Chapter 23: Scars of Circumstance

The flashing of fireworks outside alerted Quistis and her team of the parade's start. She, Selphie, and Zell rushed to a window on the east side of the guestroom to see Edea's float begin to move out of the gates.

"It's started!" Selphie exclaimed.

"We have to hurry," Quistis ordered quickly, assuming control of the situation. "There has to be a way out of this room. Caraway wouldn't rig an electrical lock if he didn't have a way to get out in case of an accident." Selphie and Zell nodded.

"Let me give the window a shot while you two are checking things out," Zell suggested, moving to the window. He bent down to inspect it for a lock of some sort, while Selphie ducked under the table in the middle of the room, looking for a secret button or switch.

Quistis, on the other hand, paused to scan the room, looking for any obvious hiding places for a secret exit or switch. The wall to the left of the door was stocked with books, hundreds of them. Quistis continued turning to the left, to see the far wall of the room, also covered in books. In front of the wall sat the desk Irvine had been sitting in, beside it a large, antique globe. Above the desk, on the wall to the left of the furniture, was a painting of a woman sipping something from a cup. Beside the painting were the curtained windows on the east side, the nearest of which Zell was checking.

Quistis continued turning, back toward the door. She paused as a statue came into view in the corner, located in an alcove. The statue was of a beautiful woman whose hands were held out as if holding something. Oddly enough, the hands were empty. Beside the alcove were a set of fine, fragile wine glasses.

As she ended her search, Quistis' attention was stolen by Zell slamming the glass of the window with his fist. The martial artist jerked his hand back immediately, cursing and shaking his hand as a jolt of elecricity shot through the glass, likely from some security mechanism. She didn't need to ask him whether the window was locked or not.

Selphie came out from underneath the table, shaking her head.

"Check the desk," Quistis offered, nodding to the desk along the far wall. As Selphie moved to the furniture, Quistis glanced back at the staue. Something was odd about it . . . .

Zell, meanwhile, was inspecting the glass and the areaa round the window, seeing if he could find a lock or some mechanism to turn off the electricity. So far, he'd had no luck.

"Hey, Quistis," Selphie called. Quistis turned to the diminuative SeeD to see her staring at the painting she had noticed earlier. "Something's fishy about this painting." Quistis stepped over to Selphie to see what she was talking about. Another of Zell's kicks slammed the glass, doing little damage.

Quistis viewed the painting with more detail now that Selphie had pointed it out to her. The features of the woman in the painting seemed oddly familiar. Then, with a sudden flash of insight, Quistis spun toward the statue in the corner. Yes, the woman in the painting and the statue looked very similar. Quistis glanced back to the painting, and her eyes trailed down to the cup the woman held. It was a wine glass.

Quistis turned her head to check the shelves beside the statue, and nodded as she realized that the wine glasses there were the exact same as the one held in the woman's hand in the painting.

Quistis crossed the room, picked up one of the small cups, and put it in the statue's open hands. As soon as her fingers left the cup, the statue's arms rotated downward several degrees, and with starling swiftness the statue receded into the wall and rotated, revealing a secret passage. Beyond was a murky black tunnel lit by electrical lights.

"No way!" Zell shouted as the secret passage was revealed. Selphie made a comment of how sneaky Caraway was as Quistis stepped into the corridor beyond.

"Hey, we don't know where this leads!" Selphie protested as Quistis moved deeper into the corridor.

"No use stayin' here," Zell replied, moving after Quistis. Not wanting to be left alone, Selphie scrambled after him.

Quistis found a stairway leading down at the end of the short corridor, and led her small team down into the gloom. They descended a pair of flights before finding a ladder leading further down. Not pausing, Quistis led them down the ladder. After about a couple of seconds of descending, the sound of running water greeted the SeeDs. A couple of seconds later, they found themselves descending into the sewers beneath Deling City. Quistis expected the place to be rank and disgusting, but she was surprised to see relatively clean running water moving through a central trough in the middle of the long tunnel they dropped into.

