Chapter 16

Deling city, part 3;

The Sorceress' Knight.

Below the street level of Deling city, Quistis Trepe led the 'gateway team', herself, Zell Dincht, and Selphie Tilmitt, through the damp sewers.

"So this is where it led..." Quistis observed.

Though Deling city possessed an impressive sewer system, composed of well-laid concrete tunnels and water-wheels, ...it was still a sewer.

"Ewwww....!" Selphie whined. "It smells down here..."

"At least there's a walkway on each side..." Zell said. "...It's not like we have to trudge through the... uhh... 'water'..."

"I suppose... " Quistis thoughts.

The group started moving along the Sewer walk way.

"We have to find a way out of here quick..." Quistis commanded. "...If we can't get back to the archway... I don't know what'll happen."

They all looked around for a moment. It appeared that the only way to go was forward. But the path was blocked by a wooden water-wheel.

"How are we gonna get up to the path?" Selphie said.

"Let's just ride the water-wheel up." Zell simply replied.

Selphie gawked at Zell, wide eyed.

"No way! I'm not touching that!" she yelled, pointing at the slimy wooden planks.

Quistis glared at her.

"Selphie..." she began. "This isn't the time. We have to get out of here, so do it."

Selphie stood there silently for a moment. Quistis was right, this was no time to mess around.

It was still gross though.

Selphie sighed and turned her head to Zell.

"...You first." she 'invited'.

"No. I'll go." Quistis said. "I'm in leading the group, so it's my responsibility."

Quistis grabbed hold onto the slippery wood, and rode it up to the next level of the sewer. Zell and Selphie followed her, though it took Selphie a moment before she could actually bring herself to touch the slimy waterwheel.

Quistis pushed a gate open, revealing more of the sewer path. She started walking in, and heard noises above. They all stopped.

"It's starting..." Zell said, solemnly.

"Oh no...." Quistis thought. "We're not gonna make it..."

***********************************************************************

Above the sewers, on the street, the parade was indeed starting. Squall and Irvine stood in there places, getting ready to make a run for the presidential residence.

Fire works went off as the gate opened, revealing the huge sorceress' float, a large platform, moving effortlessly across the ground.

The sorceress was placed in the rear of the float, on her throne, gazing knowingly at the ignorant crowd below her. Two large bowls on either side of her erupted in flames, and the large neon ring resting atop the parade vehicle gleamed with an eerie luminescence.

As about a dozen dancers in front of the float started throwing their bodies back and forth. They moved to the sound of the dark music being played in the sorceress' honor.

Irvine and Squall looked on, amazed, and a little disturbed at the sight. The crowd had just witnessed the sorceress' horrific speech, and now they were continuing to cheer her on. The people of Deling city seemed to love the sorceress.

But they couldn't afford to think about that now. Squall Leonhart, and Irvine Kinneas had a very important job to take care of. On top of that, Rinoa was still in danger from the two monsters that had attacked her n the roof.

Irvine looked over to Squall, and then over to the presidential residence.

"...The gate..." he thought.

"Now's our chance. Come on!" Irvine said.

Irvine started running. He turned around, and saw Squall still standing there.

"...Someone might see us..." Squall thought, weary of the fanatic people surrounding him.

Irvine glared at him in amazement.

"What are you waiting for!?" Irvine screamed. "Rinoa might die!"

"...He's right." Squall realized. "...And no one is even paying attention to us anyway..."

Squall and Irvine started to run through the crowd, hunching over. They made their way out to the street this way, just as the sorceress' float was passing through two huge pillars lit with fire.

They passed the side of the vehicle carefully, avoiding the strangely attired dancers at the front and back of the float.

Squall, stopped for a moment. He wanted to make sure it was all clear before he went on.

As he squatted down besides the float, Squall looked up, making sure that he was still unnoticed...

What he saw on the float shocked him.

Squall gawked at a young, trench coated man, waving his gunblade to the crowd. He smirked proudly, and rested the weapon on his shoulder.

