"I suppose your willing to take more, Saranie Almasy?" Rinoa screeched as
her two interests, which had forgotten about her all together, raced down
the hall to fulfill a task that in her book her worst enemy had assigned.
'No... I was wrong... I still need Squall... and I can't let her have him! He's mine, I proved that years ago, in a space, on a rocket ship, after he saved my life!' Rinoa quickly turned around and signaled for one of her guards to come to her.
'Squall's mine, you preppy bitch... If you really think I'm about to let you take him from me myself, your in for, how do you say, a fire of passion?' Saranie clenched her teeth, finally ready to harness the fire within her to a great power.
Both women had ignored the man that they were now ready to kill for at first, blowing him off as just another boy-toy, another one of those men you use as slaves for a while or like a game or challenge. But now, just uttering his name might be heart-stopping for them. 'Squall'... Rinoa has fell in love with Squall far from slowly, and she loved him, he barely even loved her, but either way it was quick and always based on attraction. Saranie, on the other hand, just wanted to tease Squall, make him mad and then make him beg, just like she was taught, but by now she realized that he's a one and only chance, and somebody that was for real or not at all.
"... Go and stop those two men. Don't hurt the brown haired one, though, and make it clear that I want no harm to come to him, you hear? I'll take care of the rebel leader, alone" she nodded at the soldier as he leapt into the mech, slowly trudging down another hall, out of poor Saranie's reach as she is unable to stop the enemy from reaching her crush and brother. 'Get there without a fight, guys... Let no bad happen...'
"So... I hope your scared, little miss I'm gonna take somebody else's man..." Rinoa snickered.
"You had a chance, and it's revenge for breaking my brother's heart..."
"What are you saying?! He was trying to do what he thought was good, but you ran off with Squall. And as far as I'm concerned, it's time for you to repent, Almasy style!"
"Hmph... you can tell by your idiotic hissing sound of voice that you and Seifer are related..." Rinoa said smugly.
"Oh, we also have the same tempers..."
"So what? You can take it out on your friends, you can't blame yourself, and you refuse to show much of any sign of real affection."
"..." Saranie looked down. All of that was true... she was first to snap at Fuijin for the mix up in dates and malfunctions in weapons, she was ready to slap Raijin silly when things never went her way... and most of all, she was willing to kill her own family for betraying her... but, she wasn't about to let Rinoa know this.
"Okay, then... Sure, Rinoa, I'm JUST like my brother. Now fight me, ALONE!" Saranie smiled as Rinoa's eyes widened at her mistake.
"Uh... Whatever, lets go! I'll fight for my employer and my man!!!"
**
"... Rinoa, whose the real good guy? In all of this... which side do you think is good, and which is bad?" Saranie coughed slightly, rubbing the blade wound on her shoulder as blood gushed down. It stung like hell, really. But, never let them see you cry, right?
"Cennaire! And Jaromaru! And the Sorceress's!!!" Rinoa said from her sitting position, as Angelo stood in front of her snarling. She had a gash on her stomach, her arms were sliced to bits, and she had been trampled on, just not yet burned...
"No, they aren't..."
"You say that just because you're a witch! I heard about you! Your evil people disguised as women, the only good of you are the men!"
"..." Saranie bit down on her teeth. She had now grown to hate this fact entirely. She wasn't a witch... she was a human, and full fledged human... with powers, just like any of the others that used magic from draw points... Maybe she was a draw point? And a chicken is fowl. It made no difference, she still was human. She had a human's feelings, she had a human's desires, and this attack was not based on grudge. It was based on a want for all the life on Urone. But... she was still killing so much in a process. "Rinoa, if Cennaire is a good guy, how is she different from Ultimecia or Edea?"
"... Because she is a good guy!"
"No, she isn't. She is using you, just like Ultimecia... But, that doesn't make me a good person..."
"?"
"Both sides... blame each other... that's what Seifer said to me... and I will take that to my grave... 'There are no sides of good or bad. Each has it's own faults. If the good is willing to kill, they are ultimately bad. If the bad is willing to say they are good, they are ultimately good. Therefore, with both Yin and Yang combined, are the sides of war, thus being no good or bad."
"... Seifer... Green eyes... witches... Gabriel... Mariah... Yurikin... YOU!!!" Rinoa stood up and ran at Saranie, powers swirling around her as she was ready to deliver the fatal blow, Angelo the dog also lunging at Saranie, teeth barred...