Quistis scanned the area. They had dropped into a T-shaped intersection, with long tunnels running to the left and right and another tunnel branching off in front of them. As she searched the area, the SeeD spotted something on the wall: an embossed metal map set into the wall, obviously designed to to show workers or other unfortunate souls lost in the sewers where to go. As Zell and Selphie arrived, Quistis studied the map thouroughly. She was suprised to see that the sewers even ran directly underneath the main archway in the center of the city. She checked the route, then double checked it.

"Too bad we can't take this with us," Quistis commented as she reviewed the route once more. It was relatively simple; they'd be able to reach the city center with a few minutes to spare, judging by the distance, as long as they didn't get lost-

Zell suddenly stepped between Quistis and the metallic map. Before she could protest, however, Zell grabbed the map by its edges and pulled hard. The tunnel stone, worn by long years of condensation and moss, cracked. With single heave, Zell tore the map free.

"That solves that problem," Selphie said. Quistis blinked, but then nodded.

"Let's hurry," she ordered, and led them down the branching corridor beyond. The map indicated they would have to move north first.

A rumbling above caught the SeeDs' attention. They looked up as something rolled past overhead, followed by many stamping feet.

"The Sorceress," Quistis explained, realizing the only thing that could be causing that noise. "We have to hurry!"

-------------------------

Squall was frozen as the specter of Seifer Almasy stood truimphantly atop Edea's float. He watched as hundreds of flashing fireworks shot off, launched from the crowd or beyond. Streamers, high-pitched shrieks of launched rockets, thunderous explosions, and the ever present cheer of the crowd filled the night air, but Squall paid it no mind, instead fixed on Seifer.

Squall's self-styled rival punched a fist into the air, holding Hyperion triumphantly, a smile painted across his face as if he was immersed in a dream he never wanted to wake from. Squall watched him, then froze as Seifer's eyes tracked down, sweeping the crowd. They passed over Squall, who quickly ducked down, hiding himself behind a rather fat man. Seifer turned his eyes and looked further, not showing any indication he had seen Squall among the crowd.

"What are you waiting for!" Irvine suddenly shouted in Squall's ears. "Rinoa might die!" Squall nodded, reaffirming his objectives. Seifer and his unexpected survival would have to wait until later. He had to save Rinoa.

As the parade float rolled past, and the crowd tracked it, Squall and Irvine made their way through undetected. They watched as the guards moved to follow, forming a protective perimeter around the float, but not the area behind it. As the crowd shifted to follow the float, no one noticed the two teenagers slip past. They rushed toward the gate, whose guards were watching the float, instead of the streets in front of the Palace. They started to turn back to check the roads below as the float rolled away.

Thinking fast, Squall punched a random person in the crowd near the gate. In the heightened emotional state the crowd was in, spurred on by bloodlust and passion, the man who Squall had hit reacted predictably: he punched the nearest person in the direction he'd been hit from. The fist didn't hit Squall, who was already a safe distance away, but instead struck another man, who also reacted predictably. This quickly escalated into a melee, with dozens engaged in a fistfight right in front of the gates. The gate guards, along with a collection of nearby riot guards, rushed forward, brandishing batons and raising riot shields, trying to quell the small war below.

In the confusion, Squall and Irvine slipped through the gate undetected.

Squall and Irvine entered the Palace grounds, and Squall immediately spotted a route up to the rooftop. He pointed at the parked cargo truck nearby, and Irvine nodded. The sharpshooter ran for it, and began scrambling up the boxes along its side. Squall opted for a much faster route. With a single bound, he leaped on top of the truck's high cab, then higher, from the cab onto the roof. Irvine, who was barely even halfway up the truck, gaped at the feat for an instant before resuming his climb.

