Chapter 22
Sifan and Avatar slowly drew away the silver curtains and entered the ball. Sifan's eyes were drawn to a huge chandelier on the ceiling, which was so brightly lit that it almost blinded him. Looking around, Sifan saw the large rectangular hall scattered with all sorts of people. Avatar grinned at his reflection on the floor, which was furnished with dark green and white checkers. The walls were painted a light golden color with a few portraits hung to give it an exquisite touch. At a corner was a circular platform on which a band played music. There were several waiters and waitresses serving the guests that were entering the hall by the minute. Sifan spotted a few couples that were already starting to dance to the soft music being played by the band.
"This place looks so much like the SeeD graduation ball, eh buddy?" Avatar said adjusting his suit blazer. He squirmed a little in his blazer and then admitted, "This stuff is tight, man."
Sifan looked at Avatar. He wore a shiny velvet black suit and he had added a white rose he had found, in his pocket. Not a single wrinkle was on the suit and Avatar looked like the perfect handsome gentleman despite the ponytail he had tied out of his hair.
"Stop complaining." Sifan said picking up a glass of champagne a waiter had offered him.
"Complaining?" Avatar said, "I am gonna dance with an angel, why should I complain? All I am saying is, this suit is a wee bit small."
Sifan sighed at Avatar's reference to Phillona.
Avatar smiled, sipping a glass of wine, "I am gonna remember this for a long time to come."
"Whatever." Sifan replied, "Just don't fall in love with her or something, we're in this for the money and that's it."
"Life is good sometimes, eh?" Avatar remarked, grinning, "You get paid to do what you love doing..."
Sifan sighed and leaned himself against the wall while Avatar kept an eye out for Phillona. Just then, something inside Avatar's pocket started to beep. Avatar dug into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone and answered it.
"Trex?" Avatar said hearing the voice at the other end, "What now?"
He listened intently to what Trex was saying and his eyes widened as the seconds went by. He then nodded, "Yeah, I'll be there, bye."
"W-Wait a second." Sifan started but Avatar seized Sifan by the elbow and dragged him away to the restroom. Sifan wanted to protest against whatever they were doing but then decided to save it till they were alone.
As soon as they got inside, Sifan pulled his hand away from Avatar's hold, "H-Hey! What did Trex say?"
Avatar hastily removed his coat blazer, "Trex says there's this battle Square, 'blade warrior' contest starting now."
"Yeah but..." Sifan started when Avatar cut in, "Well, the top prize is the dark katana blade."
"Yeah but-"
"I've been hunting for that sword for days." Avatar cut in again, removing his pants and hopping around in his underwear, "I am sorry pal, but you're gonna have to do the dance. I need that sword!"
"NO WAY!" Sifan cried, "I-"
Avatar continued to ruffle through the bag for his old clothes, "I don't care what you do. If you want to, you can chicken out."
Sifan groped his forehead, "Damn you, Avatar. I am not doing this."
"Fine!' he said, fixing his sword holder to the side and tossing the black velvet suit he had worn for the dance to Sifan, "Jus' remember. Mideel's resistance group is sort of depending on you, you're gonna lose the pay for this favor, and you're gonna have to face a very mad Phillona."
"Your choice." Avatar said, shrugging, "see ya around, kiddo."
He closed the door and then opened it again, "Oh, and when you dance, keep her close, ok? She'll like it."
Sifan kicked the door shut with frustration as he heard Avatar laugh and run away from the ball's entrance. Heaving a large sigh, he put on the suit Avatar had given him, while cursing his friend for leaving him for the dance. The fact that Avatar was going to the battle square 'blade warrior' contest, leaving Sifan for the dance with Phillona, made him wish Avatar would get a nice kick in the face from whichever opponent he was fighting. Sifan quickly tried to recall how his SeeD counterparts had danced at the SeeD graduation night, but only thoughts of him raising his glass to the moon came to his mind. He slapped his forehead with frustration and a feeling of impending doom came upon him.
{Oh C'mon...It can't be that bad...trust me...}
[Ah, yes, Lyris... What a convenient time to barge into my head.]
{Geez, its just a dance. Besides, you like Phillona, remember?}
[I'd rather dance with Omega Weapon.]
{Sigh, she's waiting. Hurry up.}
When Sifan put on the suit, Sifan didn't the feel the suit to be as rigid as Avatar had said it was. He ran his fingers though his dark brown hair and pushed the strands in front of his ocean blue eyes to the side. After washing his face and toweling it, he wiped his shoes with some lavatory tissue and threw it into the bag and closed it. He took a few step backs and looked at the reflection in the mirror. He didn't want to look handsome and appealing but he didn't want to make a complete fool of himself either. Satisfied he looked his best, he slowly opened the door and made his way outside, praying Phillona would never show up.