"...Seifer...!!?" Squall thought.

"Seifer's... alive?! How...? What's he doing with the sorceress...?"

But the float continued moving and Seifer moved out of sight. Squall shook his head in disbelief.

He continued past the float, and down the road further. Irvine was waiting for him by the gates to the president's mansion.

"...Here we go..." thought Squall, forgetting, for the moment, what he had just seen in the parade.

"...I Hope Rinoa's okay..."

The thought made Squall start to get nervous. Was she dead already?

"...No!...I can't think that..." he began, surprised at his attempted optimism.

"...She knows how to defend herself..."

Squall and Irvine ran through the gate just in time. The metal shut with a loud clang, and They started to searched around.

"..We need to get up to the roof..." Squall observed.

"There should be a way to climb up..." Irvine suggested. "...In the parking area... I think."

"...Show the way then." Squall said impatiently. "...Let's hurry." he added.

Irvine led Squall behind the president's mansion. They found a small concrete area in which an old car was parked. The ground was covered with old crates, as well.

The boxes, however, provided a means of climbing to the top.

"...So what...? We just climb up the crates...?" Squall asked.

"...Yeah... I guess." Irvine replied sheepishly.

"...'You guess'... Great." Squall thought.

He started to jump onto the boxes. Irvine went ahead of him, and finally leapt across to the roof of the mansion. Squall followed, and jumped across to the roof, almost falling over as he landed.

"...Alright..." Squall began..." Lets keep moving..."

Squall and Irvine eventually reached the balcony, where Edea had given her strange speech. They saw the lifeless, mangled body of president Deling lying near the stairwell, leading into the commencement room.

"Those monsters must have been attacking the president's body first…" Squall observed.

"..Rinoa might still be okay…"

Squall quickly ran up the stairs, throwing the doors to the commencement room open. Upon entering, he saw Rinoa in the very back, lying on the floor, shaking.

In front of her, were the two, statue 'decorations', now monsters which had been animated by Edea.

They stood, hissing at Rinoa, poised to attack.

"Rinoa!!!" Squall yelled. He rushed at the two half-lizards, slicing fiercely with his gunblade.

Irvine cocked his rifle.

"We have to save Rinoa!" he yelled heroically.

Irvine began blasting shots into one of the monster's hides. The monsters turned around and started to attack them.

One of the beasts opened its' mouth and spewed what appeared to be molten lava, at Irvine.

"Aarrgghhh...!" Irvine yelled.

Squall grabbed Irvine's jacket, and spoke roughly.

"...It's just an energy attack...." Squall assured him. "Calm down."

Squall had just scanned the monsters. He felt confident that that could be defeated.

Irvine felt slightly embarrassed at his outburst, but he wasn't as used to battle as he wanted to appear.

Squall didn't seem to notice. He was busy thinking, and concentrating on the fight. He had noticed something else during the scan, which the 'Iguions' seemed to posses.

"Irvine... I'll attack. You draw!"

"What!?"

"They're junctioning a GF! Draw it!

"Oh... "

Squall had helped Irvine junction a GF earlier on the train. Irvine refused at first, but eventually gave in. Irvine wasn't a SeeD yet, so he still wasn't entirely used to using magic and GFs.

Irvine began to focus, and energy emitted from the monster. A GF stocked itself within Irvine's mind.

"...Carbuncle..." he realized. "weird."

The Iguion roared furiously as Irvine drew the GF. The beast nudged it's partner, and they both stood up on their hind legs.

"...What are they doing...?" Squall thought, examining the beast's movements.

The monster's suddenly emitted an ear splitting sound wave, resonating intensely. Squall and Irvine stumbled at this. The attack was painfully loud.

Finally the sound stopped, and the two fighters picked themselves up again. Irvine cocked his rifle, and started shooting madly at the monsters. He'd had enough of this.

Squall continued attacking as well, slashing into their thick hides with his gunblade.

