Chapter Three
From The Inside
A couple of hours later, Zell pounded away at a keyboard in the library, occasionally glancing at the monitor. Irvine, next to him, was looking up hentai on the net. Suddenly, Irvine got an idea. "Hey Zell," he started, "Watch this!" He then proceeded to rip the black cord out of the back of Zell's monitor, blanking out the entire screen, and shocking Zell. "What the fuck are you doing?" he yelled, annoyed. "That report was due at the end of lunchtime!" "Just shut up and watch!" he replied. With that, he rammed the head of the cord into the monitor. The screen flickered in a mass of color, and made a very loud popping noise, which the boys juvenilely took as something else. They exploded into mass hysteria. Through the laughter, Irvine choked out "I made it fart!" Various people looked over at them. Zell giggled. "Hey Irvine, what's that funky smell?" he said, sending them into another round of crazy laughter.
Once they calmed down, they went back to work, Zell continuing his mission report, and Irvine now chatting on an anime website.
A loud whooshing sound abruptly cut through distant air, raising everyone's concern and heads.
Irvine, SeeD-tending reflexes in action, rapidly jumped from his chair and sprinted out the door, in unison with Zell. That sound was so familiar - but it couldn't be..?
It could.
Squall, in his office, was looking through various mission reports, and had been doing so for three tedious hours. The silence filled the air as Squall liked it, and he drummed his fingers in bored anticipation, waiting for four o'clock to come. Then he was free.
But that never came.
A low rumbling filled the office, and Squall looked up, annoyed. This was his territory, and no unruly cadet was going to screw that up for him – ever.
Then the roof crumpled in.
A loud impact was heard, and Squall's mouth formed a wide 'O' as he stared up, at the fragments beginning to rain down. Little chunks of plaster, wood and metal fell down from above. Some fell faster than others, like rain from some twisted parallel dimension. His concentration now was only on the rain of debris, and the power coursing through his veins as he tried to summon Eden. He had the best bond with Eden, and had sense enough to try summon him to clear away the mess. Then he would kill whoever did this. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough. The first fragmented block of wood hit him solidly, and he fell to the ground instantly, being buried under rubble as it did.
Irvine and Zell pounded their way through the Garden, their senses filled with surreality as they pounded their way through the Garden. Some of the hallway was smashed, and the two had to fight to get through, the blood staining the rock surfaces. Fighting like wild animals, the two finally reached the quad, to see Selphie dazedly trying to pull her arm from under a huge piece of debris, the stage probably, Irvine thought. He had a quick flash of how hard Selphie worked on that stage, how happy she was when it was finished... What the hell am I doing? He thought. Sefie! He ran to her, and he glanced and winced at the viscous blood flowing freely down her arm. He called to Zell, who was searching through the rubble to find the depressing remains of the Quad, and other human bodies. Don't think, he commanded himself. Just do. Nursing a leg he'd bashed against some metal sheeting, he limped to Selphie and Irvine. Without speech, apart from a whimper from Selphie, they both grabbed a side of the wood, and heaved. The beads of perspiration trickled down Irvine's face. Finally he stopped. "It's no use," he said. "We're fucked." Zell looked down at the ground, at Selphie's fluttering eyelids, at her pale features. "Do you have any GFs junctioned? And a Float spell?" he asked. "It's risky, Zell. It might fall back down." "We're fucked as it is, Irvine. Please." Irvine nodded solemnly. He reached his arm out, and softly closed his eyes, concentrating. "Float!" Almost at once, a green aura enveloped his hand, and he opened his eyes again. With deft hand movements, he flicked his hand to the heavens, the wood floating up with immense speed, soon wobbling in the air. "Zell," he began. "Would ya please do something with this?" Zell smiled. "Fira!" he called to the wind. Red embering surrounded him as he gazed at the wood. It burst into flames with a spectacular flare in midair, and debris began to ran down. Zell quickly cast Water on them all. Irvine ran to Selphie. His eyes softened as Selphie's eyelids fluttered open, and she mumbled "Irvy..." "I'm here now, 'kay?" he said. His hands were surrounded by a white, luminescent glow as he cast Curaga on Selphie's wound. It cleaned up a little, but not much was done. He turned to Zell. "We have to get her to the infirmary," he said desperately. "Irvine, man, what about the others?" Zell's voice was filled with desperation. "I'll try look for some other survivors. You take Sefie to the infirmary. Then go look for the others. I'll meet you back here in an hour, 'kay?" Irvine nodded somberly. "Right, man. Good luck."
With each step, Irvine could feel the blood of his other half staining him. It soaked through his beloved duster, but his mind was on the fading life force resting upon his back, yellow dress cruelly torn. Boots hammering against ruins, screams of pain smothered by the walls they once lived in, and ever-shifting remains pounded in Irvine's ears to form a morbid song of death. He was lucky the Quad wasn't that far away from the cafeteria. He cast Scan on the ground below for any sign of life. He could sense there were a few bodies below, but they were all... Don't think, he thought.
