Chapter 41
A thin trail of blood droplets could be seen on the snow behind him as Sifan staggered downhill, clutching his bleeding shoulder and gritting his teeth. He regretted not stocking any curative items or spells when he felt the pain in his shoulder flare up. He looked around for traces of potions people sometimes dropped but the mist made that almost impossible. It covered everything around him and he felt like he was going nowhere. The wind also picked up momentum and cried harshly in his ears. The cold made Sifan's body tremble. He had lost a lot of blood. He took a look behind him and noticed his blood had dropped all along the way. He looked at the hand with which he was clutching his shoulder; it looked as if it had been immersed in a pool of blood. He was finding it harder and harder to reserve energy, as the temperature around him seemed to be dropping by the minute. He looked up with his pain-filled eyes to see how far he had come. The mist was too thick to see through and all Sifan heard was the howling wind. He had walked all he could but now, his strength was all used up. Once again, the pain in his shoulder began to agonize his mind. His knees lost their strength and Sifan sank to the ground. As he fell on his knees, he felt his shoulder go numb. His head began to spin and immediately, he fell chest-down on the ground and blacked out.
A few feet behind him, from between a couple of trees, a snow dragon marched out for its midnight snack. It slowly made its way to Sifan's motionless figure lying on the ground. It looked at him for a while and decided to finish his meal then and there. It raised his claws to sever Sifan's back when a Firaga blazed through the air and exploded in its face, scalding its icy hide. The snow dragon took a step back and waited for its opponent to come out of hiding.
With his colossal sword on his shoulder, Setzin walked out to deal with the four-legged snow nuisance.
************************
Phillona hadn't felt like sleeping for some strange reason. Maybe it was because she had dozed off for a long time in the afternoon. Or maybe it was because she hadn't eaten much that night. She was too busy taking care of the reserved Sifan Leonhart at the dinner table to eat properly. She sighed when her stomach made a flip. She decided to go out for a quite walk. She took one of Trex's jackets and wrapped herself in it. She tied her loose hair into a ponytail with tendril-like strands of hair running down along her ears. She slowly closed the door of her room and headed down the stairs towards the kitchen to grab a bite. As she made her way across the living room, the sound of a truck filled the air. She walked to the window and looked outside. The truck stopped in front of the inn and General Keiara walked out of it. Phillona sighed; she was about to turn back when she saw Avatar walked out behind General Keiara.
Phillona quickly threw a look to the grandfather clock at the corner of the room. Both its hands stood at 2.
Phillona decided to see what was going on. She opened the bolts on the door and exited the cottage hastily. Once she was outside, she quickly strolled to the inn, avoiding the lustful glares from a few drunken soldiers sitting at the bar. She paused at the reception and contemplated as to whether she should turn back. But she was too curious. She thought of going to Sifan's room but pushed away the idea.
(He's a sleepyhead...) she thought, (He's probably counting lone wolves jumping over fences...)
But the entire 'Avatar with Keiara' scene urged a sense of discomfort into her. She glanced around for a few minutes when Avatar Fenis arrived down the stairs. His eyes were bloodshot and the blank look on his face didn't do too much to assure Phillona that things were all right. Avatar walked down to the reception and paid for his stay. Strangely, Phillona had become a complete stranger to him.
"Hey..." she said, waving to Avatar, "Do I look FAMILIAR?"
Avatar moved his head sideways and looked at her. He nodded sternly and collected the change from the receptionist, "Sorry..."
"It's ok..." She said, "Oh by the way, where's Seef...?"
"He..." Avatar started, "He's sleeping..."
"You're leaving somewhere without him...?" She asked, in a surprised tone.
Avatar grew impatient, "Well, he said he was too tired. He's joining me tomorrow..."
"OK..." Phillona said walking beside Avatar as he exited the inn, "Where are you going?"
Avatar grew impatient AND irritated, "To Midgar...look, I am late.... go sleep or something..."
(This isn't Avatar Fenis...)
She recalled Avatar's usual flirtatious antics and his cool, easy-going mood, whatever the situation. Strangely, what she was seeing now was a converse of that personality.
