Long Live the King
A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. :3 I love them. Thank you to Shandy, Hassun, and jesustoner. See? Now you're in my story. .; Alright. I'm gonna try to get Rinoa to talk to Squall a bit more this chapter around. Wish me luck! (Seems like I kind of threw the idea of planning the chapters out the window...)
Chapter 3: Battle With the Sky
Selphie cried out as the Guardian Force sent a bolt between Irvine and herself. Sparks flew and burnt lightly at her bare legs. "Why is it fighting us?" She shouted out amidst the shrieks of other members of the second defense SeeD's.
The cowboy pulled the Exeter out and filled it with Demolition Ammo. "I'm not sure," He shouted back, aiming the gun at the stomach of the green creature, "But we have to fight back."
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Meanwhile, Quistis turned to a pair of SeeD's looking rather frightened by the frenzy going on outside the Garden. "You two!" She pointed at the two, then towards the doorway. "Get out there and find students that may be injured." The young girl whimpered and held tightly to the male SeeD. He glared to Quistis, wrapping his arms protectively around the girl.
"How can you tell us to go out there when she's obviously terrified?" He objected. Something twitched inside of Quistis' mind. The last thing she needed was a wannabe-rebel.
"Get out there and help your fellow SeeD's or be publicly humiliated when this is all over... Even worse, lose your SeeD status and become students under my jurisdiction again."
One last glare and the two ran from the Infirmary, Quistis' blue eyes glaring into their backs until they were out of her sight. Doctor Kadowaki came up behind Quistis and placed her hand on the instructor's shoulder. "Relax, Quistis. It's only one attacker, I'm sure everything will be alright."
But the words were spoken too soon.
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Zell came from the side and jumped into the air, reaching out to grab hold of Quezecotl. The beast hovered just above his reach and he came crashing back down, falling into the bushes below. The Guardian Force seemed to look up to the dark sky and it gave a whining noise. It became high pitched and all SeeD's outside covered their ears and dropped to their knees.
"What's it doing?" Selphie screamed out, trying her hardest to keep the sound out of her head. Zell had gotten out of the bushes, but was now doing just as everyone else. Irvine made his way over to Selphie and crouched down beside her. The two looked up to only see a blinding flash. Everything went white.
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Squall glared at the creature he had once used to fight against Ultimecia. "Why is it fighting against us? Has someone summoned it?" Cid shook his head, not able to answer his questions.
Rinoa found the courage to run to the window, palms placed flat against the glass as she looked onward at what was happening below. She saw Zell jump and try to hit the creature, but it was too high for him. And then they all dropped to their knees. What's happening? She thought to herself as she watched. Suddenly, the glass shattered and she fell back, hands over her ears as the high pitched screaming rang through her entire body.
She saw Squall and Cid fall as well, both trying to protect their ears from such a high frequency. "Stop..." she murmured as the sound seemed to rise in level. "Please, stop..." And then there was a flash of light.
The noise stopped and Rinoa looked to see the entire Garden glowing with electricity. "What's going on?" She shouted out, turning in every which direction as bolts passed through the walls.
"Quezecotl has hit us with a large amount of power. It just turned us into a very big lightning rod..." Cid responded, staring in wonder. Squall was at Rinoa's side in a heartbeat, hands holding hers.
She could feel her face get hot as she saw the intensity of his gaze down on her. Finally, he spoke, breaking her from her fluttering heart. "You're bleeding." She looked down at her hands to see blood staining them, little bits of glass stuck in her palms. It was only then that she felt the pain.
"Go to the infirmary. Have Quistis take care of you," He ordered. He didn't like ordering Rinoa, but she had to clean the blood off and get the glass out. She was hesitant, but she nodded in response and began to pull away. Before getting too far, she quickly turned back and gave him a quick hug, making sure not to touch him with her hands.
"I missed you..." She whispered. And then she was out the door and down the elevator.
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Selphie and Irvine quickly stood. Zell stumbled over to the two and shook his head. "What the hell was that?"
Irvine turned to look at the Garden. He put his hands on Selphie's shoulders and turned her around as well. The sunshine of the group let out a gasp and put a hand over her mouth. She saw electricity run through the Garden randomly, attracting the bolts from above. "When could Quezecotl do that?"
They looked back to Quezecotl. It was looking up again. Light was filling parts of the sky just above the Garden. "It's getting ready to attack the Garden! We have to hit it first!" Irvine ordered out. Several other SeeD's that were nearby began to build up magic attacks and others with long- ranged weapons went for the battle.
Selphie attached her Strange Vision and began to cast Shell on the group. The pink orb closed around Irvine, herself, Zell, and two or three SeeD's close enough to take her help. Zell gave her a thumbs up and went through his own magic source. He didn't have much, but anything was helpful.
Then he remembered. "Hey, hey guys! I have Ifrit! We can use Ifrit on Quezecotl!" Selphie nodded as Irvine pulled the trigger, sending a shot at the creature's abdomen. He stepped back as Zell summoned the fiery beast from hell.
The ground turned red and began to rumble. Fire shot from cracks that split through the ground and everything became hot.
