. You didn't get orders?" Nanto muttered to his sister.
"Uh, nope, actually I didn't. Sleeping at the time. Now, to headquarters, you mean?"
"No, we're going home. Papa wants to tell Squall about Seifer... the whole story..."
"HOME!? But, Squall doesn't know..."
"Squall is not knowing?"
"He is unknowing."
"He knows not?"
"Know he does not."
"Not he knows?"
"OKAY BE QUIET! What don't I know?!" Squall snapped, yet was prepared for the worst.
"Squall..." Saranie pushed her fingers together, smiling "um... You see... Since Urone is such a teeny tiny planet... Papa's not just the general of the Spiral army ... but... The president of the country of Spiral, the largest country of Urone."
**
"Let me get this straight. Urone has countries too?" Squall asked as they walked through the shady forest path, away from the noisy streets of Pandemonium.
"Yes, silly. Spiral is the largest, and the well richest. Cennaire is also for the moment the main head of this country, though. Papa acts like he serves her, to protect us kids and the rebellion. Papa's got magic of his own, in his body, so it's easy for him to lie to Cennaire. The second largest is Omigutsinu, it's filled with samurai and ninja want-to-be, but they do cough out some great fighters. That's where Cennaire is currently established. The third largest is Europangth, that's the one with Ore in it. It's mostly dried up, but it's pretty big. The smallest is Sai, that's the one with Nai in it" Nanto explained, yawning.
"Oh... Huh? I thought we were going to the president's house?" Squall stared up at the ruined building in front of him. It was burned to a crisp.
"... No... No..." Nanto shook his head, horror in his eyes.
"... PAPA! MAMA!!!" Saranie screamed, running into the house, crying.
**
"Mama... Papa... Cennaire found out, I bet she did! It's all our fault... our stupid rebellion!!!" Saranie lay curled up, sobbing into a heap.
"Saranie! I found something that wasn't touched! They look like files..." Nanto called from a distance, behind the ruined once beautiful marble staircase.
"Huh?" Saranie stood up, Squall following as she walked behind the staircase, staring at the neat pile of files that her kid brother found.
"... They're labeled 'Mariah Cennaire Yukirin'"
**
"Squall... this isn't making sense! This woman looks just like me..." Saranie moaned, looking through the countless photos of a beautiful blonde woman, wearing a blue and white sailor girl outfit with gleaming blue eyes. She lay sprawled across the grass with a handsome looking man, whom Saranie said was none other than Novato Sebekia Almasy, in many, a loving look in the Jane Doe's eyes.
Saranie then found an actual file. It was a journal, which was labeled 'The Witch Project'.
"Witch?..." Saranie asked, and began reading it, after a moment out-loud.
"Witches are the usually beautiful creatures in disguise as the human being. They're genetic code is approximately the same as that of a sorceress's, as it is a miniature containment of that called 'magic'. Though these 'witches' are known to be able to manipulate elements, they are not as powerfully enhanced as a sorceress. Except, if they are infected with the powers of the Stones of Divine. They may be able to pass on powers to new generations and be even more powerful than Ultimecia herself in ways. But, this can lead to tragic death in childbirth, as the powers of Shiva, Ifrit, Quesacotl, Diablos, or the Divine himself inside the whelp will overwhelm the mother.
"I have met a beautiful woman. Her name is Mariah, and she will be the new scientific breakthrough. She is a witch of the light. I will breed her with a human, expose the impregnated mother to the stones, and create children. If the first is male, and the second is male, I will destroy the second. I do not want two children of the same gender.
"I have met a young man named Novato Almasy. He is fully another descendant of Adam and Eve, and a perfect breeding partner, as he and Mariah seem to be in love. I will breed the two and expose both to the stones, then run my tests.
"Novato Almasy, now exposed to a stone of Divine, and now a witch of earth, seems to have compatibility with a sorceress, proving my theory true. Mariah, on the other hand, is sworn a hatred to all sorceress's and has pledged death to them. It seems the ancestors of the witch's, Merlin and Gabriel, were true as described in ancient stone tablets. Merlin and Gabriel were in love, yet one day Ultimecia, a sorceress, broke them apart by having Merlin fall in love with her, thus making male witches attracted to sorceress's and female witches un-attracted to sorceress's.