The Iguions started to give. One collapsed, and disappeared before them. The other, however, jumped at Squall, slashing with its sharp claws. It snagged onto Squall's shirt, leaving a small rip in the clothe.

Squall looked at the tear, and, infuriated, jabbed his blade into the beast's open chest.

Instead of, bleeding, though, the Iguion just disappeared, as its counterpart had.

Squall looked around. The battle was over.

*--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------*

(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)

"...Rinoa."

He ran over to her and Squatted down. She was breathing. In fact, she looked like she hadn't been hurt at all.

But she was shaking. Badly. She gripped the metal chain on her neck firmly.

"(I was scared...)" she whispered to Squall.

Squall, seeing that she was fine, got up, and turned his head.

"…Okay… Whatever…" he thought. He had gotten so worried, but she wasn't hurt... He felt foolish.

Rinoa saw him move, and sat up herself. She rested on her knees and grabbed Squall's arm before he could start walking away. His necklace kicked up to his face from the momentum.

"Really scared."

Rinoa looked up at him. Her eyes were wet with tears, her face was slightly dirty, and her hair, moist from nervous sweat, was clinging to her cheek.

She looked scared. Really scared.

"It's over now." Squall tried to reassure her.

She took no note. She just started to shake his arm.

"I was scared..." she began again. "I was really, really scared."

"You're used to battles, aren't you?" Squall replied coldly, as usual.

Rinoa released one hand from his arm, but gripped on with the other firmly.

"I couldn't... I just couldn't."

She hung her head down, her voice becoming even softer. She began to feel ashamed of herself.

"I couldn't fight alone."

"...You're not ready for all this." Squall thought. He saw how frightened she was. He felt compassion for her, but that, in turn, made him feel uncomfortable.

He shook her hand away.

"Better get going." he said quickly.

He started walking, but Rinoa's eyes widened and she ran over to him, grabbing his arm again.

Squall sighed impatiently. He hated what she was doing... trying to rely on him for emotional support. He didn't know how to give it, and he didn't want to know how.

All he could offer was to keep her safe from now on, physically.

"I haven't forgotten your order." Squall assured her.

She still held on tightly, eyes closed and biting her bottom lip.

Squall let his sympathy show now. He raised his eyebrows and sighed.

"Just stay close to me." he said.

Rinoa nodded her head, and slowly released Squall's arm. This was enough for her. As long as she stayed close to Squall, she felt like she would be okay.

Squall now turned his attention to their mission. Assassination of the sorceress.

"..Okay... Now... where's that hatch the general told us about?"

Squall led Rinoa and Irvine back out to the commencement room hallway. He looked around and immediately noticed a hatch on the ground.

"This must be it..." Squall thought. He opened the small hatch, and lowered himself into it.

Irvine and Rinoa followed Squall. Inside they found a large machine, apparently the carousel clock tower. The chamber was circled by small holographic projectors, which would emit horses, clowns, and other 'circus theme' images.

Besides one of the projectors, Squall saw a gun. It was the sniper rifle. He picked it up and handed it to Irvine.

"Irvine Kinneas, it's in your hands now."

The cowboy shooter took his gun, and nodded his head slowly. He said nothing, and went over to the far corner of the chamber. Irvine Kinneas sat down, and lowered his cowboy hat, covering his eyes.

"Huh...?" Squall thought. "Why'd he get all quiet?"

Rinoa went over to sit down on one of the projectors.

"Oh, he must be concentrating." Squall continued thinking. He sat down across from Rinoa.

"Loneliness of the sharpshooter... I guess he has a point."

Squall looked around in the chamber. It was silent.

"Can't hear anything from in here. ...What's going on with the parade I wonder?"

Then Squall remembered what he'd seen during the parade. …Seifer.

"Seifer... So he's alive." he thought. "Rinoa'll want to know... but..."

Squall sighed.

"Rinoa." Squall said suddenly.

She looked up at him.

"Seifer's alive. He was in the parade with the sorceress."

Rinoa's eyes widened in surprise. Seifer was alive! ...But... With the sorceress?