The flame of hatred grew closer and closer to the top of Saranie, the flame of passion burned Saranie's face, and the flame of insanity singed Saranie's eyes. In her heart, pictures flew up and through her mind... Seifer and her, two little blonde children unwilling to let each other go as a faceless man pried them apart at the orphanage... A young girl, fifteen, lays dazzling green eyes on a thirty two year old handsome man, and from then on out are in love... three young siblings playing a game of tag on an open field as their parents watched... Fuijin and Raijin arriving at an airport, happy to finally see home... Ellone running up and giving the tightest hug Saranie had ever felt... A brown eyed storm and a green eyed typhoon fighting over the pronunciation of 'Cid'... A picture of a beautiful blonde woman staring out at the ocean... Mariah! Witches! Everything!
"Rinoa, stop..." she muttered, grabbing her head and falling to her knees.
"YOU WON'T RUIN MY LIFE THIS TIME!!!"
"... NO!" Saranie raised her head, as the hatred swarmed out of those cold green eyes, and igniting the flames on Rinoa and the dog. No, igniting the flames from the inside. Saranie watched, in neither pleasure or horror as Rinoa and her Angelo ignited from the inside out, and fell as only ashes in a matter of seconds. Rinoa's life and death... summarized in a matter of seconds.
"..." Saranie stood up, catching the glimpse of a feather as it drifted down from nowhere and onto Rinoa's pile of ashes. She walked over, picking up the unscathed, unburned ring as it emitted the red aura.
"Squall's aura..." it was unburned, because she had no wish to harm Squall, and anything that belonged to Squall, or anything Squall belonged to. This proved Squall was not Rinoa's, once and for all. Saranie stared at the feather as she struggled to remember lines of Hamlet "... Tis' the witching hour of night, in which church yards yawn and Hell itself breathes Contagion into the world. Now I could drink the hot blood and do the bitterest of deeds which the day would look on and quake... Thanks, Shakespeare..." she nodded, then walked off.
**
"ELLONE?!" Squall was shocked to see his sister wave at him from across the control room. The guards were tied up in the corner, and Fuijin and Raijin also at controls. Even more shocking, Shun was piloting at the very top.
"Hi Squall!"
"Hey, if it isn't the thunder from the planet down under! What are you doing on the ship?" Shun laughed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THE SHIP!?" Squall asked, amazed.
"Who is he?" Seifer asked, confused.
"He's Saranie's lover, and your dad's, uh..."
"Best friend. As for the Saranie part, your Saranie man. And not just figuratively, I mean after you get at that she owns every inch of you" Shun laughed "I umm... Well, you see, while I was activating at the bomb, and waiting for it to blow, this angel visited me... Call me stupid, but it looked like maybe how you'd imagine Saranie's mom would look! I mean, dead on Saranie and this guy, Seifer, right? Well, after that, I found myself outside of the building, just in time to watch the firework show of that building blowing up."
**
"So... Mariah is out and about saving people, huh?" Seifer asked as they anxiously awaited Saranie's return at the control room door.
"Looks like it... Is she lost?" Squall asked.
"I hope so... nothing should take Saranie this long..."
It had been at least twenty minutes. Squall looked down, sighing "you don't think she'd...?"
"Go after her alone?"
"Yeah..."
"No way!"
There was suddenly a ruckus and the floor shook. Ellone came bounding out, shaking "it came from upstairs somewhere..."
Seifer stood up, alarmed "UPSTAIRS!? No, not upstairs!!! That's where Cennaire is, and likely now Saranie!"
"We're nearly docked, we can even see Rira flying around above land, so lets head up there and find out what's going on" Ellone nodded confidently.
**
Squall ran faster than he had ever remembered to the top of the air ship, to the conference room, followed by his sister and best friend. Cennaire, undoubtedly, was killing Saranie as they spoke. So, he'd rather not speak...
He rammed into the door by hoping to push into it, but merely bounced off and came falling backwards, landing on Ellone and having Ellone tumble down like dominoes into Seifer. When the three landed like a sandwich of twenty year olds, Seifer moaned and then groaned, jumping up from the two siblings "It's pull you heroic dumbass!"
"Oops..." Squall laughed at his mistake, jumping up and climbing up the tiny flight of stairs quickly, opening the door to a huge gust of wind. He witnessed a sight that is really indescribable.