"Hurry!" Squall shouted, but did not wait for Irvine to follow, instead rushing along the rooftop to the same ladder Rinoa had used mere minutes before. Squall reached the base of the ladder, and bent his legs. With a single effortless leap, Squall shot up the ladder, his enhanced muscles propelling him to the top. His right arm caught the top rung, and Squall set his legs against the ladder. With another kick, Squall went out and up, his arm acting as a pivot to flip the SeeD up and over the top of the ladder and onto the roof. Another pair of bounds took him to the highest rooftop.

Squall passed the still smoking corpse of Deling and scanned the area. Nothing. Niether Rinoa nor the monsters were in sight. Squall's scan then located the door on the rooftop leading to the upper levels. Even as Irvine was just reaching the ladder below, Squall ran inside. He charged through a hallway into a white-curtained commencement hall, where he spotted the monsters.

One of the half-lion, half-lizard creatures circled the chamber, while the second pinned Rinoa's limp form to the floor. She was bleeding from several nasty cuts along her body, and the creature that pinned her opened its mouth, showing fangs tinged with Rinoa's blood.

Squall's fingers tightened around the Revolver's handle, and his subsequent charge was one of red fury. He didn't know whether Rinoa was still alive, but if these beasts had killed her, he'd tear them to shreds!

The Revolver rose over Squall's head, and the circling Iguion hissed a warning. The other one was just begining to turn as the Revolver descended in a brutal two-handed cleaving strike. The gunblade smashed down into the monster, and Squall pulled the trigger, the blast shuddering the beast. Blood exploded from the monster's wound, splattering across Squall's face, jacket, and chest.

The second Iguion dove at Squall, trying to bury him where he stood, but the SeeD ducked and shot his left hand out, impacting with the bast's chest. The GF-enhanced straight arm stopped the monster in mid-air, and Squall swung the Revolver across one-handed, the gunblade's flat side batting the monster away.

The wounded Iguion spun on Squall and pounced at the SeeD, who sprang aside. He glanced down at Rinoa, and saw her chest rise - she was still alive, thank Hyne. He then turned on the pouncing Iguion as it landed and began to turn, and leaped himself, landing on the beast's back. Before the Iguion could respond, Squall flipped the Revolver over and stabbed it down with two hands, straight into the monster's back. More blood flew from the wounds, and the creature shook itself furiously. Squall flew off the beast's back and landed on his rear a few feet away.

He rolled to his right as the beast dove for him, then back to his left as the second Iguion leapt at the SeeD as well. It landed beside him, and spun to bite at Squall. It had a perfect shot at Squall's face, but then its backside simply exploded. The Iguion was propelled across the room by the blast, and Squall scrambled to his feet.

Irvine slid another grenade shell into his rifle, and took aim from the doorway. Another grenade took the Igiuon, this time in the face and throwing it back further.

The other Iguion spun on Squall again, and charged. The SeeD readied for the charge, and then leaped into the air as the monster pounced once more. As the creature passed below, Squall slashed downward, scoring another hit along its wounded back.

The monster roared and spun on Squall, lashing out with its head. The SeeD fell back and shot up an arm to block the monster's bite, and the creature's teeth closed over squall's arm. It tugged furiously, tearing Squall's jacket and skin. He cried out in pain, gritted his teeth, and yanked his arm back. At the same moment, the butt of the Revolver slammed down on the beast, right between its eyes. The creature roared in pain and released Squall's arm.

Irvine slid another grenade shell into his rifle, pointed it at the other Iguion, and fired. The shell blasted into the beast's chest, throwing it back. Irvine calmly put another shell in place and fired once more. This time, the grenade finished the Iguion, blasting its head apart.

Squall stumbled back from the Iguion that had bit him, and looked down at his arm. It was bleeding badly, but he could still fight with it. He glanced back up at the monster, to see his own blood dripping from the thing's fangs, intermixed with Rinoa's. Squall glanced at Rinoa's limp body, and clenched his teeth once more as the fury returned. This time, however, he focused it.