"...What does it mean?" she said.

"Who knows." Squall replied.

"I'm just as confused as anyone else..."

An eerie thought occurred to Squall.

"If I were to face the sorceress directly..." he started thinking "Would I have to go through Seifer?"

He sighed.

"...That's the way it goes as a SeeD. You can't choose your enemies..."

Rinoa dangled her legs above the floor. Her heart was still racing from her encounter with the two strange monsters, and now she had learned that Seifer was not dead. What did it mean?

Squall wasn't sure that she could handle what he had to say next, but he told her.

"I may end up killing Seifer." he said.

Rinoa threw down her feet. She was about to object, but she realized that Seifer had apparently joined with the sorceress.

"...If Seifer's joined with the sorceress... then he's an enemy. Not only of SeeD... But of the Forest Owls, too..."

"You're both...prepared, right?" she asked Squall.

Squall started at her, blankly. What did she mean?

"That's the kind of world you live in. You've had a lot of emotional training."

"...Yeah. I guess." was all Squall could think. Rinoa made it sound so... heartless.

"But... Of course, I'd rather it not happen..." she continued. Rinoa was trying to sound mature about it, but she was scared as hell. She didn't want to hear about Seifer's death, all over again. And what if Seifer killed Squall!? What would happen then!? Either way, it was a horrible situation…

Squall didn't know what to think or say. He didn't want to be responsible for killing Rinoa's 'boyfriend', especially not after learning that he was still alive. But if that's how it had to happen, Squall would do it...

"...We probably shouldn't even worry about it, though..." thought Squall.

He looked over to the quiet sharpshooter in the corner.

"It's all up to Irvine." he said.

Squall started walking over to Irvine. Him and Rinoa's conversation was beginning to bother him, and something didn't seem quite right with Irvine, besides.

As he squatted down next to Irvine, he noticed his head bobbing oddly... as if he were crying.

"Huh...?" Squall thought. "Is he freakin' out!?"

"Don't tell me you're getting the jitters..." Squall started.

Irvine put his hand to his chest and looked up.

"I...I can't do it." he announced.

Squall put his hand to his forehead.

"...Oh no..."

***********************************************************************

Down in the Sewer, Quistis, Zell, and Selphie were lost.

"We gotta get to the gateway before the float does!" Zell exclaimed.

"I know! I know..." Quistis replied as she led them along.

Quistis was getting frustrated, but she kept a clear head. She started to think.

"Okay. How are we gonna get out of here...? What would lead the way out...?"

The group had passed through countless sewer gates and pathways, but nothing seemed to lead the way up to the street.

"...The water has to start in here from somewhere... " Quistis thought. "So if we follow the direction opposite from the flow of the water..."

"I've got it!" she yelled. "If we go against the current, then we should find a way up to the street, or at least a way out of the sewer."

"What makes you say that?" Selphie asked.

"Because... The water comes from somewhere, right? Wherever it's pouring into the sewer from, must be above."

"I get it!" Zell said. "Good thinking, Instructor."

Quistis blushed a little, but regained her composure quickly.

"Alright, let's hurry." she commanded.

***********************************************************************

Sure enough, as they traveled against the current, Quistis, Selphie, and Zell found a dead end of the path.

But the water was pouring in from a tunnel in the wall, turning a water wheel. The seemed to be coming from up above.

And there was a ladder right next to it.

"Alright!" Selphie yelped. "Way to go, Quistis!"

Quistis started up the ladder, followed quickly by Zell and Selphie.

As they climbed, their surroundings became more and more familiar.

"What the...?" Quistis started.

"Wow! This sure is lucky..." Zell responded.

They had climbed right into the Deling city archway... Their post for the night.

They passed the first floor and continued up, until they reached the top area.

"Phew!" Zell exclaimed. "We just made it."

He went over to the small window with Selphie, and peered out. The parade was just getting underway.

But it was nearing the gateway.

Quistis went over to the window to look with Zell and Selphie. She noted the sorceress' float, and breathed deeply.