"Let's go Avatar..." Keiara said joining him outside, ignoring Phillona.
Phillona stopped in her tracks. (Something's not right here...)
Avatar held the door open for Keiara and climbed in next to her. Soon the door slid shut and truck sped away outside Lichita town. Phillona suddenly felt someone grab her wrist. She turned around and saw a drunk Shin-Ra soldier holding her wrist, a wide smile on his face.
She pulled her wrist away with force and started back to her cottage when the soldier grabbed her again and cackled, "C'mon girly! Make me happy for sometime...I got a room at the inn!"
He didn't see Phillona's kick coming. It connected with his cheek and he fell on his knees, muttering curses. Soon, a companion of his came running to him. He looked up at Phillona and from the redness in his eyes, she made out that he was drunk too.
(Isn't there an end to these drunken bastards...?)
"Yer gonna pay fer that missy..." the other soldier said and advanced towards Phillona. She was about to send him skidding across the floor with another kick when she heard a click of a gun being loaded behind her.
She smiled as Trex aimed his shotgun over her shoulder at the soldier's face, "Don't make me waste bullets on your ugly face, jackass..."
The soldier darted back. He muttered something under his breath and lifted his fallen compatriot. Together they made their way back to more sober times at the bar.
She turned to Trex, who replaced his gun into his holster, "Sweetheart, next time you decide to take my jacket and go for a walk, take the damn gun holster with you!"
She smiled at him, "Those guys were as drunk as you were a few hours ago..."
Trex shrugged, "Anyway, tell me.... Was it just me or did General Keiara and Avatar leave together in that truck...?"
"No, you're right..." Phillona sighed, "Somethi-"
Just then, a young man came running to them, "Excuse me, we have an emergency...someone's brought a hurt person down from the hills...a few of those drunken soldiers don't seem to wanna let them past the gate..."
"Hey, don't say anything more man..." Trex said immediately, "Go to the item shop owner's house and ask him to open the damn place. Tell him to keep anything curative ready, will ya?"
The young man nodded and disappeared towards one of the cottages while Trex and Phillona rushed to the gate.
Five Shin-Ra soldiers were lying on the ground, motionless. Setzin held his gigantic weapon in his hand while the unconscious body of Sifan Leonhart hung on his shoulder. A couple of other soldiers stood in front of Setzin in a drunken stance. One of them tried to attack him but Trex shot the soldier in the shin, causing him to fall down. While Trex re-loaded his gun, Phillona ran to the other soldier. The soldier grinned at the brown-haired beauty running towards him, "Heh Heh...what's a girl like you-"
Phillona's running uppercut didn't give the soldier anytime to finish what he was saying. He fell down on the ground with a thud, groping his back. Setzin rushed past them without a word. Phillona saw the crumpled figure that Setzin was carrying. She gasped as Trex gave out a surprised yelp.
"Whoa...SIFAN?" Trex cried as Setzin carried Sifan towards the item shop, followed by a very worried Phillona.
"W-What happened?" Phillona cried as they saw the item shop's owner open his shop's shutter.
"Lets save the kid's life first..." Setzin mumbled as he carried Sifan into the item shop. The owner hurriedly opened the cupboards and fished out curative items as Setzin set Sifan down on the table. There was no end to the blood seeping out of Sifan's shoulder. Although Setzin had torn out a part of his cloak and wrapped it around Sifan's shoulder, the blood still continued to flow.
Phillona let out a worried gasp when she saw Sifan's bleeding and hurriedly ran back to her room for the cure materia.
Trex nervously pranced about as Setzin opened Sifan's mouth and allowed a hi-potion to flow into his mouth little by little. Trex scratched his head and watched on nervously, but Sifan showed no signs of consciousness. Setzin's face was hard to read but Trex could see that there was actually a trace of care on it. He placed a bunch of clothes under Sifan's head while the potion took time to move down Sifan's circulatory system.