Red light surrounded the SeeD as glowing energy formed around Squall's gunblade. Time slowed, the Iguion's movements dropping to a crawl. Squall's motions, however, only sped up, and he leaped forward at the Iguion, a trail of white energy passing behind him and his weapon as Squall himself glowed a faint red, empowered by his unique Limit, Renzokuken.

An arcing right slash tore into the Iguion's side. Squall squeezed the trigger as the Revolver connected, and the weapon blasted the monster's flank. Even as the Iguion began to flinch from the hit, Squall brought his gunblade back and thrust it out, into the monster's open mouth. Another shot went home, the blast blowing apart the inside of the beast's jaws. Squall's gunblade then swept down and arced up into a powerful cut that tore open one of the Iguion's front legs. Then, from its high position, Squall slashed the Revolver down into the monster's back, firing one more shot.

Time returned to normal, and blood splurted from every cut and blasted hole Squall had inflicted. The beast fell back, but Squall, not finished with it, jumped forward. He twisted himself in midair while coiling his legs underneath him. Then, as he rotated in midair and was parallel to the floor, he kicked out with both legs. Squall's feet slammed the Iguion in the chest, hurling it across the room to smash into the wall.

Squall landed on his side, then quickly stood. The Iguion yet lived, but was in terrible condition, especially with its mouth devastated. It started to rise, but Squall would have none of that. He cocked his gunblade over his shoulder and hurled it with all his strength across the room. The spinning weapon buried into the monster's side, the force of the impact throwing it to the floor. The beast writhed on the floor but did not stand.

The monster dealt with, Squall spun toward Rinoa, whom Irvine was crouched next to. Squall hurried to her side and crouched beside her, producing a healing potion from one of his belt pouches. He opened her mouth, and poured the liquid down Rinoa's throat. As Squall watched, the fluid was absorbed into Rinoa's body, and her eyes fluttered open. She looked to Irvine, then to Squall, her eyes watering over.

"Its over now," Squall told her with a firm, reassuring tone. He began to stand, as did Irvine, but Rinoa did not immediately move. Squall looked back down at her, and recalled his training when it came to civilians and stress. Rinoa had almost died. Hell, she'd likely lost consciousness with the realization that she probably would not wake up again. For untrained civilians, not used to danger and death like this, such events could be jarring.

"I was scared," she whispered. Squall looked down at her, not moving, either away or toward her. He was unused to such situations; stress and helping people cope with it were not things he had practiced in during his training. Unsure what to do, Squall just stood and listened.

"I was really scared," Rinoa repeated, sitting up, but keeping her gaze on the floor. "I . . . I couldn't fight them."

"You've fought before, haven't you?" Squall asked. Rinoa nodded slightly, and then, surprising the SeeD, she reached up and grabbed him by his arm, as if needing the physical sensation of touching another human. Squall did not retreat as she held him with both of her hands.

"I couldn't," she said, still looking down at the floor. She shook her head. "I couldn't fight them alone. It was so sudden, and I was by myself . . . ." Squall nodded, realizing that Rinoa's battles before had been fought alongside her allies and friends, people she could trust. She had likely never experienced a battle alone. She wasn't ready for such trials, not yet.

He knelt down beside Rinoa, and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Squall, meeting his eyes.

"Rinoa, I haven't forgotten your orders," he told her. "Just stay close to me. It'll be all right. As long as you stay by my side . . . ."

Rinoa looked into his eyes for a long moment, then sniffled once and nodded. Without a word, he helped her to her feet. As they rose, Squall spotted Irvine standing at the doorway, looking outside. He glanced back at Squall, and the SeeD almost thought he caught a wink from the sharpshooter. Squall was momentarily confused, until he remembered Irvine's behavior around women. He frowned at the implied meanings in Irvine's gesture, and imagined how far off Irvine's gesture was from the mark. While the sharpshooter may have approved of the way Squall had comforted Rinoa, the act didn't mean Squall was interested in her, or that he expected to 'earn points' or whatever with her. If Irvine thought Squall's approach to women was anything like his own, he was sadly mistaken.

