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ANNOUNCEMENT: As the last chapter was such a mess, I redid it, all things left out at the end of chapter 11 are now in chapter 12, so if you want to read the improvements/ differences: just read the last bit, it's all I changed.
Riverwood: that's okay, review when you can. :) Did I hear fanart? YAY!! That is AWESOME! Yes, I thought it would be a bit of a plot twist. There were hints in other chapters, but I decided to make it blatant in chapter 12 [a change from chapter 11] to everyone except Seifer and Rajin.
Perfect Soldier 01: Yes, that was a rather sad chapter... I think she'll be okay... I might just be cruel, I don't know yet... depends onhow the next two chapters progress.
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'where were we at the foundations of the world? Where were we at its keeping? its forming? Its life? When was the first breath breathed? What gives us the right to forge it to our wills and dominations? When did we first listen? Hear the wind's rustling, the water's gurgling, the crackle of fire, the parade of thunder? Did it matter if one could not be found? Was there ever a saviour? Will I ever find my way?'
- Nobus Ordo Saeclorum
Fujin lay twitching slightly on the ground, her muscles shaking her from her painful slumber enough to tell she was being moved. Visions of fog came tumbling through her head, the smell of explosives, blood; a battle started forming on the foreground, and she saw herself shrinking back, she had lost. Seifer would be next, and it would be her fault. She didn't fight hard enough, she could have beaten them, she could have healed Rajin, then Seifer would have been okay... she could remember seeing the enemy forming a circle around her, gloating, but overwhelmingly burdened and grieved. Squall looked appologetic... how could she let that happen? She could feel something tugging at her, nothing more than a feather stroking her consciousness, but it was there, grieviously she opened her eye, letting the putrid second hand light feverishly jab at her vision, blinding her before she was lifted up, and could hear the mull of men around her, battle, blood... Rajin.
"Fujin" Rajin whispered, coaxing his female counterpart awake with his toes.
"Fujin" he said a little louder, as Fujin's head lolled to the side of his voice, eye opening as Rajin's desperate voice clamped down on her wish to wallow.
"RAJIN" she breathed, little more than a whisper,
"We can still help Seifer" Rajin whispered, before wincing as he was dragged upright by two Estharian soldiers. Laguna must have sent for re-inforcements Fujin thought, finding herself being lifted up. In the split second before the Estharian soldiers put handcuffs on the pair, Fujin realised Rajin was right, there was still time! Practically an afterthought, Fujin burst out in a flury of wind magic, wrapping herself and Rajin protectively before bursting forth with as much destructive force as a summon spell, flattening everyone else, Rajin running to grab their weapons, towards Seifer, Fujin in tow.
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Selphie had been hit hard. Laguna, Kiros, Ward and Irvine had rushed in as re-inforcements, Laguna could remember Irvine's gutteral wretching gasp as he saw Selphie silent on the debris, pieces of loose rock and cement coating the surrounding area. Laguna could remember Irvine healing the girl, caressing her quietly, yet briefly as Selphie whispered something into his ear, which immediately set Irvine's face grimly, as he helped her up, trailing his hand after he left her grasp, striding the warpath up to Squall. Laguna saw Irvine through the peripheral of his vision, for his eyes had been fixated on his son. Running in, Laguna had stopped short, blood running colder than Shiva as he watched in agony as his son stood over that shrivelling, whelp of a girl, she was obviously beaten, scared was an understatement, and Squall stood powerfully towering the silver haired pained girl, her face permanently etched in Laguna's mind. He had seen that face before, it was Raine's when Ellone was kidnapped, when Laguna said goodbye, when it looked like they were doing to die. It was the face of love breathing its last for the lover. That same face was what he saw every night when he'd close his eyes and subconsciously visualize Raine dying after giving birth to the man that stood before her, the spectre of all she had feared, of what she died for.