Phillona almost tripped over and fell as she barged into the door. While the others stepped back, she charged her aura and cast a cure spell on Sifan. The bleeding stopped almost immediately. Phillona unwrapped the temporary cloth Setzin had used. She cleaned the blood with some cotton and put on some real bandage she had brought from the cottage. She then stepped back and cast another cure spell on him. She waited for a few minutes but there were no signs of perception.
She rummaged the item shop's boxes hurriedly and found a Phoenix down. She threw the bundle of Phoenix feathers on Sifan, hoping desperately it would help. A strange light started to appear around him but it's radiance weakened after a few seconds and then disappeared completely.
She waited anxiously for a few minutes and finally, when no signs of Vitality appeared in his face, a tear began to roll down her face.
*************************
"Cervantus, it's not his TIME!"
"Why Aeris? WHY DO YOU BEG FOR THIS MORTAL'S LIFE?"
"Because I BELIEVE in him! DESTINY believes in him!"
"..........................."
"Cervantus! Hear me out, Please...!"
"HYNE wants him dead...he doesn't have faith in him..."
"What does Hyne say?"
"He says Sifan Leonhart cannot slay the one winged angel."
"Hyne is a fool! Hyne wanted Squall Leonhart dead when Edea sent that icicle through him...!"
"............................"
"Since when have you listened to what HYNE says, Cervantus?"
"Hyne is older than all of us..."
"Yes but in his case...Wisdom and Age didn't go hand in hand..."
"............................"
"You didn't listen to Hyne in the case of Squall..."
"Squall was different, Aeris...we all believed in Squall, bar Hyne...I had no doubt in him when I bestowed him with the Lionheart...but his son?"
"Cervantus, I am not asking you to bestow Sifan with the Lionheart...I am just asking you to change the time of his death...you CAN if you want to..."
"Aeris...I am sorry..."
"CERVANTUS!"
Trex put a comforting hand on Phillona's shoulder while Setzin walked out of the room. Sifan Leonhart was gone...
**********************
-------------------- -------------------------- ---------------------
Note from the Author: sorry for short chapter...Um...well...I am thinking maybe I oughta change Phillona into the protagonist now that Sifan is dead...
Anyway guys...review...
Till next time, cheers!
A thin trail of blood droplets could be seen on the snow behind him as Sifan staggered downhill, clutching his bleeding shoulder and gritting his teeth. He regretted not stocking any curative items or spells when he felt the pain in his shoulder flare up. He looked around for traces of potions people sometimes dropped but the mist made that almost impossible. It covered everything around him and he felt like he was going nowhere. The wind also picked up momentum and cried harshly in his ears. The cold made Sifan's body tremble. He had lost a lot of blood. He took a look behind him and noticed his blood had dropped all along the way. He looked at the hand with which he was clutching his shoulder; it looked as if it had been immersed in a pool of blood. He was finding it harder and harder to reserve energy, as the temperature around him seemed to be dropping by the minute. He looked up with his pain-filled eyes to see how far he had come. The mist was too thick to see through and all Sifan heard was the howling wind. He had walked all he could but now, his strength was all used up. Once again, the pain in his shoulder began to agonize his mind. His knees lost their strength and Sifan sank to the ground. As he fell on his knees, he felt his shoulder go numb. His head began to spin and immediately, he fell chest-down on the ground and blacked out.
A few feet behind him, from between a couple of trees, a snow dragon marched out for its midnight snack. It slowly made its way to Sifan's motionless figure lying on the ground. It looked at him for a while and decided to finish his meal then and there. It raised his claws to sever Sifan's back when a Firaga blazed through the air and exploded in its face, scalding its icy hide. The snow dragon took a step back and waited for its opponent to come out of hiding.
With his colossal sword on his shoulder, Setzin walked out to deal with the four-legged snow nuisance.
************************
Phillona hadn't felt like sleeping for some strange reason. Maybe it was because she had dozed off for a long time in the afternoon. Or maybe it was because she hadn't eaten much that night. She was too busy taking care of the reserved Sifan Leonhart at the dinner table to eat properly. She sighed when her stomach made a flip. She decided to go out for a quite walk. She took one of Trex's jackets and wrapped herself in it. She tied her loose hair into a ponytail with tendril-like strands of hair running down along her ears. She slowly closed the door of her room and headed down the stairs towards the kitchen to grab a bite. As she made her way across the living room, the sound of a truck filled the air. She walked to the window and looked outside. The truck stopped in front of the inn and General Keiara walked out of it. Phillona sighed; she was about to turn back when she saw Avatar walked out behind General Keiara.