"This is it..." she thought.

Then she looked in the distance at the presidential residence.

The digital clock atop the mansion struck 20:00

It was time.

Below the small gateway corridor, the parade dancers moved underneath the archway. The sorceress' float followed quickly behind, entering the gateway area.

"Instructor, now! Hit the switch!" Zell screamed.

Quistis ran over to the gateway control panel and, nervously, threw the switch down.

"Please work, please work..." Selphie chanted.

The archway began to shake. Rod-iron gates started coming down from the upper portion of the arch, surrounding the sorceress.

***********************************************************************

Beneath, Edea got up from her throne. She glared at the gates which had trapped her for the moment, under the archway.

"What's going on...?"

***********************************************************************

Inside the presidents mansion, in the workings of the carousel clock, Squall sat there, staring at the team's sharpshooter.

"What are we gonna do..." Squall thought.

Suddenly, the machinery around them started moving. Rinoa gasped a little, as the clock rang 20:00. The holographic emitters bean shining brightly.

"It's time..." Squall thought.

The carousel started rising, and finally, Squall, Irvine and Rinoa had a clear shot across the area at the Archway.

Irvine had an open shot at the sorceress.

"Irvine Kinneas!!!" yelled Squall.

"I... I can't" Irvine started. "I'm sorry, I can't do it. I always choke like this..."

"Oh man oh man oh man..." Squall thought.

"I try to act all cool, joke around, but I just can't handle the pressure..."

"Forget it." Squall coldly replied. "Just shoot."

Irvine ignored him.

"My bullet... The sorceress... I'll go down in history. I'd change the history of Galbadia... Of the world!"

"We don't have time for this..." Squall was getting really impatient.

"It's all too much..." Irvine continued.

"Enough!" Squall yelled. "Just shoot!"

Irvine glared at Squall.

"I can't, dammit!"

Irvine started to sob.

Squall sighed. What could he do?

A thought occurred to him. He didn't like it, but the job had to be done.

"Irvine, calm down." he said. "Everyone's waiting on you."

Squall started to speak in a calm, reassuring voice. He hoped that Irvine would loosen up, and be able to shoot.

"I don't care if you miss. Whatever happens, happens, just leave the rest to us."

Irvine didn't looked at him, but he stopped crying.

"Just think of it s a signal. A sign for us to make our move."

Irvine turned his head a little now.

"Just a signal..."

"That's it." Squall thought.

"Please." he said.

*--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------*

(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)

Irvine got up slowly, positioning himself correctly. He took aim right at the sorceress. There she was, right out in the open. Nothing between him and her, but Irvine's gun...

"...Just a sign." Irvine said to himself.

The air was quiet. Irvine cocked the gun, shook the hair from his eyes...

And fired.

The shot rang clear, and headed straight for Edea. Above the street, past the gate, over the float, and right into the sorceress.

But she didn't fall.

A blue cup of energy surrounded Edea, clanging loudly as the bullet hit it.

The sorceress smirked.

"DAMMIT!" Irvine thought.

He sat down next to Squall. He had failed.

"...I'm sorry." he said.

But Squall saw what had happened. Irvine's shot was fine... He had just waited too long. The sorceress had taken the opportunity to prepare for an attack.

Now it was up to Squall to finish the job.

"It's ok. Your aim was perfect." Squall said. "Just leave the rest up to me."

Squall waved at Rinoa, signaling for her to come nearer.

"I'm goin' in for the sorceress. Irvine, Rinoa, just be ready to back me up."

Irvine and Rinoa nodded. If Squall couldn't handle it, they would come running. Squall nodded back, and prepared his plan.

He looked down at the street below.

"Take care of Rinoa." he told Irvine, and he jumped from the clock.

Squall landed on the balcony, and ran over to the podium which Edea had given her speech on earlier. He drew his gunblade, and looked at the crowd below.

It was chaos.