**
Saranie stood in the middle of the room, her coat gone and even her tight clothes struggling to stay on in the force of the huge wind that engulfed her un-shielded face, as she let the hurricane force stream through her hair and now ungloved fingers. The background held a large orange hue, a beautiful hue, of flames and light, yet there was no heat in the room. In front of Saranie's face, roaring in pain at the blonde, was a head. Not any head, though. A phoenix's head. A beautiful bird's head, giant and the size of even Squall's own body, made entirely out of flame, with the same beautiful eyes that he knew Seifer to have so well. Unlike Saranie's, they were small, not wide and bright, yet small and lizard like, like Seifer's. The same eyes of engulf, of such a passion. It was so big, and yet so small too. It's roaring seemed to muster up a hurricane, but it's sadness withheld all fear. The un-burning flames all around the room helped Squall realize this bird was a ghost. It's neck and body covered the front part of the room, and it's wings of white yellow flame wrapped themselves around Saranie as though in the middle of embracing. The rest of the body was under the floor, like a ghost cut off in the middle of floorboard.
Saranie's eyes were unmoved, as she slowly raised a hand and touched the bird's beak of flame softly, her eyes soft and lethargic "The soul that burns within me... Mariah..."
Squall was too immersed in the sight that it took a moment for him to regain senses and encourage him to look around for Cennaire. Where was that sorceress? In the middle of the flame bird's head, between the eyes, was the enflamed body of a young woman in screaming. Cennaire. Squall realized why it didn't burn, because all of the heat was centered on the sorceress.
"Squall, get Saranie!" screeched Seifer, in a worried tone.
"... Huh? What!?"
"Soon the sorceress will die, and after that the whole thing will explode! Come on, we gotta get out of here!!!"
Squall stared in horror for a second, then dived into the cool flame, snatching up the young woman and making a run for the door again. He dived between the older man and woman and down the steps, landing on Saranie hard in an effort to make her come to her senses. No luck. The girl was lethargic in a way, a trance in her eyes as she still searched for that flame bird
"Never mind that!" Seifer leapt agile to the bottom of the flight, picking up Saranie and turning, shooting off like a star down the hall, the two brown heads following. He broke down the door to the control room with lightening speed as a frightened Fuijin and Raijin and a cool yet worried Shun turned to him "What's goin' on!? Fuijin and I were scared witless!!!" Fuijin nodded, her old, old look back "SCARED!" Seifer shook his head "we're bustin out, right here!"
Fuijin shook her head "NEGATIVE!!!"
Seifer sighed, walking over and placing a hand on his lackey's shoulder "Fuijin... in less than a minute, this place will be blown to bits!"
"WHAT!? AHH, YA KNOW!!!" Raijin panicked, picking up his chair, and in one sweep shattering the window.
"Okay, Fuijin, you take Raijin! Shun, follow them I have to make sure that Ellone and Saranie and Squall are out all right!"
The two nodded, saying goodbye and goodluck to their master and diving into the water, Shun just nodding at Squall and doing the same, making a swim for the beach that was less than a mile away now.
"Seifer!" Ellone screeched, backing up as flames fell down the steps a stones throw away from the control room, starting to creep towards the room itself, as though sniffing out life.
"Okay, Elle, you next" Seifer nodded, grabbing Ellone's hand and pulling her onto the shatter glass window.
"No, Seifer... I have to stay with Squall! Make sure Fuijin and Raijin are safe, okay!?" Ellone nodded bravely, and then shoved a confused Seifer out of the window and into the water, where he reluctantly made a swim for sure.
"Here, take Saranie, I'll fend off the flames!" Squall handed dazed maiden to his sister, who struggled to push the girl that was nearly her weight and twice her height to the window. As soon as she was on the top, there was a yell from behind them, as a door frame, now engulfed in flames, fell on the young man.
As though a snap from hypnotism, Saranie was wide awake, looking around frantically "Squall?!"
"Y- You go on Saranie! You have to live!" Squall choked on smoke.
The blonde shook her head, turning and whistling loudly as the giant flaming cat tiger Rira, right on cue, came flying up to the window. Saranie snatched up Ellone's shirt, taking the woman and throwing her out the window on to the cat's back, who was immediately signaled to fly back to shore. Saranie then turned, rushing to Squall aid as she pushed all smoke and flames away from the man, creating a barrier around the two.