Laguna felt his spirit crushing under the weight of the scene, as Squall struck the handle of his weapon squarely across the girl's face, watching her flump down onto the body of her partner, then Squall turned, closing his eyes as he sheathed his gunblade, opening his eyes to the man he did not know to be his father and looked up so pitifully distraught that Laguna's heart broke a second time as he absolutely could not move.
"Squall!" Irvine shouted, coming to the side of Squall and pulling him to face eye to eye. Squall looked up at Irvine, who immediately shrinked back in shock of the grief set face and single tear that had broken, sliding down Squall's stone set face. Mumbling a bit, Irvine continued,
"Squall... Selphie says... I dunno if it's true, but... Merciful Hyne, man! That girl's pregnant!" He stumbled across the words, finally flinging his arm at Fujin's limp form.
"I know" Squall answered, looking to his side, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Whadjya mean you know!?"
"I scanned her... there were two life signs. It's why I didn't kill her."
"Well that's very noble of you" Irvine spat, "What kinda man would let a pregnant woman fight?"
Laguna stepped up to the two young men, tears on the verge of plunging over his eyelids,
"The same that would leave one behind. One that didn't know" he said, looking at the anguished, yet placid face of Fujin.
"Whatever. We have to move, by now the Galbadians would have been alerted to our presence" Squall said, eyes drifting over the battle field with calloused indifference.
"I don't understand" Irvine whispered as Squall began barking orders and healing Quistis,
"Trust Me." Laguna consolled, placing a hand on Irvine's shoulder as Selphie came over and sunk her head into Irvine's, giving him a hug. Squall came over and ordered Irvine to accompany him and Quistis, ordering Selphie to handle the prisoners with Laguna as Estharian reinforcements began flooding into the gaping hole. Blowing Irvine a kiss, Selphie turned back to Laguna and the task at hand. Secretly Laguna was glad Selphie was okay.
As Squall, Quistis and Irvine fled the room, a battle ensued with several Galbadian soldiers, quickly being won by the Commander of Garden, who didn't even stop. Several skirmishes broke out between Estharian soldiers and Galbadians, and Laguna gunned a few Galbadians down, yelling at Selphie to get the prisoners away from harm. No sooner had Selphie ordered a couple Estharian Privates to start moving the limp bodies, Selphie stopped in shock as Fujin's eye blared open, Fujin's thin mouth letting out a desperate scream as the most powerful wind magic Selphie had encountered flew onto the scene, flattening everyone. Selphie had instinctively flung a shell spell on herself, trying to stand her ground, but ended up landing with a thud on Ward. Groggy, she fluttered up, grasping for something to help her, as Laguna's hand found hers and eased her up on her feet.
"What are they, crazy?" Selphie mumbled, holding her head and giving her body a shake.
"No, I don't think that's it." Laguna said, handing Selphie a potion. The President of Esthar had seen Fujin's eye, and immediately threw a hi-potion into the air, falling as the powerful wind spell hit the bottle, breaking it and spraying all those hit with the cyclone with its healing properties. It was something Laguna had encountered by accident on one of his missions when he was still in Galbadia: never try and heal yourself when a Thrustaevis is casting a spell... unless of course you want to heal everyone a little. Selphie declined the potion, stumbling forward until she found her footing, then attempting to run after the fleeing pair.
"Selphie! It's too late!" Laguna said, running after the petit young woman, gunning down another Galbadian, who was about to put a bullet hole through Selphie's head.
"We have to get them back!"
"Are you prepared to kill? 'Cause they are!" Laguna yelled, yanking Selphie back,
"We've gotta save her!"
"Does she want to be saved!? Ask yourself, if that was Irvine in Seifer's position, what would you do?!" Selphie looked down, stopping the struggle she had been putting up.
"We have to do something" she said dejectedly, before flinging her head to the side and taking out a not-so-fallen Galbadian.
"Squall can take care of it. I have a feeling they won't put up much of a fight, she's going after Seifer, not Squall."
"How can you be sure? I think I should..."