The crowd had somewhat scattered themselves and filled the ballroom as the dance had already begun. Sifan had a weird feeling in his stomach and slowly moved along the wall and settled himself beside a tall flower vase. He watched the band members play with complete involvement and saw many men and women dance with each other without the slightest care in the world. Sifan wondered if he could see the informant who he had to switch partners with, but he gave up the idea of searching through the guests. And then, across the ballroom of scattered guests, his ocean blue eyes fell on a brown-haired girl who was walking in slowly.
Sifan could have sworn something inside go numb when he saw her. Phillona Strife walked in to the ballroom in a velvet black French dress that stretched from her chest and ran down her tender figure, stopping just a little above her knees. A small shiny diamond necklace on her neck glittered its way across the room and fell on Sifan's eyes. As she walked down the ballroom, the earrings she wore shone in the light of the chandelier. Unlike Sifan, her dark brown hair was neatly made and it glistened whenever a light fell on it. And in confirmation of his worst fear, she was looking disturbingly attractive.
{If she didn't get your attention now, you're definitely not a normal guy...}
[...She did...a little...]
{A 'little'? don't play hard to get, I bet you're melting like butter right now.}
[Go away, Lyris, you're getting on my nerves.]
{Enjoy the dance.}
Phillona noticed Sifan across the room wearing the suit she expected Avatar to show up in. She looked at him, surprised.
[Yeah, I know, Avatar's not here. Hurry up and lets just get this damn thing finished.]
Before he could signal to her, a small group of people had walked across his line of vision and covered Phillona. They kept walking as if they were coaches on a never-ending train. And then a very fat lady stopped in front of Phillona and started chatting to an old man who was half as tall and thick as she was. Sifan moved his head to the side but he still couldn't catch even a glimpse of the velvet dress Phillona wore.
Sifan heaved a sigh of relief, hoping desperately that Phillona would somehow run into the informant and finish whatever they had to do without having Sifan to dance with Phillona. After about ten minutes, during which Sifan heard an amusing conversation about a thief who lived in the desert, the fat lady walked away to talk to someone else. Sifan noticed that the place where he had seen Phillona initially was now empty. Something suggested to Sifan that Phillona had seen the informant but then he decided to make sure Phillona was talking to the informant so he could leave in peace..
Sifan excused himself through the couples that were dancing and headed to the middle of the ballroom, trying to catch a glimpse of Phillona with anyone who would look like an informant. After waddling through the gaps and spaces between dancing couples, he finally found her. She was dancing with someone. And Sifan felt a strange headache drill through his head when he saw them. A few feet away from him, with a dreamy look and an expression full of charm, Relafen Almasy was dancing with Phillona Strife.
********************
Ultimecia's final form fell back as Eden retreated after killing almost every bit of energy left in her. Before it of course, Irvine had launched a crazy flurry of dark ammo shots at her. Before she could cast any sort of healing spell on herself, Rinoa's invincible moon made her enemies invulnerable to anything human or inhuman. She decided to try and cast an apocalypse spell but it only wasted her energy. However to her content, her enemies had stopped glowing in the orange aura...that aura that triggered their limit breaks. She was relieved but her eyes widened when she saw one of them still had the aura glowing on them. She quickly tried to cast a dispel spell on him but it was too late. Squall Leonhart rushed at her for his Renzokuken. She felt feverish pangs of pain every second as she received the brunt of the Lionheart's blade. Squall finished his slashing insanity but she was still alive, she knew it...but so did he. He took a step back and charged his sword and strengthened his shimmering white blade with powerful auras. All hell about to be unleashed on Ultimecia, she tried talking to affect their minds, to discourage their spirits but it was of no use. The SeeD then rushed at her to finish her off with his lionheart limit break chaos. She didn't know whether pain felt like the way it did then as her enemy assaulted her with furious slashes and deadly cuts drawing every bit of blood that was left in her body, and soon she felt her world go black. Her final form of a sorceress crumbled and started to vanish...as the warriors that had killed her watched on. She felt herself drawn away...far, far away and then in her human form, blood flowing from her head to toe, found herself in a bright castle chamber...it was the same chamber where she had killed the one chosen by Cervantus. The only difference was, it was unusually bright, and then a few feet in front of her was a golden throne with a lion figurehead at the end of its armrests. On it was seated, the God who had damned her to die...Lord Cervantus, himself.
Ultimecia sank down to her feet, blood everywhere on her body. She opened her withered mouth to speak,"Ah...so...that w-was...y-your L-Lionheart w-wielding w-warrior, C-Cervantus?"