"The first child, dubbed Seifer, has been a complete success. He harness's the witch power of darkness, though it is doubtful this power may ever awaken in power. The next child, a complete female, dubbed Saranie, is a complete success as well, as she herself now as a mere infant is awakened in power already, due to my theory of immense radiation to a Stone of Divine. Though, my research will be cut short until maybe I can breed brother and sister, because Mariah has died in childbirth."
"... Saranie... your... I'm sorry, it sounds like..." Squall said slowly.
"I'm not human."
He stood up, walking over to a teary eyed shocked Saranie and hugging her softly, looking down at the file.
"Hey, there's more... newer entry, even..."
"... I can't read anymore..." she moaned.
"... I'll read for you" Squall nodded "now...
"Mariah. The ultimate witch. Reincarnation of Gabriel herself. I shouldn't have been so absent with my work. I should have observed further. She knew, even though I was so well hidden... She knew I was a sorceress... But, being the witch of light, was unable to harm me until I sinned... I am sheer luck that I did not sin, or I may not be alive today. This woman, she haunts me... Nothing more, though. I finally have this Saranie and Seifer in my hands. I can continue my research. Saranie, leader of rebellion... hmm... She knows not she's not the one hunting me, I'm hunting her.
"It seems this fool Novato re-married. This time to a woman named Lucre. There are two more children, named Nanto and Celbie. No matter. Though they hold the power of lightening and ice, they are too meager and young, being more human the witch.
"It is time for I, Cennaire, to trick this Seifer into thinking I am his daughter, and then kill two of the most powerful witches ever born. But, first, I must breed the two and infect their child with myself, giving me an ultimate power. Then, I kill Saranie and Seifer Almasy... The monsters I created...
"But, it seems, as the prophecy says, 'One day when lights dim in the universe, one will burn brightly, then brighter, and Divine himself will awaken in one soul and destroy what is known as the great evils of Pandora's box'. Greek mythology, but could this be true? I must stay on my guard."
"... Cennaire... isn't Seifer's daughter! She's actually... I hate to say it, but almost the reason me and him are created!!!" Saranie stood up "Mariah... she is my real mom? Novato! He couldn't have died in this fire, he's a witch!" Saranie yanked out of Squall's grip stomping towards the door, her fists balled.
**
Squall chased the girl, Nanto and Rira following him. A dark mist settled over the mansion while they were reading, and it was a little hard to spot the blur ahead of them as she trotted down the lane.
She suddenly stopped, turning and looking to the right, muttering something as she walked to the edge of the road, to an opening in the long line of neatly groomed trees.
Squall huffed and puffed as he stopped where she had entered the trees. A little burial graveyard, cute and tiny, for family, sat there. A tall man with long white hair, a strict and stern face, the smallest of eyes, and the lean yet muscular physique stood there, placing a flower on a grave with an angel on it. The engraved words on it were hard to make out.
"Novato!" Saranie yelled, as she was right behind him, arms at her side as she huffed and puffed.
"... Sara... Cennaire found out... I'm so sorry... My magic didn't work..." he looked down.
"Cause you're the witch of honesty, right? Novato..." Saranie growled.
"I laid those files out so you might find them... Lucre wouldn't let me tell you... She loves you because you're her daughter, she doesn't want you to think any different..." Novato sighed.
"... Where's my mom buried?"
"Right here..." Novato sighed, stepping out of the way. The tombstone was much bigger than the one with the freshly overturned dirt, which Squall assumed was Lucre's.
"..." Saranie slowly walked over to the grave of her real mother's, leaning down and stroking the name "Mariah... Yukirin..."
"You look just like your mother... Though, act a little different... No, I suppose not... Your mother threw her life away to destroy a sorceress, and it seems you might too..."
"... She died to destroy a sorceress?"