She grabbed his hand, turning, just as the roof fell in on them from all sides, trapping the two.
"We won't make it, Saranie..." Squall coughed, shaking his head.
"..." She looked down as a rumble was felt below her feet. It was blowing up. She turned to Squall, tears in her eyes "I said I'd go out in a blast..."
He smiled, leaning over and yanking up her hand, pulling her onto him and giving her a kiss that would make the Algae Eater fish turn green with Envy.
**
A soaked team watched as an airship collapsed into the ocean, in a blaze of a huge fire work. Raijin sat down, tears welling up in his eyes as all he could see was flame for a few moments. Shun sighed and looked down, yet still unhappily smiled, knowing that all destiny had fallen in it's place at some point. Fuijin fell onto Seifer's shoulder, struggling not to fall into a sobbing fit. Ellone collapsed on top of Rira's back, crying into the cat's fur. Rira lifted her head and gave such a howl that would make the prettiest blue bird, the softest nightingale, and the sauciest siren all weep themselves it was so beautiful.
Seifer watched the sight with those green eyes of his, the green eyes that had once had a young brunette's blade past between them and had left it's trail as a scar, those green eyes that now will long for the only other exact pair that shone and was much brighter. Those green, green eyes that looked upon this scene, and wept two shiny, purple tears of witch power. The two tears fell to the ground and, in some way, crystallized into two jewels, bright and poison purple, in the middle of it a dark purple marble, which would stay on that dock until shore.
**
"Okay, so all is said and done, right? Oh, yeah, you want to know what happened to everybody after the whole thing..." Seifer smiled at you, the listener across from him.
"Well, around a year later now, I'm now married to Fuijin, and still have Raijin, being the bum he is, living with us. Ellone and Shun, they're dating, and they're helping Aretha now make a theme park that includes Chocobo Racing of the greatest variety and games and such with cheap prices on some distant planet so that she can get back at her brother Dio...? Novato is now in business with Cid, and has a string of SeeD Gardens throughout Urone, the biggest of which I'm Headmaster of. Nanto and Rira are head SeeDs, and gun and, believe it or not, FIRE maniacs. Oh, and Raijin was traumatized by fire so much that he won't even allow candles on a birthday cake. Rinoa disappeared... huh. Quistis, Irvine, Zell, and Selphie all are Headmaster's too of Gardens throughout Urone. Oh, and Celbie... though least mentioned, she was the one who filled me in on all these gaps, so you could say she was one of the biggest parts. Celbie is now an Disguise Unit Head, or DUH-" Seifer laughs "and she, one of the main investigators at the scene of Cennaire's airship accident, says that Saranie Almasy and Squall Leonhart died that fateful day... But, will you believe anything that girl says?"
**
A black car zooms down a desert road, past a desert gas station, towards the city of Ore. A man and a woman adorned in black with sunglasses lean back in the leather seats, casual and bored looking yet happy to be that way. The woman moans, removing her sunglasses and popping out two contacts of blue eyes, revealing vibrant beautiful green eyes, and she shakes the Fruit Juice pink powder out of her hair to reveal a shining whitish gold. The man too takes off his sunglasses, and wipes the makeup off of a line that runs from one eye to under another, revealing a long scar, and he removes the black hat off of us head to reveal brunette hair.
"Hey, S- I mean, Casey... How about a honeymoon, you know, to take up after where we left off in that hotel... around the point where the police barged in on us?" the man smiled, stroking the woman's cheek with a ring that had a jewel on it as a wedding ring, a bright and poison purple, in the middle of it a dark purple marble jewel.. 'Casey Kyles', or more now 'Casey Willis' leaned over and rubbed 'Marco Willis' cheek with a ring that had a jewel on it as a wedding ring, a bright and poison purple, in the middle of it a dark purple marble jewel "sure, why not... Scarface..."
"Hmm... Glad we found these jewels on that dock..." "Yeah, we were soaked... and I suppose it's good to lay low, but I do miss our friends..." "Ehh... I'm liven' without em..." "Yeah, it's this driving thing I can't take... I do miss Rira... But, I suppose..." she leaned over, caressing his lips with her tongue "I have a new "Fierce Fuzzball..."