"I found the hatch we needed to take up," Irvine began as Squall and Rinoa crossed the room. "Its-" The sharpshooter paused, glancing across the room. Squall followed his gaze to see the surviving Iguion trying to stand. Moving quickly, Squall rushed across the room. He stopped over the Iguion, and grasped the gunblade buried in its side. The creature jerked once, twice, then three times as Squall pulled the trigger, before laying still. He wrenched the gunblade free and wiped it off on the monster's hide, then looked down at himself for the first time since the battle had begun. He was covered in the drying blood of the monsters he had fought, with stains stretching across his pants, jacket and shirt. Squall definately wouldn't be blending into a crowd anytime soon, that was for sure.

Squall spun back to face Rinoa and Irvine, sliding his gunblade into his sheath.

"Like I was saying," Irvine resumed, "The hatch leading to the clock tower is over there, back in the hallway." Irvine pointed over his shoulder, and Squall gestured for him to lead the way.

The sharpshooter led them to the hatch in question, and popped it open. The door was set in the floor, and revealed a ladder that descended into a darkened cylindrical chamber. Irvine led the way, sweeped the room with his rifle, and indicated it was clear. Rinoa followed, and Squall dropped down after her, closing the door behind him. He glanced around the room, seeing a half-dozen or so metal pedastals, featuring glass tops, refractive crystals, and light projectors. The pedastals, it seemed, were holographic projectors, set around a central clock. Squall also spotted something else in the corner: a sleek gunmetal barrel, that of a high quality sniper rifle. He scooped the weapon up, checking it quickly. While Squall didn't know the exact name, he recalled its nickname: the Galbadian Military Industries "Mega Sniper" sniper rifle, one of the most powerful in the world. Caraway had chosen well with his ordnance.

Squall turned to Irvine, and held the rifle out to him.

"Irvine Kinneas, its in your hands now," he stated. The sharpshooter nodded solemnly, and reached out slowly. His fingerless gloves wrapped around the rifle, and he took it from Squall's hands with the care a mother reserved for her newborn child. Irvine checked the weapon, then crossed the room to an isolated corner, where he sat down and closed his eyes. Squall considered how odd and sudden the change was, until he remembered Irvine's words on the train. Preparing for the shot.

Making sure not to interfere with Irvine's meditation, Squall sat down on the base of one of the figures, resting his feet. Rinoa sat down opposite of Squall, and stared down at the floor. She had dried her tears, and no longer seemed as frightened or on the edge of a breakdown as she had moments ago. His words had definately had an impact on her state of mind.

His thinking about Rinoa caused Squall to shift his thoughts back to the parade, and from there to Seifer. He was alive? But what did that mean? He should have been executed, but now he served the Sorceress. Had some deal been made? Or worse yet, was Seifer not himself? He had seen the power Edea had held over the crowds . . . had she done something similar to Seifer? Or had he chosen to serve her willingly?

"Rinoa," Squall said, catching her attention. She looked up at him.

"Rinoa, Seifer's alive," he told her bluntly. Her eyes opened wide at his anouncement. "He was in the parade with the Sorceress," Squall added, to which Rinoa's brow bunched in confusion.

"He's serving the Sorceress?" Rinoa asked, confused, and for good reason. Squall nodded.

"Knowing him, he'll let me know why he's turned if I have to face him myself," Squall added. "If Irvine fails, I'll have to go through him to reach Edea."

"Are you . . . prepared?" Rinoa asked, to which Squall nodded.

"If he is in league with Edea, it makes him my enemy," Squall replied, recalling his talk with Irvine before. Enemies were formed by circumstance and fate, not by idealogy or morality. "I may end up killing him."

"You kill so easily," Rinoa whispered, looking down at the floor. "How did you get this way? Did they train you to kill?"