Phillona quickly threw a look to the grandfather clock at the corner of the room. Both its hands stood at 2.
Phillona decided to see what was going on. She opened the bolts on the door and exited the cottage hastily. Once she was outside, she quickly strolled to the inn, avoiding the lustful glares from a few drunken soldiers sitting at the bar. She paused at the reception and contemplated as to whether she should turn back. But she was too curious. She thought of going to Sifan's room but pushed away the idea.
(He's a sleepyhead...) she thought, (He's probably counting lone wolves jumping over fences...)
But the entire 'Avatar with Keiara' scene urged a sense of discomfort into her. She glanced around for a few minutes when Avatar Fenis arrived down the stairs. His eyes were bloodshot and the blank look on his face didn't do too much to assure Phillona that things were all right. Avatar walked down to the reception and paid for his stay. Strangely, Phillona had become a complete stranger to him.
"Hey..." she said, waving to Avatar, "Do I look FAMILIAR?"
Avatar moved his head sideways and looked at her. He nodded sternly and collected the change from the receptionist, "Sorry..."
"It's ok..." She said, "Oh by the way, where's Seef...?"
"He..." Avatar started, "He's sleeping..."
"You're leaving somewhere without him...?" She asked, in a surprised tone.
Avatar grew impatient, "Well, he said he was too tired. He's joining me tomorrow..."
"OK..." Phillona said walking beside Avatar as he exited the inn, "Where are you going?"
Avatar grew impatient AND irritated, "To Midgar...look, I am late.... go sleep or something..."
(This isn't Avatar Fenis...)
She recalled Avatar's usual flirtatious antics and his cool, easy-going mood, whatever the situation. Strangely, what she was seeing now was a converse of that personality.
"Let's go Avatar..." Keiara said joining him outside, ignoring Phillona.
Phillona stopped in her tracks. (Something's not right here...)
Avatar held the door open for Keiara and climbed in next to her. Soon the door slid shut and truck sped away outside Lichita town. Phillona suddenly felt someone grab her wrist. She turned around and saw a drunk Shin-Ra soldier holding her wrist, a wide smile on his face.
She pulled her wrist away with force and started back to her cottage when the soldier grabbed her again and cackled, "C'mon girly! Make me happy for sometime...I got a room at the inn!"
He didn't see Phillona's kick coming. It connected with his cheek and he fell on his knees, muttering curses. Soon, a companion of his came running to him. He looked up at Phillona and from the redness in his eyes, she made out that he was drunk too.
(Isn't there an end to these drunken bastards...?)
"Yer gonna pay fer that missy..." the other soldier said and advanced towards Phillona. She was about to send him skidding across the floor with another kick when she heard a click of a gun being loaded behind her.
She smiled as Trex aimed his shotgun over her shoulder at the soldier's face, "Don't make me waste bullets on your ugly face, jackass..."
The soldier darted back. He muttered something under his breath and lifted his fallen compatriot. Together they made their way back to more sober times at the bar.
She turned to Trex, who replaced his gun into his holster, "Sweetheart, next time you decide to take my jacket and go for a walk, take the damn gun holster with you!"
She smiled at him, "Those guys were as drunk as you were a few hours ago..."
Trex shrugged, "Anyway, tell me.... Was it just me or did General Keiara and Avatar leave together in that truck...?"
"No, you're right..." Phillona sighed, "Somethi-"
Just then, a young man came running to them, "Excuse me, we have an emergency...someone's brought a hurt person down from the hills...a few of those drunken soldiers don't seem to wanna let them past the gate..."
"Hey, don't say anything more man..." Trex said immediately, "Go to the item shop owner's house and ask him to open the damn place. Tell him to keep anything curative ready, will ya?"