(Hmm... Who are these two mysterious people that are so much like our hero and heroine? I can only wonder! Well, this looks like the end of a great saga... But, do I smell a sequel? Be on eye for "My White Oleander Outside")
'No... I was wrong... I still need Squall... and I can't let her have him! He's mine, I proved that years ago, in a space, on a rocket ship, after he saved my life!' Rinoa quickly turned around and signaled for one of her guards to come to her.
'Squall's mine, you preppy bitch... If you really think I'm about to let you take him from me myself, your in for, how do you say, a fire of passion?' Saranie clenched her teeth, finally ready to harness the fire within her to a great power.
Both women had ignored the man that they were now ready to kill for at first, blowing him off as just another boy-toy, another one of those men you use as slaves for a while or like a game or challenge. But now, just uttering his name might be heart-stopping for them. 'Squall'... Rinoa has fell in love with Squall far from slowly, and she loved him, he barely even loved her, but either way it was quick and always based on attraction. Saranie, on the other hand, just wanted to tease Squall, make him mad and then make him beg, just like she was taught, but by now she realized that he's a one and only chance, and somebody that was for real or not at all.
"... Go and stop those two men. Don't hurt the brown haired one, though, and make it clear that I want no harm to come to him, you hear? I'll take care of the rebel leader, alone" she nodded at the soldier as he leapt into the mech, slowly trudging down another hall, out of poor Saranie's reach as she is unable to stop the enemy from reaching her crush and brother. 'Get there without a fight, guys... Let no bad happen...'
"So... I hope your scared, little miss I'm gonna take somebody else's man..." Rinoa snickered.
"You had a chance, and it's revenge for breaking my brother's heart..."
"What are you saying?! He was trying to do what he thought was good, but you ran off with Squall. And as far as I'm concerned, it's time for you to repent, Almasy style!"
"Hmph... you can tell by your idiotic hissing sound of voice that you and Seifer are related..." Rinoa said smugly.
"Oh, we also have the same tempers..."
"So what? You can take it out on your friends, you can't blame yourself, and you refuse to show much of any sign of real affection."
"..." Saranie looked down. All of that was true... she was first to snap at Fuijin for the mix up in dates and malfunctions in weapons, she was ready to slap Raijin silly when things never went her way... and most of all, she was willing to kill her own family for betraying her... but, she wasn't about to let Rinoa know this.
"Okay, then... Sure, Rinoa, I'm JUST like my brother. Now fight me, ALONE!" Saranie smiled as Rinoa's eyes widened at her mistake.
"Uh... Whatever, lets go! I'll fight for my employer and my man!!!"
**
"... Rinoa, whose the real good guy? In all of this... which side do you think is good, and which is bad?" Saranie coughed slightly, rubbing the blade wound on her shoulder as blood gushed down. It stung like hell, really. But, never let them see you cry, right?
"Cennaire! And Jaromaru! And the Sorceress's!!!" Rinoa said from her sitting position, as Angelo stood in front of her snarling. She had a gash on her stomach, her arms were sliced to bits, and she had been trampled on, just not yet burned...
"No, they aren't..."
"You say that just because you're a witch! I heard about you! Your evil people disguised as women, the only good of you are the men!"
"..." Saranie bit down on her teeth. She had now grown to hate this fact entirely. She wasn't a witch... she was a human, and full fledged human... with powers, just like any of the others that used magic from draw points... Maybe she was a draw point? And a chicken is fowl. It made no difference, she still was human. She had a human's feelings, she had a human's desires, and this attack was not based on grudge. It was based on a want for all the life on Urone. But... she was still killing so much in a process. "Rinoa, if Cennaire is a good guy, how is she different from Ultimecia or Edea?"
"... Because she is a good guy!"
"No, she isn't. She is using you, just like Ultimecia... But, that doesn't make me a good person..."
"?"
"Both sides... blame each other... that's what Seifer said to me... and I will take that to my grave... 'There are no sides of good or bad. Each has it's own faults. If the good is willing to kill, they are ultimately bad. If the bad is willing to say they are good, they are ultimately good. Therefore, with both Yin and Yang combined, are the sides of war, thus being no good or bad."
"... Seifer... Green eyes... witches... Gabriel... Mariah... Yurikin... YOU!!!" Rinoa stood up and ran at Saranie, powers swirling around her as she was ready to deliver the fatal blow, Angelo the dog also lunging at Saranie, teeth barred...