The cheering crowd had started to panic as Edea became trapped underneath the gateway. Galbadian soldiers fought with large shields to keep the people away from the presidential residence.

One soldier was dealing with several citizens. He heard something above though, and looked up.

Squall came roaring down from the podium, and knocked the soldier out of the way. He ran though the crowd, and looked around. he had to get to the gateway.

"Where to go...?" he thought. Then he saw it.

"...That'll work..." he said to himself.

There was a large car parked right in front of him. Squall jumped in, hoping the keys were still in the ignition.

They were.

He fired up the engine, and backed away from the parking spot. Then he took the car out of reverse, and sped quickly towards the gateway.

Luckily the streets were still clear, beyond the crazed crowd at least, and Squall made a straight shot for the arch. He crashed into the gate, and leapt from the vehicle.

Squall landed on his knees, and then got up. Before him was the sorceress float. He crawled through the gateway, and mounted the parade vehicle.

As he climbed up, Squall saw an disturbing sight. Seifer, sitting down, right next to the sorceress.

The young SeeD stood before the two. His rival, and Garden's enemy. Joined forces.

"Well, this is how it turned out." Seifer's proud voice came out.

Squall glared at him. He had joined with the sorceress... But in what way?

"So you've become the sorceress' lap dog?" Squall mocked.

Squall had no reason to act civil to Seifer now... he was an enemy.

Seifer smirked, knowingly.

"I prefer to be called her knight." he replied.

Then Seifer cocked his head to the side, examining Squall.

"This has always been my dream." he said suddenly, and then he lunged at Squall. "Squall, you're mine!" Seifer said. His voice became dark, and ominous.

Squall said nothing. he simply turned quickly to avoid Seifer's blows.

Then he counter attacked.

Squall cast a 'Blizzara' Spell on Seifer, nearly freezing him in his tracks.

"Ugh..." Seifer winced, recovering from the attack. "Not bad..."

He continued speaking though, acting as if he'd been unhurt by the magic.

"So, though I was dead, eh?" he said, sure of himself as usual. "Well, not until I fulfill my dream!"

Seifer swung his sword down, and it met Squall's. The clanging of their blades rang loudly throughout the underbelly of the gateway.

For several minutes, Squall and Seifer clashed their weapons together, attacking without reservation.

"Enough of this..." Squall finally thought. He backed away from the deadlock, and lunged at Seifer swinging wildly.

Seifer barley avoided the blow. He raised his gunblade up to defend, but got knocked down to the ground.

Squall knocked the gunblade from his hand and kicked it onto the street below.

"I... lost...!?" Seifer exclaimed, staring down at his weapon.

He squatted down, and hung his head, exhausted.

"...I'm not letting you 'have' that one..." Squall thought indignantly.

"You're losing it Seifer." Squall said.

Despite all the anger and passion Seifer fought with, he hadn't seemed to be as skilled as he was before. Squall was surprised.

"Must not have been training since we fought last..." he thought. "What happened to him?"

Suddenly, Edea spoke up. Her voice filled with more hatred and spite than even in her speech.

"...A SeeD." she said slowly. "...Planted in a run-down Garden."

Squall pulled his weapon out again, ready to attack.

He heard someone scurrying up the parade float though, just as he drew the gunblade.

It was Rinoa and Irvine.

"I can fight if I'm with you..." Rinoa said softly. "That's why I'm here..."

Irvine glanced at Squall, shame-faced.

"I have to redeem my self..." he said.

The two stood right by Squall, ready to fight.

The sorceress glared at the three youths before her with her yellow-tinted eyes.

"...The accursed SeeD."

Edea raised her long, sleek arm, and cast magic. A Thundaga spell. It hit Squall, and jolted him. He winced, but luckily he had junctioned thunder magic. He was protected slightly from any magic attack with a similar element.

Squall ran towards Edea, and sliced at her. She was still kept safe by the protect magic which she had used to keep Irvine's bullet from hitting her, so Squall couldn't reach her.

"Damn..." he thought. Squall stepped back as Edea glared at him.