Cervantus stood up from where he was seated, "My words have never failed, woman."
She staggered to her feet, "C-Cervantus...before I d-die..."
Cervantus turned away, his back on her and spoke in a deep voice, "And why should I listen to your last ramblings woman...?"
"Because..." she said, "My last r-rambling...I-Is about my c-children..."
Cervantus was silent, "Your children...shall leave your world and enter another, Woman...because...that was your wish behind all your evil...but they shall be taken far far away from you or your kind..."
"T-Thank y-you..." she said and then she staggered back and fell down. The throne and Cervantus disappeared and then she saw the castle's chamber around her erupt into flames. Voices of anguish and angst were moaning and groaning outside the fiery flames. She felt her breath go dry as the fire continued to burn brightly around her. It was obvious; while she was away, white SeeDs had attacked and set the castle on fire. She cried for her children and as if to answer her, the door at the end of the chamber flung open as two tall and strong guardians she had assigned to protect her children ushered them in to the room. Her son and her daughter let out a bewildered gasp when they saw their mother bloody and almost dead on her knees. They came over to her with tears in their eyes, a look of lost and hopeless feelings in them. A bright blue portal flashed into appearance in one corner and a light red one in another. Cervantus' voice boomed inside her head, "I shall keep my promise...send your children through the two lights..." As they sat crying over their mother's bloody self, she managed to cough out the words slowly to her children.
She looked at her son first, "D-Darling, p-please go through t-the light I-in that c-corner..."
The boy looked at the portal but refused to leave her mother's side but after Ultimecia's repeated pleas, he kissed his mother on her cheek and walked in to the blue portal after saying a tearful goodbye. The portal and her son disappeared in a flash. She had wanted to send someone to protect him but she didn't know the portal would disappear as it did. And then she turned to her daughter and asked her to leave through the other one. She was even more determined than her brother not to leave her mother. Though the flames around them were closing in on them, she clung to her mother's neck, refusing to move but Ultimecia cast a sleep spell on her. The two guardians carried her and moved in to the other red portal and they all vanished together. And then slowly the fire closed in on her bloody body, which bore the slashes of Squall Leonhart's gunblade. And as the flames turned her to ashes, she sunk in to death with a final wish that her children would never know their past.
**********************
Sifan and Avatar slowly drew away the silver curtains and entered the ball. Sifan's eyes were drawn to a huge chandelier on the ceiling, which was so brightly lit that it almost blinded him. Looking around, Sifan saw the large rectangular hall scattered with all sorts of people. Avatar grinned at his reflection on the floor, which was furnished with dark green and white checkers. The walls were painted a light golden color with a few portraits hung to give it an exquisite touch. At a corner was a circular platform on which a band played music. There were several waiters and waitresses serving the guests that were entering the hall by the minute. Sifan spotted a few couples that were already starting to dance to the soft music being played by the band.
"This place looks so much like the SeeD graduation ball, eh buddy?" Avatar said adjusting his suit blazer. He squirmed a little in his blazer and then admitted, "This stuff is tight, man."
Sifan looked at Avatar. He wore a shiny velvet black suit and he had added a white rose he had found, in his pocket. Not a single wrinkle was on the suit and Avatar looked like the perfect handsome gentleman despite the ponytail he had tied out of his hair.
"Stop complaining." Sifan said picking up a glass of champagne a waiter had offered him.
"Complaining?" Avatar said, "I am gonna dance with an angel, why should I complain? All I am saying is, this suit is a wee bit small."
Sifan sighed at Avatar's reference to Phillona.
Avatar smiled, sipping a glass of wine, "I am gonna remember this for a long time to come."
"Whatever." Sifan replied, "Just don't fall in love with her or something, we're in this for the money and that's it."
"Life is good sometimes, eh?" Avatar remarked, grinning, "You get paid to do what you love doing..."
Sifan sighed and leaned himself against the wall while Avatar kept an eye out for Phillona. Just then, something inside Avatar's pocket started to beep. Avatar dug into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone and answered it.
"Trex?" Avatar said hearing the voice at the other end, "What now?"
He listened intently to what Trex was saying and his eyes widened as the seconds went by. He then nodded, "Yeah, I'll be there, bye."
"W-Wait a second." Sifan started but Avatar seized Sifan by the elbow and dragged him away to the restroom. Sifan wanted to protest against whatever they were doing but then decided to save it till they were alone.
As soon as they got inside, Sifan pulled his hand away from Avatar's hold, "H-Hey! What did Trex say?"