The flame of hatred grew closer and closer to the top of Saranie, the flame of passion burned Saranie's face, and the flame of insanity singed Saranie's eyes. In her heart, pictures flew up and through her mind... Seifer and her, two little blonde children unwilling to let each other go as a faceless man pried them apart at the orphanage... A young girl, fifteen, lays dazzling green eyes on a thirty two year old handsome man, and from then on out are in love... three young siblings playing a game of tag on an open field as their parents watched... Fuijin and Raijin arriving at an airport, happy to finally see home... Ellone running up and giving the tightest hug Saranie had ever felt... A brown eyed storm and a green eyed typhoon fighting over the pronunciation of 'Cid'... A picture of a beautiful blonde woman staring out at the ocean... Mariah! Witches! Everything!
"Rinoa, stop..." she muttered, grabbing her head and falling to her knees.
"YOU WON'T RUIN MY LIFE THIS TIME!!!"
"... NO!" Saranie raised her head, as the hatred swarmed out of those cold green eyes, and igniting the flames on Rinoa and the dog. No, igniting the flames from the inside. Saranie watched, in neither pleasure or horror as Rinoa and her Angelo ignited from the inside out, and fell as only ashes in a matter of seconds. Rinoa's life and death... summarized in a matter of seconds.
"..." Saranie stood up, catching the glimpse of a feather as it drifted down from nowhere and onto Rinoa's pile of ashes. She walked over, picking up the unscathed, unburned ring as it emitted the red aura.
"Squall's aura..." it was unburned, because she had no wish to harm Squall, and anything that belonged to Squall, or anything Squall belonged to. This proved Squall was not Rinoa's, once and for all. Saranie stared at the feather as she struggled to remember lines of Hamlet "... Tis' the witching hour of night, in which church yards yawn and Hell itself breathes Contagion into the world. Now I could drink the hot blood and do the bitterest of deeds which the day would look on and quake... Thanks, Shakespeare..." she nodded, then walked off.
**
"ELLONE?!" Squall was shocked to see his sister wave at him from across the control room. The guards were tied up in the corner, and Fuijin and Raijin also at controls. Even more shocking, Shun was piloting at the very top.
"Hi Squall!"
"Hey, if it isn't the thunder from the planet down under! What are you doing on the ship?" Shun laughed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THE SHIP!?" Squall asked, amazed.
"Who is he?" Seifer asked, confused.
"He's Saranie's lover, and your dad's, uh..."
"Best friend. As for the Saranie part, your Saranie man. And not just figuratively, I mean after you get at that she owns every inch of you" Shun laughed "I umm... Well, you see, while I was activating at the bomb, and waiting for it to blow, this angel visited me... Call me stupid, but it looked like maybe how you'd imagine Saranie's mom would look! I mean, dead on Saranie and this guy, Seifer, right? Well, after that, I found myself outside of the building, just in time to watch the firework show of that building blowing up."
**
"So... Mariah is out and about saving people, huh?" Seifer asked as they anxiously awaited Saranie's return at the control room door.
"Looks like it... Is she lost?" Squall asked.
"I hope so... nothing should take Saranie this long..."
It had been at least twenty minutes. Squall looked down, sighing "you don't think she'd...?"
"Go after her alone?"
"Yeah..."
"No way!"
There was suddenly a ruckus and the floor shook. Ellone came bounding out, shaking "it came from upstairs somewhere..."
Seifer stood up, alarmed "UPSTAIRS!? No, not upstairs!!! That's where Cennaire is, and likely now Saranie!"
"We're nearly docked, we can even see Rira flying around above land, so lets head up there and find out what's going on" Ellone nodded confidently.
**
Squall ran faster than he had ever remembered to the top of the air ship, to the conference room, followed by his sister and best friend. Cennaire, undoubtedly, was killing Saranie as they spoke. So, he'd rather not speak...
He rammed into the door by hoping to push into it, but merely bounced off and came falling backwards, landing on Ellone and having Ellone tumble down like dominoes into Seifer. When the three landed like a sandwich of twenty year olds, Seifer moaned and then groaned, jumping up from the two siblings "It's pull you heroic dumbass!"
"Oops..." Squall laughed at his mistake, jumping up and climbing up the tiny flight of stairs quickly, opening the door to a huge gust of wind. He witnessed a sight that is really indescribable.