"Mm. She prayed every night to the god of Divine to bless her with the kindling hope, which would be a fire witch of power that will use her mother's soul in her flames, to destroy the sorceress's. You happened to be a fire witch, and take your mother's soul with you when you were born..."
"... She died for my powers?" Saranie asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
"In a way..." Squall decided that Novato was as caring as Seifer.
"... So... Cennaire wants me to have a kid with my brother, right?"
"Yeah."
Saranie cringed "ew..."
"Hey, Seifer ain't that bad looking, is he?" Novato laughed.
"Ugh..." she stood up, sighing "yay... I'm a monster that's meant to get banged by her brother."
**
"... You won't actually let Seifer... go Flowers in The Attic on you, right?" Squall asked Saranie, as he sat on a bar stool, she opposite of him sitting on the bar itself. The bar was empty, except for a few lingerers on a Monday night.
"I don't know... Squall, I can't trust in human instinct anymore..."
"But..." he sighed, shaking his head "Annie..."
She sat up straight, wide eyed "... Squall... Only Shun has ever called me Annie..."
'Shun...' Squall thought, looking down "Shun... Huh?"
"I know you hate him, but..."
"No, I don't! He was actually... pretty cool..."
"Damn right honey! Shun made a girl hot and made a guy laugh!" came the deep voice of the middle aged African woman with the big round figure as she waddled out of the kitchen.
"Heh... You tell him, Aretha!" Saranie giggled as the woman gave her a scowl for sitting on her bar.
"You get down from there, girly, you'll scare away the customers!"
"Huh?"
"Put on some underwear or a bunny outfit or get down, 'cause a black trench coat ain't gonna help these perverts, honey!" Aretha said, gesturing with her wrist of Saranie getting off the bar.
Saranie sighed, jumping down and onto Squall's lap, making him uncomfortable "Squall, this is Aretha. She runs this here bar. She's an excellent singer!"
"Mm, used to be honey. Now I'm just a bar hostess" Aretha shrugged her shoulders, turning and arranging a few bottles on a shelf.
"But, you can sing..." Saranie said in a reminding voice.
"... Sara, you are by far the worst Almasy I have ever heard of!" Aretha flipped around, putting her hands on her big hips, shaking her head.
"But, you have heard of me..." Saranie giggled, nodding and shaking a finger at Aretha.
"Who hasn't? It seems a little girl was in here just a bit ago, looking for you, and some guy named Squall..."
"... She didn't happen to be wearing a blue overcoat, black undershirt, blue overskirt, and black shorts?"
"And a necklace with a ring on it?" Squall butted in, now scared of the answer.
"Why, yes she did! A friend of yours, Saranie? I say, she sure was annoying, so help me my great lord Jesus!" Aretha said, shaking her head.
"No, not really..." said Saranie, a bit sarcastically, casting Squall a dark look. "Necklace with a ring on it?"
"Er... Well, you see... A while ago, when we were together, I gave Rinoa a ring of mine... It was called Griever... She put it on a necklace, and kept it. I never got it back. I saw she was still wearing it last night when we were captured..."
"? Captured?" was Aretha's answer, and Saranie's was "You name and have jewelry?"
"... I mean, uh, we were caught drunk driving, and the police caught us" Squall answered to Aretha, remembering the rebellion was secret and wanting to get off of the conversation with Saranie that might make him view as sensitive, and he wanted to be pretty much more like Seifer than Irvine's made up look for women.
"...? Was Fuijin and Raijin captured too? Did they get out of Jaromaru alive? Cause, Raijin's my best customer for food, and Fuijin does enjoy a little something on the rocks here and there... Oh, and Ellone is the sweetest little helper! Did they all survive?" Aretha asked, to Squall's shock.
"Dun worry Squall, Aretha is part of the rebellion too" Saranie said absently, her mind still concentrated on the ring part 'He names is rings!? And he gave one to Heartilly?'
"Oh... Sorry, I didn't know. I forgot I've only met some of the major roles..."
"Excuse me?! I am one of the greatest roles in the rebellion! In fact, the rebellion is so tiny, it consists of less than twenty-six minor members..."