"Garden trained me to react, fight, and win," Squall answered truthfully. "The ability to kill only comes from experience. Everyone has their first kill. The difference between me and most other SeeDs is that I made my first kill at a younger age."

"When?" Rinoa asked, curious.

"Thirteen," Squall replied. "It was me and Seifer together. We bloodied our hands on the same day . . . ." Squall stopped and shook his head.

"Now's not the time to talk about it," he added. "But whether I have to fight Seifer or not depends on Irvine. Its all in his hands now . . . ." Squall stood and walked across the room to where Irvine was meditating. As he got closer, something struck Squall. The sharpshooter wasn't sitting still in a calm trance.

He was shaking.

"Something wrong?" Squall asked, suddenly worried. Irvine seemed to almost be . . . freaking out?

"I," Irvine whispered, shaking his head. He looked up at Squall.

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

--------------------

Quistis, undaunted, led her team through the sewers to the archway ladder. However, the sounds of the parade above only added to their sense of urgency. They quickly found their way through the branching paths of the sewers, turning along intersections as Quistis followed the map Zell had appropriated.

Then, they found their way blocked as a set of bars crossed the tunnel, cutting that route off. Zell, however, not to be stopped by something minor like hard iron, grasped the bars and twisted them, using all his strength to turn the metal aside into a hole wide enough to let the team through. They hurried on, barely slowed by the metal barrier.

Another set of bars and several intersections later, the group rushed down a tunnel barely a hundred feet from the archway. They still had a couple of minutes to spare when Quistis noticed something odd about this section of the tunnels. There was something fouler about this stretch of sewer - not to say the sewers were not foul themselves, no matter how clean, but still . . . .

Zell and Selphie picked up on it too, and slowed down. Selphie's nunchaku came out, and Quistis uncoiled her whip as Zell's feet spread out into a balanced fighting stance. Selphie spotted the threat first, and spun to face a neabry grating as something dark and indefinite seemed to pour forward, like a shadow without a source. Cackling, evil laughter sounded from all around the SeeDs as more shadows emerged, taking on roughly humanoid shapes with long arms and clawlike fingers.

One of the shadows made a gesture at Selphie, and a sudden shock of electricity struck the SeeD. She jerked, cried out in surprise, then retaliated with a swipe of her nunchaku. One of the metal bars smacked the shadow in its face, and the creature reeled, crying out in pain.

"Creeps," Selphie said with a nod, recalling the monsters from her education at Trabia Garden. The others looked to her, not expecting her to have recognized the monsters.

"They're shadows, pockets of evil," Selphie quickly explained. "Not very common except in dark places." Selphie fell into a spell, targeting the Creep she had smacked. "They may come in large numbers, but they're weak. We can take them!" To punctuate her words, a fireball blasted the creep Selphie was facing. The creature let out a wail of suffering and dropped to the ground, one arm stretching out into the air as if to grasp something. Then it simply vanished, dead.

Zell grinned, and looked at a group edging toward him.

"Glad to hear," the martial artist said. He raised a hand to the Creeps, making a "come on" gesture. They obliged, and seemd to glide forward. A couple gestured at Zell, launching more electrical attacks, but he shrugged them off. The nearest Creep reached out as if to grasp Zell when he planted a snap-kick into its head. The creature's head seemed to vanish, and the monster wailed in pain before vanishing. Zell paid it no mind, slamming his fist through another Creep's "chest." The others advanced, and Zell tore into them.

Quistis snapped her rante out wide, driving those Creeps advancing on her away. Then she focused, touching the magic she knew. Not what she had stocked, but the spell power Quistis had learned herself. She selected a spell she had learned from the Glacial Eyes haunting Balamb's mountains, and called forth the energy.