Avatar hastily removed his coat blazer, "Trex says there's this battle Square, 'blade warrior' contest starting now."
"Yeah but..." Sifan started when Avatar cut in, "Well, the top prize is the dark katana blade."
"Yeah but-"
"I've been hunting for that sword for days." Avatar cut in again, removing his pants and hopping around in his underwear, "I am sorry pal, but you're gonna have to do the dance. I need that sword!"
"NO WAY!" Sifan cried, "I-"
Avatar continued to ruffle through the bag for his old clothes, "I don't care what you do. If you want to, you can chicken out."
Sifan groped his forehead, "Damn you, Avatar. I am not doing this."
"Fine!' he said, fixing his sword holder to the side and tossing the black velvet suit he had worn for the dance to Sifan, "Jus' remember. Mideel's resistance group is sort of depending on you, you're gonna lose the pay for this favor, and you're gonna have to face a very mad Phillona."
"Your choice." Avatar said, shrugging, "see ya around, kiddo."
He closed the door and then opened it again, "Oh, and when you dance, keep her close, ok? She'll like it."
Sifan kicked the door shut with frustration as he heard Avatar laugh and run away from the ball's entrance. Heaving a large sigh, he put on the suit Avatar had given him, while cursing his friend for leaving him for the dance. The fact that Avatar was going to the battle square 'blade warrior' contest, leaving Sifan for the dance with Phillona, made him wish Avatar would get a nice kick in the face from whichever opponent he was fighting. Sifan quickly tried to recall how his SeeD counterparts had danced at the SeeD graduation night, but only thoughts of him raising his glass to the moon came to his mind. He slapped his forehead with frustration and a feeling of impending doom came upon him.
{Oh C'mon...It can't be that bad...trust me...}
[Ah, yes, Lyris... What a convenient time to barge into my head.]
{Geez, its just a dance. Besides, you like Phillona, remember?}
[I'd rather dance with Omega Weapon.]
{Sigh, she's waiting. Hurry up.}
When Sifan put on the suit, Sifan didn't the feel the suit to be as rigid as Avatar had said it was. He ran his fingers though his dark brown hair and pushed the strands in front of his ocean blue eyes to the side. After washing his face and toweling it, he wiped his shoes with some lavatory tissue and threw it into the bag and closed it. He took a few step backs and looked at the reflection in the mirror. He didn't want to look handsome and appealing but he didn't want to make a complete fool of himself either. Satisfied he looked his best, he slowly opened the door and made his way outside, praying Phillona would never show up.
The crowd had somewhat scattered themselves and filled the ballroom as the dance had already begun. Sifan had a weird feeling in his stomach and slowly moved along the wall and settled himself beside a tall flower vase. He watched the band members play with complete involvement and saw many men and women dance with each other without the slightest care in the world. Sifan wondered if he could see the informant who he had to switch partners with, but he gave up the idea of searching through the guests. And then, across the ballroom of scattered guests, his ocean blue eyes fell on a brown-haired girl who was walking in slowly.
Sifan could have sworn something inside go numb when he saw her. Phillona Strife walked in to the ballroom in a velvet black French dress that stretched from her chest and ran down her tender figure, stopping just a little above her knees. A small shiny diamond necklace on her neck glittered its way across the room and fell on Sifan's eyes. As she walked down the ballroom, the earrings she wore shone in the light of the chandelier. Unlike Sifan, her dark brown hair was neatly made and it glistened whenever a light fell on it. And in confirmation of his worst fear, she was looking disturbingly attractive.
{If she didn't get your attention now, you're definitely not a normal guy...}
[...She did...a little...]
{A 'little'? don't play hard to get, I bet you're melting like butter right now.}
[Go away, Lyris, you're getting on my nerves.]
{Enjoy the dance.}
Phillona noticed Sifan across the room wearing the suit she expected Avatar to show up in. She looked at him, surprised.
[Yeah, I know, Avatar's not here. Hurry up and lets just get this damn thing finished.]
Before he could signal to her, a small group of people had walked across his line of vision and covered Phillona. They kept walking as if they were coaches on a never-ending train. And then a very fat lady stopped in front of Phillona and started chatting to an old man who was half as tall and thick as she was. Sifan moved his head to the side but he still couldn't catch even a glimpse of the velvet dress Phillona wore.
Sifan heaved a sigh of relief, hoping desperately that Phillona would somehow run into the informant and finish whatever they had to do without having Sifan to dance with Phillona. After about ten minutes, during which Sifan heard an amusing conversation about a thief who lived in the desert, the fat lady walked away to talk to someone else. Sifan noticed that the place where he had seen Phillona initially was now empty. Something suggested to Sifan that Phillona had seen the informant but then he decided to make sure Phillona was talking to the informant so he could leave in peace..