"What!? Then what about all these people I keep seeing at all of the headquarters?!"
"Those are all the same people. Those are the minor members, the people you see. We always split up and head to different locations. The minor member group consists of twenty-six people, the middle class, those are Shun's team, I think six members, and Celbie and Nanto, and the leaders are me, Shun, Elle, Fuijin, and Raijin. Your... Just kind of a hired hand. We were hoping for the rest of your team... We sent Ellone and Celbie out to get them. We were going to send Celbie, cause she's warm and good at persuading, and Fuijin, because she's one of our strongest and careful Silent members, those are members sent out for missions that involve disguise, but Ellone knew that Quistis, Zell, Irvine, and Selphie would believe somebody that they had already known, like her" Saranie said, getting off of Squall and slumping into a chair '... Griever, it is a cool name, but you name a dog, not a ring...'
"Oh... So, they'll be coming with us?"
"What? Four more mouths to feed?" Aretha moans, "I'm the cook for the rebellion, that's my main participation. I gotta feed... Lets see, plus you, Squall, and your friends, that makes thirty-nine people to feed!"
"... That'll be only thirty-eight..." Squall said, looking down.
"What? No, minor, middle, and first class... those all put together is thirty- nine" Saranie muttered.
"No. Shun won't be with us anymore."
"? Squall, Shun's never let me down, nor anybody else. Especially not his home planet, you know that much. He'll stick to the rebellion to the very end" Saranie said, now even angrier at Squall for saying that about her lover.
"This will be the end for him..." Squall looked down.
"Huh? Squall, you aren't making since..."
"Saranie, this bomb needs to be activated with a button. Shun... Volunteered to be the one who activates the bomb. I'm sorry, he told only me... He just couldn't hurt you..."
Saranie backed up, a look of horror in her eyes "y- you're lying! Shun can't die! It's not his time!!!"
Aretha sighed, looking down "sugar, this does sound like something Shun would do, through and through..."
"... But... after this, we were going to get married, have a family, in a place where nobody had to fear a witch..."
"... No... Saranie... I-... I'm sorry..." Squall stood up, sighing and looking down, as he wasn't really one to comfort, but even more he feared that temper. The same temper that he was sure all Almasy kin had. The temper that went by the motto, 'When things go wrong, when the lights go out, when your scared, run around and scream and shout'. This was something wise to fear, his scar reminded him.
"NO!!! I can't do this without Shun!!! He can't die!!! I have to stop him!" she shook her head, her long black coat flying behind her as she turned, whisking away and out of the door, causing as much commotion that could be cause in a nearly empty bar.
"I should have stopped him!" Squall shouted, pounding his fists on the bar.
"Honey... Nobody can stop Shun... He's a wild thing, he really is... You'd think he's an Almasy himself... You can tack 'em to a wall, in a concrete room, with six titanium steel doors... and after swallowing that key, you turn around and they're standing right in front of you, sporting that 'I love a good fight' grin..." Aretha sighed, looking down.
"... You're... right!" Squall said, something good coming out of this.
Fight Seifer. Show him right from wrong. Teach him once again. But... Seifer was now revealed as something Squall didn't want to know. The files said he also came from Mariah... What if Cennaire awoken Seifer's 'craft'? Squall barely stood a chance, now that he had some sort of connection with the misguided Almasy, not being able to do more than just pummel him. Now, Seifer might send Squall into a swirling vortex of darkness, with no end, just down and down and down...-
"NO!!!" there came a screech from outside. Saranie!!! Aretha jumped up from her confusion in Squall's response, turning and heading for the door quickly "honey, are you okay- What and the hell!?"
A small ball flew into the bar past Aretha, landing in front of Squall, where it began spewing purple gas into the room.
"Knockout gas!" Squall yelled, as he started running for the door, but as his legs seemingly grew into an ooze, his arms floppy, he fell face down on the floor, and shut his eyes into a deep sleep...
(Sorry for keeping you all waiting! You shnee... I umm... hee hee comps not working so well.)