He began to run, the desperation spinning around through his veins. Finally! He thought. The damn infirmary. The infirmary was not a pretty sight. At that moment, Irvine wished it the last place he would be. The point from which most of the screams reverberating throughout the crumpled halls of Garden were coming from in there, the floors stained with blood, sweat and tears, the air smelling of death. As it so happened, he managed to glimpse Dr. Kadowaki running around. Miraculously, the infirmary had escaped with minimal damage, save a few cracks in the walls and ceiling. Irvine yelled to a medic. "Hey, medics!" A flustered looking female SeeD with short, spiky hair, and bloodstained SeeD uniform yelled to her comrades "Unconscious crush wound victim!" Instantly another worried and depressed looking SeeD ran over to her, and took Selphie gently from Irvine.
One laid her gently down, and began to cast magic on her wounds. The spikily haired girl turned to him, and said, "It's cool now. We have her. We'll do the best we can. Can you go find the other victims?" He grinned emptily at her. He was a desert on the inside, a robot, now numbed. "Okay," re told her. With that, he turned around slowly, and began to jog back to where he last cast Scan.
Zell bounded away into the further wreckage of the Quad. He considered himself lucky that Selphie, at least one of them, was still alive. But looking down at the blood-tinged wood, his feelings suddenly plunged into blackness.
Digging through the wreckage, he found two bodies lying side by side. He didn't recognize them, and already more SeeDs had followed the pair to the Quad. He recognized Nida panting, tired from the jog there. "Nida, please take these two to the infirmary, the air of seriousness clouding the Quad. Screams echoed in their ears, and Nida grimaced as he glimpsed the bloodstains all over Zell. "'Kay." He said simply. He'd had the sense to bring along a stretcher, and rolled the two onto it.
Zell studied the rubble, with sense enough now to study the blood patterns. Then it hit him. Most of the blood seemed to come from one direction. Adrenaline fueled the extra strength of his as he pulled frantically at the metal sheeting.
Uncovering it, tears began to well up and the whole world started to black out. No, it couldn't be. No. No. No... Fucking hell, just no... please... don't!!!
His heart raced. The blood, it stained everything. What god could be so cruel as to do this to him? Who? Why? The crimson blood, remnants of lies weaved from the past, gleamed as it mocked him. His world darkened, the clouds rushing in over his heart. It was time compression all over again. And he couldn't save her, he couldn't save anyone this time...
He screamed. There was a gaping wound he could see, and a part of a pole stuck out. Blood trickled from it, and he could see in her dying moments, her mouth was locked back in an animal snarl, as she stared up at the sky, waiting to die. All the love they shared, snuffed out in an instant... he only hoped it was quick...
His feet touched the floor, he felt faintly, but inside he was falling into the black chasms of personal hell. I'm standing here and I am falling. How can I be falling? he wondered.
Irvine jogged back to where he cast Scan, dreading the morbid task of uncovering the unfortunate victims, identifying them, and dragging them off to the infirmary. He hated those kind of things, despite being trained not to feel. But as he jogged, he pondered, how the hell was anyone not supposed to feel? It was stupid. Even the most heartless of villains could feel. So how was he supposed to cope with this? He finally recognized the patch of rubble he had last detected something. Meticulously, but with a sense of urgency, he began to pull away all the broken stone and wood, stopping only to quickly cast Float. At last! He could see knotted, stained hair, which, despite the surroundings, still shone in patches. Irvine's heart dropped at the sight of blonde hair. There wasn't much of it sticking out, and with his fears welling up inside his throat, desperately clawed at the remaining stone. It was her. Irvine recognized Quistis, but only just. Her normally pristine hair was dirty and matted, her clothing charred, and from what he could see, only some of her was intact. He vomited there and then. The only shred of dignity still remaining was that at least he hadn't vomited on her. Perfect Quistis, slain in an instant.
A/N: Arr, SHIT!!! I'm so very sorry people! I just noticed I told you in the last chapter there was a Rinoa/Irvine pairing. Oops! What the fuck? Sorry, that should be Rinoa/Squall. Many apologies! ;; Another note, I am once again crediting the farting computer joke to me and my friend Lia. During a school lesson in the computer room, Lia pulled the plug out of her computer's monitor, and put it back in, and was surprised to hear the odd farting noise that erupted from within the computer. Then the teacher spun around and was like "OMFG WTF WOZ DAT???" I don't recommend you do this. Some guy in our class told us it screws with the computers. Heh. ;; Hey, that's a good idea. I'm gonna include a joke in each chapter from somewhere! See if you can guess them in reviews! If you do... umm... I know! I'll send you a preview of the next chapter! How's about that? So review!!! U Thankyou everyone!