"Get back, SeeD! That's an order!" Laguna shouted, shocking Selphie back into her place, he WAS the President, after all. Saluting steadfastly, Selphie shouted a quick
"Yessir!" and walked back to aide the warring soldiers. Laguna just watched, running a hand through his long, greying hair. He hated to pull rank like that, but he couldn't waste time, his soldiers needed help, he couldn't waste a well-trained SeeD to go on a wild goose chase. Walking back into the ebbing fray, he thought he saw a Galbadian soldier running from the scene carrying an Estharian sack-style, but that would never happen he thought, jogging back to where Ward was sitting on two Galbadian officers while Kiros negotiated their surrender.
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Fujin could hear the sounds of a battle coming fast to her side, grunting, the clang of metal against metal, the sound of shotgun shells going off, the snap of a whip... Seifer's last stand had already begun. She ran faster, passing Rajin, whose face was grimly set, finally getting into the mire of Seifer's stand.
"Seifer, Stop! ya know!" Rajin shouted, commanding the battle field as everyone spun around, Squall's team looking at the two warriors in shock of their escape.
"I spared you!" Squall said puzzled, to Fujin, who turned,
"SEIFER!"
Seifer shrank back, his exhausted face turning into a grin as he lifted his grimy body higher, rolling his shoulder,
"See? There's no way you can win now, Leonheart!" he shouted, cocky with the sight of his two friends.
"Fujin? Rajin? Are we to fight you again?" Quistis asked, snapping her whip and grabbing it to the ready with two hands.
"Again? If any of you hurt Fu..." Seifer started, swinging his gunblade threateningly.
"STOP!" Fujin shouted,
"This has to stop, ya know. Seifer... we came to stop you" Rajin said, shocking everyone, and getting Squall's party to step back.
"What? I thought we were a posse" Seifer said, letting his gunblade fall.
"We are a posse! All three of us." Fujin said, letting her voice sink into a normal form of phrase.
"You can talk!" Irvine stammered, stepping closer to her, more surprised than anyone of Fujin's turn of speech.
"Stay away from her!" Seifer spat, "Are you going to help me or not!?"
"No, Seifer! We are a posse, more than friends, more than family, we always stick together. But Rajin and I aren't going to stand by while you destroy yourself! You need to stop this, Seifer! The madness has to end, can't we just be happy? Can't we just go home?"
"HOME!? Where is home, Fuu? Do we have one? Tell me!"
"Give her a break, ya know! She's been through a lot, ya know!"
"How would you know more than me!?"
"SEIFER! We can still get out of here, we can still go travel, have a home with each other! WE can still get away! The Sorceress has nothing for you!"
"I do this for you, Fuu! I do all this for you!" Seifer shouted, slapping his palm to his chest.
"That's what the sorceress said!!" Fujin screamed, stepping forward, trying desperately to reach him somehow.
"No! If you're not going to help me... just LEAVE! Go, Fujin, just go!"
"SEIFER, PLEASE!" she pleaded, reaching for him.
"STAY AWAY!" he snarled, "Rajin... take care of her... keep her safe. Now get outa here!"
"SEIFER!" Fujin shouted, but Rajin stopped her, putting a strong, gentle hand on her shoulder.
"He won't listen, ya know... stubborn... like Squall... we've warned him... done all we can, ya know... let's leave... C'mon." Fujin took one last look at Seifer, pleading with her eye, Seifer looked back at her, equally sorrowful, as if to say, 'understand my sacrifice, I love you' and turned away to face Squall once again.
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Laguna, Kiros and Selphie ran towards the opening after word from Squall came: Seifer was beaten, that battle was complete. On their way, they stopped in shock at the hulking Rajin lay paralysed on the ground, Fujin nowhere in sight. Curing the behemoth, Selphie leant down, snapping her fingers in front of his face.
"C'mon, Rajin! Wake up! Where's Fujin?" the spunky woman asked, as Rajin shook his head and in the remaining stupour, could only be intelligibly decifered as,
"Magic... from behind... Fujin!"