**
Saranie stood in the middle of the room, her coat gone and even her tight clothes struggling to stay on in the force of the huge wind that engulfed her un-shielded face, as she let the hurricane force stream through her hair and now ungloved fingers. The background held a large orange hue, a beautiful hue, of flames and light, yet there was no heat in the room. In front of Saranie's face, roaring in pain at the blonde, was a head. Not any head, though. A phoenix's head. A beautiful bird's head, giant and the size of even Squall's own body, made entirely out of flame, with the same beautiful eyes that he knew Seifer to have so well. Unlike Saranie's, they were small, not wide and bright, yet small and lizard like, like Seifer's. The same eyes of engulf, of such a passion. It was so big, and yet so small too. It's roaring seemed to muster up a hurricane, but it's sadness withheld all fear. The un-burning flames all around the room helped Squall realize this bird was a ghost. It's neck and body covered the front part of the room, and it's wings of white yellow flame wrapped themselves around Saranie as though in the middle of embracing. The rest of the body was under the floor, like a ghost cut off in the middle of floorboard.
Saranie's eyes were unmoved, as she slowly raised a hand and touched the bird's beak of flame softly, her eyes soft and lethargic "The soul that burns within me... Mariah..."
Squall was too immersed in the sight that it took a moment for him to regain senses and encourage him to look around for Cennaire. Where was that sorceress? In the middle of the flame bird's head, between the eyes, was the enflamed body of a young woman in screaming. Cennaire. Squall realized why it didn't burn, because all of the heat was centered on the sorceress.
"Squall, get Saranie!" screeched Seifer, in a worried tone.
"... Huh? What!?"
"Soon the sorceress will die, and after that the whole thing will explode! Come on, we gotta get out of here!!!"
Squall stared in horror for a second, then dived into the cool flame, snatching up the young woman and making a run for the door again. He dived between the older man and woman and down the steps, landing on Saranie hard in an effort to make her come to her senses. No luck. The girl was lethargic in a way, a trance in her eyes as she still searched for that flame bird
"Never mind that!" Seifer leapt agile to the bottom of the flight, picking up Saranie and turning, shooting off like a star down the hall, the two brown heads following. He broke down the door to the control room with lightening speed as a frightened Fuijin and Raijin and a cool yet worried Shun turned to him "What's goin' on!? Fuijin and I were scared witless!!!" Fuijin nodded, her old, old look back "SCARED!" Seifer shook his head "we're bustin out, right here!"
Fuijin shook her head "NEGATIVE!!!"
Seifer sighed, walking over and placing a hand on his lackey's shoulder "Fuijin... in less than a minute, this place will be blown to bits!"
"WHAT!? AHH, YA KNOW!!!" Raijin panicked, picking up his chair, and in one sweep shattering the window.
"Okay, Fuijin, you take Raijin! Shun, follow them I have to make sure that Ellone and Saranie and Squall are out all right!"
The two nodded, saying goodbye and goodluck to their master and diving into the water, Shun just nodding at Squall and doing the same, making a swim for the beach that was less than a mile away now.
"Seifer!" Ellone screeched, backing up as flames fell down the steps a stones throw away from the control room, starting to creep towards the room itself, as though sniffing out life.
"Okay, Elle, you next" Seifer nodded, grabbing Ellone's hand and pulling her onto the shatter glass window.
"No, Seifer... I have to stay with Squall! Make sure Fuijin and Raijin are safe, okay!?" Ellone nodded bravely, and then shoved a confused Seifer out of the window and into the water, where he reluctantly made a swim for sure.
"Here, take Saranie, I'll fend off the flames!" Squall handed dazed maiden to his sister, who struggled to push the girl that was nearly her weight and twice her height to the window. As soon as she was on the top, there was a yell from behind them, as a door frame, now engulfed in flames, fell on the young man.
As though a snap from hypnotism, Saranie was wide awake, looking around frantically "Squall?!"
"Y- You go on Saranie! You have to live!" Squall choked on smoke.
The blonde shook her head, turning and whistling loudly as the giant flaming cat tiger Rira, right on cue, came flying up to the window. Saranie snatched up Ellone's shirt, taking the woman and throwing her out the window on to the cat's back, who was immediately signaled to fly back to shore. Saranie then turned, rushing to Squall aid as she pushed all smoke and flames away from the man, creating a barrier around the two.