From The Inside
A couple of hours later, Zell pounded away at a keyboard in the library, occasionally glancing at the monitor. Irvine, next to him, was looking up hentai on the net. Suddenly, Irvine got an idea. "Hey Zell," he started, "Watch this!" He then proceeded to rip the black cord out of the back of Zell's monitor, blanking out the entire screen, and shocking Zell. "What the fuck are you doing?" he yelled, annoyed. "That report was due at the end of lunchtime!" "Just shut up and watch!" he replied. With that, he rammed the head of the cord into the monitor. The screen flickered in a mass of color, and made a very loud popping noise, which the boys juvenilely took as something else. They exploded into mass hysteria. Through the laughter, Irvine choked out "I made it fart!" Various people looked over at them. Zell giggled. "Hey Irvine, what's that funky smell?" he said, sending them into another round of crazy laughter.
Once they calmed down, they went back to work, Zell continuing his mission report, and Irvine now chatting on an anime website.
A loud whooshing sound abruptly cut through distant air, raising everyone's concern and heads.
Irvine, SeeD-tending reflexes in action, rapidly jumped from his chair and sprinted out the door, in unison with Zell. That sound was so familiar - but it couldn't be..?
It could.
Squall, in his office, was looking through various mission reports, and had been doing so for three tedious hours. The silence filled the air as Squall liked it, and he drummed his fingers in bored anticipation, waiting for four o'clock to come. Then he was free.
But that never came.
A low rumbling filled the office, and Squall looked up, annoyed. This was his territory, and no unruly cadet was going to screw that up for him – ever.
Then the roof crumpled in.
A loud impact was heard, and Squall's mouth formed a wide 'O' as he stared up, at the fragments beginning to rain down. Little chunks of plaster, wood and metal fell down from above. Some fell faster than others, like rain from some twisted parallel dimension. His concentration now was only on the rain of debris, and the power coursing through his veins as he tried to summon Eden. He had the best bond with Eden, and had sense enough to try summon him to clear away the mess. Then he would kill whoever did this. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough. The first fragmented block of wood hit him solidly, and he fell to the ground instantly, being buried under rubble as it did.
Irvine and Zell pounded their way through the Garden, their senses filled with surreality as they pounded their way through the Garden. Some of the hallway was smashed, and the two had to fight to get through, the blood staining the rock surfaces. Fighting like wild animals, the two finally reached the quad, to see Selphie dazedly trying to pull her arm from under a huge piece of debris, the stage probably, Irvine thought. He had a quick flash of how hard Selphie worked on that stage, how happy she was when it was finished... What the hell am I doing? He thought. Sefie! He ran to her, and he glanced and winced at the viscous blood flowing freely down her arm. He called to Zell, who was searching through the rubble to find the depressing remains of the Quad, and other human bodies. Don't think, he commanded himself. Just do. Nursing a leg he'd bashed against some metal sheeting, he limped to Selphie and Irvine. Without speech, apart from a whimper from Selphie, they both grabbed a side of the wood, and heaved. The beads of perspiration trickled down Irvine's face. Finally he stopped. "It's no use," he said. "We're fucked." Zell looked down at the ground, at Selphie's fluttering eyelids, at her pale features. "Do you have any GFs junctioned? And a Float spell?" he asked. "It's risky, Zell. It might fall back down." "We're fucked as it is, Irvine. Please." Irvine nodded solemnly. He reached his arm out, and softly closed his eyes, concentrating. "Float!" Almost at once, a green aura enveloped his hand, and he opened his eyes again. With deft hand movements, he flicked his hand to the heavens, the wood floating up with immense speed, soon wobbling in the air. "Zell," he began. "Would ya please do something with this?" Zell smiled. "Fira!" he called to the wind. Red embering surrounded him as he gazed at the wood. It burst into flames with a spectacular flare in midair, and debris began to ran down. Zell quickly cast Water on them all. Irvine ran to Selphie. His eyes softened as Selphie's eyelids fluttered open, and she mumbled "Irvy..." "I'm here now, 'kay?" he said. His hands were surrounded by a white, luminescent glow as he cast Curaga on Selphie's wound. It cleaned up a little, but not much was done. He turned to Zell. "We have to get her to the infirmary," he said desperately. "Irvine, man, what about the others?" Zell's voice was filled with desperation. "I'll try look for some other survivors. You take Sefie to the infirmary. Then go look for the others. I'll meet you back here in an hour, 'kay?" Irvine nodded somberly. "Right, man. Good luck."
With each step, Irvine could feel the blood of his other half staining him. It soaked through his beloved duster, but his mind was on the fading life force resting upon his back, yellow dress cruelly torn. Boots hammering against ruins, screams of pain smothered by the walls they once lived in, and ever-shifting remains pounded in Irvine's ears to form a morbid song of death. He was lucky the Quad wasn't that far away from the cafeteria. He cast Scan on the ground below for any sign of life. He could sense there were a few bodies below, but they were all... Don't think, he thought.