The nearest Creep began to advance, but was then impaled by a bolt of light, shooting from Quistis' eyes. She spun her head and blasted a second with the Laser Eye technique, dissolving the Creep in a flash. She then focused on a different spell as more Creeps advanced. The Caterchipillars in Balamb's forest were dangerous creatures, not just for their entangling webs but also for their power to manipulate sonic waves. That power was something else Quistis had learned in her training, and waves of sound rippled out as she gestured powerfully at the advancing Creeps. The monsters reeled from her power, stunned by Quistis' Blue Magic.

Only a pair of Creeps attacked Selphie, who batted them back with her nunchaku. The monsters flinched in pain but came on, eager for more. She obliged, blasting one with a weak but effective Blizzard spell, the shattering ice sending the monster to join its comrades. The other closed with Selphie, who whacked it once more, then unexpectedly leaped forward. Grasping the long bars of her nunchaku like a pair of clubs, she beat them repeatedly against the Creep, knocking it down until the creature vanished with a wail of pain.

Quistis' whip snapped out, the blade slicing another Creep. The creatures fell back, regrouped, and advanced again, reaching out with greedy clawed hands. The sonic shocks of Quistis' Blue Magic threw them back again, and Quistis impaled another with her Laser Eye spell. Such use of her Blue Magic was far more efficient than regular spells, but continiuous use of these spells drained her. Fortunately, the Creeps gave up on their attack within moments. Those still intact fled before Quistis' fury, dissappearing into the tunnel gratings and to other dark places.

Equally furious was Zell, whose punches, kicks, and the occasional headbutt speedily disposed of the Creeps. Only two managed to get clear of his assault, the rest falling and vanishing beneath his attack. As those Zell had faced fled, the tunnel became clear of threats.

"Hurry!" Quistis shouted, realizing what precious time the Creeps had stolen. Not hesitating, the group rushed to the end of the sewers, and the archway. They didn't have much time left.

--------------------

Edea's float had completed its initial circuit and was returning through the main avenue. Edea reclined back in her chair, watching the crowds as she neared the archway at the center of the city. Even as she neared the great structure, she saw lights atop the Presidential Palace as the clock tower rose into the night sky, projecting the holographic images of dancers and clowns on Deling City's skyline. She leaned back and smiled. Had Deling planned that little bit, she wondered? A pity she'd needed to dispose of him, but he was really just a meddling fool.

Edea turned to her knight, the blonde man standing proudly before her. He was no longer watching the crowd, instead looking into the night sky. She sensed his mounting anticipation.

"You expect something," Edea said to him. Seifer glanced back to Edea, smiling.

"I do," he replied. "I saw someone very special in the crowd. Someone I want to show my new power and glory." Seifer turned back to face the crowd, and laughed quietly. He clenched his gunblade tightly.

"Do you see me, Squall?" he asked to the air. "Do you see what I've become? All I need is you, and my dream is complete . . . ."

Ironically, Squall was looking at Seifer, or rather the float he was riding, while at the same time speaking to Irvine. Around the small group the shining holograms danced and spun, the light masking the assassination force.

"Irvine!" he roared, shaking the sharpshooter's shoulder as the parade vehicle neared the archway. Squall could see its lights from the top of the carousel clock. If he couldn't shake Irvine out of this sudden bout of the jitters, the mission was over.

"I can't," Irvine said, shaking his head, his voice quavering in both fear and shame. The sharpshooter's face was lit by the glowing yellow holograms surrounding the team. "I'm always like this. I get nervous when the stress hits." He shook his head again. "I joke, try to act cool, you know." He looked up at Squall.

"But I can't handle the pressure," he whispered.

"Forget that, Irvine," Squall replied. "Just shoot." Squall cursed his lack of training in diplomacy. The sniper was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and Squall didn't know what to say to get him to simply fire. It was so simple. He just had to shoot.

"My bullet, the Sorceress," Irvine said, almost ignoring Squall. "I'll go down in history. Everything rides on this one shot. Its . . . its too much."