ANNOUNCEMENT: As the last chapter was such a mess, I redid it, all things left out at the end of chapter 11 are now in chapter 12, so if you want to read the improvements/ differences: just read the last bit, it's all I changed.
Riverwood: that's okay, review when you can. :) Did I hear fanart? YAY!! That is AWESOME! Yes, I thought it would be a bit of a plot twist. There were hints in other chapters, but I decided to make it blatant in chapter 12 [a change from chapter 11] to everyone except Seifer and Rajin.
Perfect Soldier 01: Yes, that was a rather sad chapter... I think she'll be okay... I might just be cruel, I don't know yet... depends onhow the next two chapters progress.
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'where were we at the foundations of the world? Where were we at its keeping? its forming? Its life? When was the first breath breathed? What gives us the right to forge it to our wills and dominations? When did we first listen? Hear the wind's rustling, the water's gurgling, the crackle of fire, the parade of thunder? Did it matter if one could not be found? Was there ever a saviour? Will I ever find my way?'
- Nobus Ordo Saeclorum
Fujin lay twitching slightly on the ground, her muscles shaking her from her painful slumber enough to tell she was being moved. Visions of fog came tumbling through her head, the smell of explosives, blood; a battle started forming on the foreground, and she saw herself shrinking back, she had lost. Seifer would be next, and it would be her fault. She didn't fight hard enough, she could have beaten them, she could have healed Rajin, then Seifer would have been okay... she could remember seeing the enemy forming a circle around her, gloating, but overwhelmingly burdened and grieved. Squall looked appologetic... how could she let that happen? She could feel something tugging at her, nothing more than a feather stroking her consciousness, but it was there, grieviously she opened her eye, letting the putrid second hand light feverishly jab at her vision, blinding her before she was lifted up, and could hear the mull of men around her, battle, blood... Rajin.
"Fujin" Rajin whispered, coaxing his female counterpart awake with his toes.
"Fujin" he said a little louder, as Fujin's head lolled to the side of his voice, eye opening as Rajin's desperate voice clamped down on her wish to wallow.
"RAJIN" she breathed, little more than a whisper,
"We can still help Seifer" Rajin whispered, before wincing as he was dragged upright by two Estharian soldiers. Laguna must have sent for re-inforcements Fujin thought, finding herself being lifted up. In the split second before the Estharian soldiers put handcuffs on the pair, Fujin realised Rajin was right, there was still time! Practically an afterthought, Fujin burst out in a flury of wind magic, wrapping herself and Rajin protectively before bursting forth with as much destructive force as a summon spell, flattening everyone else, Rajin running to grab their weapons, towards Seifer, Fujin in tow.
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Selphie had been hit hard. Laguna, Kiros, Ward and Irvine had rushed in as re-inforcements, Laguna could remember Irvine's gutteral wretching gasp as he saw Selphie silent on the debris, pieces of loose rock and cement coating the surrounding area. Laguna could remember Irvine healing the girl, caressing her quietly, yet briefly as Selphie whispered something into his ear, which immediately set Irvine's face grimly, as he helped her up, trailing his hand after he left her grasp, striding the warpath up to Squall. Laguna saw Irvine through the peripheral of his vision, for his eyes had been fixated on his son. Running in, Laguna had stopped short, blood running colder than Shiva as he watched in agony as his son stood over that shrivelling, whelp of a girl, she was obviously beaten, scared was an understatement, and Squall stood powerfully towering the silver haired pained girl, her face permanently etched in Laguna's mind. He had seen that face before, it was Raine's when Ellone was kidnapped, when Laguna said goodbye, when it looked like they were doing to die. It was the face of love breathing its last for the lover. That same face was what he saw every night when he'd close his eyes and subconsciously visualize Raine dying after giving birth to the man that stood before her, the spectre of all she had feared, of what she died for.