He began to run, the desperation spinning around through his veins. Finally! He thought. The damn infirmary. The infirmary was not a pretty sight. At that moment, Irvine wished it the last place he would be. The point from which most of the screams reverberating throughout the crumpled halls of Garden were coming from in there, the floors stained with blood, sweat and tears, the air smelling of death. As it so happened, he managed to glimpse Dr. Kadowaki running around. Miraculously, the infirmary had escaped with minimal damage, save a few cracks in the walls and ceiling. Irvine yelled to a medic. "Hey, medics!" A flustered looking female SeeD with short, spiky hair, and bloodstained SeeD uniform yelled to her comrades "Unconscious crush wound victim!" Instantly another worried and depressed looking SeeD ran over to her, and took Selphie gently from Irvine.
One laid her gently down, and began to cast magic on her wounds. The spikily haired girl turned to him, and said, "It's cool now. We have her. We'll do the best we can. Can you go find the other victims?" He grinned emptily at her. He was a desert on the inside, a robot, now numbed. "Okay," re told her. With that, he turned around slowly, and began to jog back to where he last cast Scan.
Zell bounded away into the further wreckage of the Quad. He considered himself lucky that Selphie, at least one of them, was still alive. But looking down at the blood-tinged wood, his feelings suddenly plunged into blackness.
Digging through the wreckage, he found two bodies lying side by side. He didn't recognize them, and already more SeeDs had followed the pair to the Quad. He recognized Nida panting, tired from the jog there. "Nida, please take these two to the infirmary, the air of seriousness clouding the Quad. Screams echoed in their ears, and Nida grimaced as he glimpsed the bloodstains all over Zell. "'Kay." He said simply. He'd had the sense to bring along a stretcher, and rolled the two onto it.
Zell studied the rubble, with sense enough now to study the blood patterns. Then it hit him. Most of the blood seemed to come from one direction. Adrenaline fueled the extra strength of his as he pulled frantically at the metal sheeting.
Uncovering it, tears began to well up and the whole world started to black out. No, it couldn't be. No. No. No... Fucking hell, just no... please... don't!!!
His heart raced. The blood, it stained everything. What god could be so cruel as to do this to him? Who? Why? The crimson blood, remnants of lies weaved from the past, gleamed as it mocked him. His world darkened, the clouds rushing in over his heart. It was time compression all over again. And he couldn't save her, he couldn't save anyone this time...
He screamed. There was a gaping wound he could see, and a part of a pole stuck out. Blood trickled from it, and he could see in her dying moments, her mouth was locked back in an animal snarl, as she stared up at the sky, waiting to die. All the love they shared, snuffed out in an instant... he only hoped it was quick...
His feet touched the floor, he felt faintly, but inside he was falling into the black chasms of personal hell. I'm standing here and I am falling. How can I be falling? he wondered.
Irvine jogged back to where he cast Scan, dreading the morbid task of uncovering the unfortunate victims, identifying them, and dragging them off to the infirmary. He hated those kind of things, despite being trained not to feel. But as he jogged, he pondered, how the hell was anyone not supposed to feel? It was stupid. Even the most heartless of villains could feel. So how was he supposed to cope with this? He finally recognized the patch of rubble he had last detected something. Meticulously, but with a sense of urgency, he began to pull away all the broken stone and wood, stopping only to quickly cast Float. At last! He could see knotted, stained hair, which, despite the surroundings, still shone in patches. Irvine's heart dropped at the sight of blonde hair. There wasn't much of it sticking out, and with his fears welling up inside his throat, desperately clawed at the remaining stone. It was her. Irvine recognized Quistis, but only just. Her normally pristine hair was dirty and matted, her clothing charred, and from what he could see, only some of her was intact. He vomited there and then. The only shred of dignity still remaining was that at least he hadn't vomited on her. Perfect Quistis, slain in an instant.
A/N: Arr, SHIT!!! I'm so very sorry people! I just noticed I told you in the last chapter there was a Rinoa/Irvine pairing. Oops! What the fuck? Sorry, that should be Rinoa/Squall. Many apologies! ;; Another note, I am once again crediting the farting computer joke to me and my friend Lia. During a school lesson in the computer room, Lia pulled the plug out of her computer's monitor, and put it back in, and was surprised to hear the odd farting noise that erupted from within the computer. Then the teacher spun around and was like "OMFG WTF WOZ DAT???" I don't recommend you do this. Some guy in our class told us it screws with the computers. Heh. ;; Hey, that's a good idea. I'm gonna include a joke in each chapter from somewhere! See if you can guess them in reviews! If you do... umm... I know! I'll send you a preview of the next chapter! How's about that? So review!!! U Thankyou everyone!