She grabbed his hand, turning, just as the roof fell in on them from all sides, trapping the two.
"We won't make it, Saranie..." Squall coughed, shaking his head.
"..." She looked down as a rumble was felt below her feet. It was blowing up. She turned to Squall, tears in her eyes "I said I'd go out in a blast..."
He smiled, leaning over and yanking up her hand, pulling her onto him and giving her a kiss that would make the Algae Eater fish turn green with Envy.
**
A soaked team watched as an airship collapsed into the ocean, in a blaze of a huge fire work. Raijin sat down, tears welling up in his eyes as all he could see was flame for a few moments. Shun sighed and looked down, yet still unhappily smiled, knowing that all destiny had fallen in it's place at some point. Fuijin fell onto Seifer's shoulder, struggling not to fall into a sobbing fit. Ellone collapsed on top of Rira's back, crying into the cat's fur. Rira lifted her head and gave such a howl that would make the prettiest blue bird, the softest nightingale, and the sauciest siren all weep themselves it was so beautiful.
Seifer watched the sight with those green eyes of his, the green eyes that had once had a young brunette's blade past between them and had left it's trail as a scar, those green eyes that now will long for the only other exact pair that shone and was much brighter. Those green, green eyes that looked upon this scene, and wept two shiny, purple tears of witch power. The two tears fell to the ground and, in some way, crystallized into two jewels, bright and poison purple, in the middle of it a dark purple marble, which would stay on that dock until shore.
**
"Okay, so all is said and done, right? Oh, yeah, you want to know what happened to everybody after the whole thing..." Seifer smiled at you, the listener across from him.
"Well, around a year later now, I'm now married to Fuijin, and still have Raijin, being the bum he is, living with us. Ellone and Shun, they're dating, and they're helping Aretha now make a theme park that includes Chocobo Racing of the greatest variety and games and such with cheap prices on some distant planet so that she can get back at her brother Dio...? Novato is now in business with Cid, and has a string of SeeD Gardens throughout Urone, the biggest of which I'm Headmaster of. Nanto and Rira are head SeeDs, and gun and, believe it or not, FIRE maniacs. Oh, and Raijin was traumatized by fire so much that he won't even allow candles on a birthday cake. Rinoa disappeared... huh. Quistis, Irvine, Zell, and Selphie all are Headmaster's too of Gardens throughout Urone. Oh, and Celbie... though least mentioned, she was the one who filled me in on all these gaps, so you could say she was one of the biggest parts. Celbie is now an Disguise Unit Head, or DUH-" Seifer laughs "and she, one of the main investigators at the scene of Cennaire's airship accident, says that Saranie Almasy and Squall Leonhart died that fateful day... But, will you believe anything that girl says?"
**
A black car zooms down a desert road, past a desert gas station, towards the city of Ore. A man and a woman adorned in black with sunglasses lean back in the leather seats, casual and bored looking yet happy to be that way. The woman moans, removing her sunglasses and popping out two contacts of blue eyes, revealing vibrant beautiful green eyes, and she shakes the Fruit Juice pink powder out of her hair to reveal a shining whitish gold. The man too takes off his sunglasses, and wipes the makeup off of a line that runs from one eye to under another, revealing a long scar, and he removes the black hat off of us head to reveal brunette hair.
"Hey, S- I mean, Casey... How about a honeymoon, you know, to take up after where we left off in that hotel... around the point where the police barged in on us?" the man smiled, stroking the woman's cheek with a ring that had a jewel on it as a wedding ring, a bright and poison purple, in the middle of it a dark purple marble jewel.. 'Casey Kyles', or more now 'Casey Willis' leaned over and rubbed 'Marco Willis' cheek with a ring that had a jewel on it as a wedding ring, a bright and poison purple, in the middle of it a dark purple marble jewel "sure, why not... Scarface..."
"Hmm... Glad we found these jewels on that dock..." "Yeah, we were soaked... and I suppose it's good to lay low, but I do miss our friends..." "Ehh... I'm liven' without em..." "Yeah, it's this driving thing I can't take... I do miss Rira... But, I suppose..." she leaned over, caressing his lips with her tongue "I have a new "Fierce Fuzzball..."
(Hmm... Who are these two mysterious people that are so much like our hero and heroine? I can only wonder! Well, this looks like the end of a great saga... But, do I smell a sequel? Be on eye for "My White Oleander Outside")