Sifan excused himself through the couples that were dancing and headed to the middle of the ballroom, trying to catch a glimpse of Phillona with anyone who would look like an informant. After waddling through the gaps and spaces between dancing couples, he finally found her. She was dancing with someone. And Sifan felt a strange headache drill through his head when he saw them. A few feet away from him, with a dreamy look and an expression full of charm, Relafen Almasy was dancing with Phillona Strife.
********************
Ultimecia's final form fell back as Eden retreated after killing almost every bit of energy left in her. Before it of course, Irvine had launched a crazy flurry of dark ammo shots at her. Before she could cast any sort of healing spell on herself, Rinoa's invincible moon made her enemies invulnerable to anything human or inhuman. She decided to try and cast an apocalypse spell but it only wasted her energy. However to her content, her enemies had stopped glowing in the orange aura...that aura that triggered their limit breaks. She was relieved but her eyes widened when she saw one of them still had the aura glowing on them. She quickly tried to cast a dispel spell on him but it was too late. Squall Leonhart rushed at her for his Renzokuken. She felt feverish pangs of pain every second as she received the brunt of the Lionheart's blade. Squall finished his slashing insanity but she was still alive, she knew it...but so did he. He took a step back and charged his sword and strengthened his shimmering white blade with powerful auras. All hell about to be unleashed on Ultimecia, she tried talking to affect their minds, to discourage their spirits but it was of no use. The SeeD then rushed at her to finish her off with his lionheart limit break chaos. She didn't know whether pain felt like the way it did then as her enemy assaulted her with furious slashes and deadly cuts drawing every bit of blood that was left in her body, and soon she felt her world go black. Her final form of a sorceress crumbled and started to vanish...as the warriors that had killed her watched on. She felt herself drawn away...far, far away and then in her human form, blood flowing from her head to toe, found herself in a bright castle chamber...it was the same chamber where she had killed the one chosen by Cervantus. The only difference was, it was unusually bright, and then a few feet in front of her was a golden throne with a lion figurehead at the end of its armrests. On it was seated, the God who had damned her to die...Lord Cervantus, himself.
Ultimecia sank down to her feet, blood everywhere on her body. She opened her withered mouth to speak,"Ah...so...that w-was...y-your L-Lionheart w-wielding w-warrior, C-Cervantus?"
Cervantus stood up from where he was seated, "My words have never failed, woman."
She staggered to her feet, "C-Cervantus...before I d-die..."
Cervantus turned away, his back on her and spoke in a deep voice, "And why should I listen to your last ramblings woman...?"
"Because..." she said, "My last r-rambling...I-Is about my c-children..."
Cervantus was silent, "Your children...shall leave your world and enter another, Woman...because...that was your wish behind all your evil...but they shall be taken far far away from you or your kind..."
"T-Thank y-you..." she said and then she staggered back and fell down. The throne and Cervantus disappeared and then she saw the castle's chamber around her erupt into flames. Voices of anguish and angst were moaning and groaning outside the fiery flames. She felt her breath go dry as the fire continued to burn brightly around her. It was obvious; while she was away, white SeeDs had attacked and set the castle on fire. She cried for her children and as if to answer her, the door at the end of the chamber flung open as two tall and strong guardians she had assigned to protect her children ushered them in to the room. Her son and her daughter let out a bewildered gasp when they saw their mother bloody and almost dead on her knees. They came over to her with tears in their eyes, a look of lost and hopeless feelings in them. A bright blue portal flashed into appearance in one corner and a light red one in another. Cervantus' voice boomed inside her head, "I shall keep my promise...send your children through the two lights..." As they sat crying over their mother's bloody self, she managed to cough out the words slowly to her children.
She looked at her son first, "D-Darling, p-please go through t-the light I-in that c-corner..."
The boy looked at the portal but refused to leave her mother's side but after Ultimecia's repeated pleas, he kissed his mother on her cheek and walked in to the blue portal after saying a tearful goodbye. The portal and her son disappeared in a flash. She had wanted to send someone to protect him but she didn't know the portal would disappear as it did. And then she turned to her daughter and asked her to leave through the other one. She was even more determined than her brother not to leave her mother. Though the flames around them were closing in on them, she clung to her mother's neck, refusing to move but Ultimecia cast a sleep spell on her. The two guardians carried her and moved in to the other red portal and they all vanished together. And then slowly the fire closed in on her bloody body, which bore the slashes of Squall Leonhart's gunblade. And as the flames turned her to ashes, she sunk in to death with a final wish that her children would never know their past.
**********************