Suddenly, everything cooled down and reverted back to normal. "Huh? Where's Ifrit?" Zell asked, head tilting to the side. The Guardian Force never showed up. "Maybe... you can't fight one Guardian Force... With another...?" He tried to answer himself.
"We don't have time to worry about it. Just hit it with all you've got!" Irvine shouted out as he ran back towards Quezecotl.
Selphie threw her arms up and shouted out, "Curaga!" The blue energy ran through her body and she almost giggled at the feeling. Then she cast a few more on the SeeD's that looked like they wouldn't make it without her help.
Zell frowned in frustration and tried to shrug it off. He went through his magic again and cast Watera on the green beast.
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Squall frowned as he watched the battle below. "Stay in here, Cid. And, if you can, stay under your desk." Was that an attempt at a joke? Was he saying Cid was too fat to fit under his desk?
"I'm not that big, Squall..." The headmaster pouted slightly then crawled underneath his desk as a bolt of electricity shot between two walls, and just where his head had been. Squall grunted, maybe an attempt at a chuckle, and left the room. He ran for the elevator, then thought twice about it and took the stairs, jumping three at a time to get down faster.
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Rinoa entered the Infirmary and spotted Quistis trying to calm down a little girl that had gotten lost. The instructor patted the little girl on the head then looked over to Rinoa. She saw the blood and was immediately at her side.
"What happened to you?" She pulled the woman in blue to the sink and began to wash the blood off with cold water. The instructor got a pair of tweezers and carefully began to pull the glass out of Rinoa's hands.
"Well – ouch – I was watching the fight outside – ouch – and that noise – oh, Hyne! – shattered the glass." Rinoa explained between the pulling of the glass from her hands. Doctor Kadowaki brought in two injured students, followed by the wannabe-rebel from before carrying one of the heftier SeeD's, the girl helping him out and looking less terrified than before.
"Quistis, I may need your help..." Doctor Kadowaki spoke calmly, despite the situation. The instructor nodded her head and dabbed at the cuts on Rinoa's hand lightly with a ball of cotton before wrapping her hands up.
"My help is needed, but try and stay away from glass, alright?" She smiled to Rinoa then left her to help the Doctor and two SeeD's. The sorceress nodded and left the Infirmary. She reached the directory, only to see Squall go running out to the Front Gate of the Garden.
He's going to fight Quezecotl... Well, not without my help! She thought, and ran after him.
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Quezecotl let out a screech as another round of bullets plowed through its wings. It crashed down onto the ground, several students with rifles taking their aim again. Selphie cast another round of Curaga then slid down to the ground. "I'm out, and Quezecotl just won't go away..." she whimpered.
"We're going to win this, Selphie. Keep your spirits up." Irvine shouted as he sent a round of Demolition Ammo into Quezecotl. It shrieked and looked to the sky. The clouds rumbled and began to send bolts into a center position just above Garden.
Zell looked up and cursed. "Shit, it's going to attack and we can't stop it!" Then something dark ran past him. He stared in wonder as Squall jumped and slid the blade down the Guardian Force. A green liquid began to ooze out and it seemed to scream in pain.
But Quezecotl hadn't given up yet.
The bolts above charged and sent one large electrical current down towards the Garden.
"Reflect!"
There was the noise of metal hitting metal and the bolt from the skies bounced off the Garden and crashed into Quezecotl. The beast let out an ear piercing shriek and began to hover above the ground again. The electrical current seemed to heal it completely.
Rinoa ran out of the Garden entrance and let out a sigh of relief. The Guardian Force may have been healed, but the Garden was also safe. How she had mustered enough strength to cast a Reflect spell over the entire Garden was a mystery to even herself, but she wasn't going to take it for granted.
As she looked onward, a strange thing happened. The once ferocious Guardian Force began to ascend into the clouds until it was completely gone. The clouds lost their darkness and the storm seemed to calm down.
SeeD's from all over looked up in confusion. "Is it gone?" One asked nervously, hoping not to jinx them all.
A few minutes later and the Garden was still seemingly safe. Squall ordered them all to go back inside, but remain on guard. That left Irvine, Zell, Selphie, himself, and Rinoa outside. Selphie never took her eyes off of the sky.
"Why did Quezecotl attack us?" She asked as she finally looked to the small group.
Squall shook his head and looked over them. "I don't know, but we'll have to find out. Did you guys see anything strange? Anyone strange?"
Irvine and Selphie shrugged while Zell thought back to the battle. "You think someone summoned Quezecotl against us?" He asked, looking questioningly over to Squall.
Suddenly, Selphie jumped an inch forward, waving her hands in the air to get their attention. "I remember something strange! Zell, you summoned Ifrit. Remember? Ifrit didn't come out!"
And silence fell over the group.
Rinoa spoke up first and last for that moment. "The only one that has Quezecotl in their Junction is Squall. Obviously he didn't summon it... Ifrit didn't come out for Zell. Why would the Guardian Force's rebel?"
A/N: ...I swear, I will never write a battle again. That was... Horrible! ::cries:: T.T There will be more battles but... I think I'll find someone else to write them for me. Anyhow, if you don't think too much about the bad writing, how did you like the idea of the chapter? n.n;; I promise, I'll write a better one next time around. I really promise this time!
Don't forget our favorite part of the story! Reviewing! :D