Laguna felt his spirit crushing under the weight of the scene, as Squall struck the handle of his weapon squarely across the girl's face, watching her flump down onto the body of her partner, then Squall turned, closing his eyes as he sheathed his gunblade, opening his eyes to the man he did not know to be his father and looked up so pitifully distraught that Laguna's heart broke a second time as he absolutely could not move.
"Squall!" Irvine shouted, coming to the side of Squall and pulling him to face eye to eye. Squall looked up at Irvine, who immediately shrinked back in shock of the grief set face and single tear that had broken, sliding down Squall's stone set face. Mumbling a bit, Irvine continued,
"Squall... Selphie says... I dunno if it's true, but... Merciful Hyne, man! That girl's pregnant!" He stumbled across the words, finally flinging his arm at Fujin's limp form.
"I know" Squall answered, looking to his side, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Whadjya mean you know!?"
"I scanned her... there were two life signs. It's why I didn't kill her."
"Well that's very noble of you" Irvine spat, "What kinda man would let a pregnant woman fight?"
Laguna stepped up to the two young men, tears on the verge of plunging over his eyelids,
"The same that would leave one behind. One that didn't know" he said, looking at the anguished, yet placid face of Fujin.
"Whatever. We have to move, by now the Galbadians would have been alerted to our presence" Squall said, eyes drifting over the battle field with calloused indifference.
"I don't understand" Irvine whispered as Squall began barking orders and healing Quistis,
"Trust Me." Laguna consolled, placing a hand on Irvine's shoulder as Selphie came over and sunk her head into Irvine's, giving him a hug. Squall came over and ordered Irvine to accompany him and Quistis, ordering Selphie to handle the prisoners with Laguna as Estharian reinforcements began flooding into the gaping hole. Blowing Irvine a kiss, Selphie turned back to Laguna and the task at hand. Secretly Laguna was glad Selphie was okay.
As Squall, Quistis and Irvine fled the room, a battle ensued with several Galbadian soldiers, quickly being won by the Commander of Garden, who didn't even stop. Several skirmishes broke out between Estharian soldiers and Galbadians, and Laguna gunned a few Galbadians down, yelling at Selphie to get the prisoners away from harm. No sooner had Selphie ordered a couple Estharian Privates to start moving the limp bodies, Selphie stopped in shock as Fujin's eye blared open, Fujin's thin mouth letting out a desperate scream as the most powerful wind magic Selphie had encountered flew onto the scene, flattening everyone. Selphie had instinctively flung a shell spell on herself, trying to stand her ground, but ended up landing with a thud on Ward. Groggy, she fluttered up, grasping for something to help her, as Laguna's hand found hers and eased her up on her feet.
"What are they, crazy?" Selphie mumbled, holding her head and giving her body a shake.
"No, I don't think that's it." Laguna said, handing Selphie a potion. The President of Esthar had seen Fujin's eye, and immediately threw a hi-potion into the air, falling as the powerful wind spell hit the bottle, breaking it and spraying all those hit with the cyclone with its healing properties. It was something Laguna had encountered by accident on one of his missions when he was still in Galbadia: never try and heal yourself when a Thrustaevis is casting a spell... unless of course you want to heal everyone a little. Selphie declined the potion, stumbling forward until she found her footing, then attempting to run after the fleeing pair.
"Selphie! It's too late!" Laguna said, running after the petit young woman, gunning down another Galbadian, who was about to put a bullet hole through Selphie's head.
"We have to get them back!"
"Are you prepared to kill? 'Cause they are!" Laguna yelled, yanking Selphie back,
"We've gotta save her!"
"Does she want to be saved!? Ask yourself, if that was Irvine in Seifer's position, what would you do?!" Selphie looked down, stopping the struggle she had been putting up.
"We have to do something" she said dejectedly, before flinging her head to the side and taking out a not-so-fallen Galbadian.
"Squall can take care of it. I have a feeling they won't put up much of a fight, she's going after Seifer, not Squall."
"How can you be sure? I think I should..."