The young man nodded and disappeared towards one of the cottages while Trex and Phillona rushed to the gate.
Five Shin-Ra soldiers were lying on the ground, motionless. Setzin held his gigantic weapon in his hand while the unconscious body of Sifan Leonhart hung on his shoulder. A couple of other soldiers stood in front of Setzin in a drunken stance. One of them tried to attack him but Trex shot the soldier in the shin, causing him to fall down. While Trex re-loaded his gun, Phillona ran to the other soldier. The soldier grinned at the brown-haired beauty running towards him, "Heh Heh...what's a girl like you-"
Phillona's running uppercut didn't give the soldier anytime to finish what he was saying. He fell down on the ground with a thud, groping his back. Setzin rushed past them without a word. Phillona saw the crumpled figure that Setzin was carrying. She gasped as Trex gave out a surprised yelp.
"Whoa...SIFAN?" Trex cried as Setzin carried Sifan towards the item shop, followed by a very worried Phillona.
"W-What happened?" Phillona cried as they saw the item shop's owner open his shop's shutter.
"Lets save the kid's life first..." Setzin mumbled as he carried Sifan into the item shop. The owner hurriedly opened the cupboards and fished out curative items as Setzin set Sifan down on the table. There was no end to the blood seeping out of Sifan's shoulder. Although Setzin had torn out a part of his cloak and wrapped it around Sifan's shoulder, the blood still continued to flow.
Phillona let out a worried gasp when she saw Sifan's bleeding and hurriedly ran back to her room for the cure materia.
Trex nervously pranced about as Setzin opened Sifan's mouth and allowed a hi-potion to flow into his mouth little by little. Trex scratched his head and watched on nervously, but Sifan showed no signs of consciousness. Setzin's face was hard to read but Trex could see that there was actually a trace of care on it. He placed a bunch of clothes under Sifan's head while the potion took time to move down Sifan's circulatory system.
Phillona almost tripped over and fell as she barged into the door. While the others stepped back, she charged her aura and cast a cure spell on Sifan. The bleeding stopped almost immediately. Phillona unwrapped the temporary cloth Setzin had used. She cleaned the blood with some cotton and put on some real bandage she had brought from the cottage. She then stepped back and cast another cure spell on him. She waited for a few minutes but there were no signs of perception.
She rummaged the item shop's boxes hurriedly and found a Phoenix down. She threw the bundle of Phoenix feathers on Sifan, hoping desperately it would help. A strange light started to appear around him but it's radiance weakened after a few seconds and then disappeared completely.
She waited anxiously for a few minutes and finally, when no signs of Vitality appeared in his face, a tear began to roll down her face.
*************************
"Cervantus, it's not his TIME!"
"Why Aeris? WHY DO YOU BEG FOR THIS MORTAL'S LIFE?"
"Because I BELIEVE in him! DESTINY believes in him!"
"..........................."
"Cervantus! Hear me out, Please...!"
"HYNE wants him dead...he doesn't have faith in him..."
"What does Hyne say?"
"He says Sifan Leonhart cannot slay the one winged angel."
"Hyne is a fool! Hyne wanted Squall Leonhart dead when Edea sent that icicle through him...!"
"............................"
"Since when have you listened to what HYNE says, Cervantus?"
"Hyne is older than all of us..."
"Yes but in his case...Wisdom and Age didn't go hand in hand..."
"............................"
"You didn't listen to Hyne in the case of Squall..."
"Squall was different, Aeris...we all believed in Squall, bar Hyne...I had no doubt in him when I bestowed him with the Lionheart...but his son?"
"Cervantus, I am not asking you to bestow Sifan with the Lionheart...I am just asking you to change the time of his death...you CAN if you want to..."
"Aeris...I am sorry..."
"CERVANTUS!"
Trex put a comforting hand on Phillona's shoulder while Setzin walked out of the room. Sifan Leonhart was gone...
**********************
-------------------- -------------------------- ---------------------
Note from the Author: sorry for short chapter...Um...well...I am thinking maybe I oughta change Phillona into the protagonist now that Sifan is dead...
Anyway guys...review...
Till next time, cheers!