She was preparing another attack.

"Irvine!" Squall yelled. "What did you do with that GF that I had you draw...?"

"I junctioned it!" Irvine replied. "Why?"

"What's it do?"

"Casts reflect magic... I think."

Squall paused. Reflect magic!? That would be prefect.

"Use it!"

Irvine nodded. He focused, and summoned the GF.

As Irvine focused, and a small, blue figure appeared from a hole in the float.

It was Carbuncle. The small rodent-like GF glanced at the fighters before it. He jumped into the air, and cast reflect magic onto all three of them.

Then Carbuncle disappeared back into the ground.

Edea finally cast lightning magic again. But the reflect shield threw the magic right back at her.

" It worked..." Squall thought.

They continued fighting. Rinoa attacked, trying to weaken Edea's protection. Edea also attempted to get rid of their shields using 'Dispel' magic, But Irvine continued to summon Carbuncle.

Edea cast Dispel on Irvine, and then followed up with a strong magic spell. She hit him with Blizzara.

This was too much for Irvine to take. He collapsed, not dead, but unconscious.

"...SeeD, is that all you've got?" Edea chided. "How boring."

Squall became infuriated. He ran at the sorceress, slicing with all his might.

She winced as he finally wore out her shield, but she cast out her arm, tossing him back.

"Impudent SeeD." she said in a dark voice.

Edea raised her arm, and light blue energy began glowing around her. The sorceress held her hand out, as if grasping something. Suddenly, large spears of Ice formed above her head.

"What in the world...?" Squall thought.

Edea glared at him, and then smiled wickedly. She hurled the Ice javelins at the two remaining fighters.

Rinoa ducked, avoiding the Ice-spears, but they kept moving fast. They flew onward at an incredible speed.

Squall gazed at them without moving. He prepared to duck, but it was too late. He felt a sharp pain enter into his right shoulder, and exit through his upper back. One of the sorceress' javelins had hit him.

Rinoa turned around, only to hear the sound of ripping flesh, emitting from Squall's body. She gazed at him and the ice-spear that ran through his shoulder, horrified.

Rinoa released an ear-splitting scream.

Squall stood there a moment, shocked. Rinoa's scream seemed to fit what he felt now. His eyes squinted at the pain, but that was all he could do. It hurt so badly... How was he supposed to respond? The incredible pain. It was too much. He felt it weakening him at every movement. He could hardly breath.

Squall looked at Rinoa. Her gaze was comforting, but she was horribly frightened. He turned his attention to the sorceress. Edea smirked with pleasure. Squall thought he could almost hear her chuckling.

Edea twisted her hand around slightly. The motion caused the Icicle in Squall's shoulder to turn violently. He gasped in pain.

Squall took one last look at Rinoa, and began to fall. He tripped over the edge of the parade float, and fell with his back to the street below.

The last thing he saw was Rinoa screaming his name, looking over the edge of the float. She extended her hand, but it seemed so far away... so far...

And then he saw nothing.

***********************************************************************

End chap 16.

Whoa.

That's really all I can say.

Whoa.

Actually, I do have a little more to share with you...

Man alive... I wish that I was playing through the game for the first time. I remember how PO'd I was at this part. I actually thought that Squall had died. But the whole thing was so exciting and new to me...

It was cool.

 I have a question. Do you guys (and gals) like the battle scenes? I mean, I have to explain them a little bit more than what the game shows, because ...well, let me put it this way. If a person, magical or not, gets sliced up with a sword, they basically die... or start bleeding profusely. So, this means that I have to do the fights a little differently because Edea, and Seifer don't really 'die'. Their HP just runs low...(?) Seeing as 'real people' don't have HP, It's not possible to stab someone, and only be taking a fraction of their health away.

Anywayz, I was just wondering if I was doing it in an 'okay' fashion.

Well, this ends the First disk... But not my story!

Chapter 17 is next, and guess what? Its a Laguna chapter!

'yay!'

Stay tuned!

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