"Get back, SeeD! That's an order!" Laguna shouted, shocking Selphie back into her place, he WAS the President, after all. Saluting steadfastly, Selphie shouted a quick
"Yessir!" and walked back to aide the warring soldiers. Laguna just watched, running a hand through his long, greying hair. He hated to pull rank like that, but he couldn't waste time, his soldiers needed help, he couldn't waste a well-trained SeeD to go on a wild goose chase. Walking back into the ebbing fray, he thought he saw a Galbadian soldier running from the scene carrying an Estharian sack-style, but that would never happen he thought, jogging back to where Ward was sitting on two Galbadian officers while Kiros negotiated their surrender.
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Fujin could hear the sounds of a battle coming fast to her side, grunting, the clang of metal against metal, the sound of shotgun shells going off, the snap of a whip... Seifer's last stand had already begun. She ran faster, passing Rajin, whose face was grimly set, finally getting into the mire of Seifer's stand.
"Seifer, Stop! ya know!" Rajin shouted, commanding the battle field as everyone spun around, Squall's team looking at the two warriors in shock of their escape.
"I spared you!" Squall said puzzled, to Fujin, who turned,
"SEIFER!"
Seifer shrank back, his exhausted face turning into a grin as he lifted his grimy body higher, rolling his shoulder,
"See? There's no way you can win now, Leonheart!" he shouted, cocky with the sight of his two friends.
"Fujin? Rajin? Are we to fight you again?" Quistis asked, snapping her whip and grabbing it to the ready with two hands.
"Again? If any of you hurt Fu..." Seifer started, swinging his gunblade threateningly.
"STOP!" Fujin shouted,
"This has to stop, ya know. Seifer... we came to stop you" Rajin said, shocking everyone, and getting Squall's party to step back.
"What? I thought we were a posse" Seifer said, letting his gunblade fall.
"We are a posse! All three of us." Fujin said, letting her voice sink into a normal form of phrase.
"You can talk!" Irvine stammered, stepping closer to her, more surprised than anyone of Fujin's turn of speech.
"Stay away from her!" Seifer spat, "Are you going to help me or not!?"
"No, Seifer! We are a posse, more than friends, more than family, we always stick together. But Rajin and I aren't going to stand by while you destroy yourself! You need to stop this, Seifer! The madness has to end, can't we just be happy? Can't we just go home?"
"HOME!? Where is home, Fuu? Do we have one? Tell me!"
"Give her a break, ya know! She's been through a lot, ya know!"
"How would you know more than me!?"
"SEIFER! We can still get out of here, we can still go travel, have a home with each other! WE can still get away! The Sorceress has nothing for you!"
"I do this for you, Fuu! I do all this for you!" Seifer shouted, slapping his palm to his chest.
"That's what the sorceress said!!" Fujin screamed, stepping forward, trying desperately to reach him somehow.
"No! If you're not going to help me... just LEAVE! Go, Fujin, just go!"
"SEIFER, PLEASE!" she pleaded, reaching for him.
"STAY AWAY!" he snarled, "Rajin... take care of her... keep her safe. Now get outa here!"
"SEIFER!" Fujin shouted, but Rajin stopped her, putting a strong, gentle hand on her shoulder.
"He won't listen, ya know... stubborn... like Squall... we've warned him... done all we can, ya know... let's leave... C'mon." Fujin took one last look at Seifer, pleading with her eye, Seifer looked back at her, equally sorrowful, as if to say, 'understand my sacrifice, I love you' and turned away to face Squall once again.
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Laguna, Kiros and Selphie ran towards the opening after word from Squall came: Seifer was beaten, that battle was complete. On their way, they stopped in shock at the hulking Rajin lay paralysed on the ground, Fujin nowhere in sight. Curing the behemoth, Selphie leant down, snapping her fingers in front of his face.
"C'mon, Rajin! Wake up! Where's Fujin?" the spunky woman asked, as Rajin shook his head and in the remaining stupour, could only be intelligibly decifered as,
"Magic... from behind... Fujin!"