He turned to face the archway, which was a slight improvement. Out of the corner of Squall's eye, he saw the gateway drop. The iron bars closed over the arch, trapping the Sorceress. Edea rose in fury, looking at the sudden trap with disbelief. Good, Quistis had fulfilled her part of the plan. Now, if only Squall could get his sniper to fire!

"Enough! Just shoot!" Squall ordered.

"I can't, dammit!" Irvine replied.

"Irvine," Rinoa said quietly, from behind. The sharpshooter looked up at her, her voice such a different contrast from Squall's forceful tone.

"Calm down," Rinoa said, crouching beside him. "You have to remember, everyone's waiting on you." Squall looked at her in suprise as Irvine did seem to relax. While Rinoa obviously didn't know the particulars of the mission, she understood enough about both it and Irvine to say the right things. It was that odd power to empathize with people again, the same one she'd used on Squall at the dance to open him up.

"I don't care if you miss," Rinoa said. "None of us do. Whatever happens, leave the rest to Squall. Think of it as . . . as a signal. For everyone to move."

"A signal?" Irvine whispered.

"Yes," Rinoa replied. "Just a sign."

"Just a sign," Irvine repeated, and nodded. The rifle came forward off his shoulder. Slowly, steadily, he raised the stock to his shoulder, setting the barrel against the edge of the roof. Edea slid into his sights. Whatever empathy trick Rinoa had pulled, it seemed to work. All thoughts of responsibility or repurcussions faded from Irvine's mind. It was just a signal.

Irvine's breath stilled, and he fired.

There was a flare of blue as Edea held out her hand, easily deflecting the bullet with a projection of her magic. She was fortunate she had anticipated the attack's direction - the bullet would have pierced her heart and killed her instantly. She smirked as she looked up to the clock tower. How clever of them . . . .

Irvine slumped backward.

"I failed," he whispered, shocked at something that had not happened since the earliest days of his training. He'd had a target in sight, dead to rights, and had not killed it.

"Its not your fault," Squall responded, standing. He took a breath, knowing what he had to do. He glanced back at Rinoa, then to Irvine.

"Take care of Rinoa," Squall ordered, then leaped off the edge of the clock tower. Squall landed lightly on the rooftop, then rushed forward with startling speed. He reached the podium where Edea had made her announcement, and in a single smooth motion drew the Revolver. Below, the small fistfight that he had instigated had transformed into a full-blown riot as Galbadian police fought with civilians, beating them with batons. There didn't look to be a safe place to jump down, as the riot had spilled over to inside the Palace walls.

Squall didn't have much time, so, with a mental "the hell with it," he leaped clear off the balcony. As he flew, Squall spotted a Galbadian officer below, beating another rioting civilian, and raised his gunblade. The officer threw the man down, then spotted Squall's shadow as he descended. The man tracked the shadow up and saw the descending SeeD just in time to open his mouth in shock and throw his shield up.

Squall's arms snapped down like a striking snake, his gunblade slamming into the shield as he hit the pavement in front of the officer in a crouch, the SeeD's enhanced muscles absorbing the fall. The force behind his fall and the magic in Squall's muscles smashed the man prone, fracturing the officer's arm and cleaving a deep fissure in the metal shield. Squall rose from his crouch as more officers rushed toward him, trying to get at the SeeD who had attacked their comrade. However, the rioting people were more than enough to keep the men off Squall for the few seconds he needed.

The SeeD ducked through the confusion, bypassing fighting police and civilians, until he spotted a nearby convertible car. An officer was dragging the driver out of the vehicle and beating him with his baton, though how the driver had gotten his vehicle inside the Palace perimeter was anyone's guess. Squall rushed to the car, dodging a Galbadian officer who tried to tackle him, and leaped into the backseat. Before the officer beating the driver could act, Squall gunned the engine, thankful that the keys were still in the ignition.

Moments later, the car leaped onto the streets outside the Palace. For an instant, Squall was worried he'd have to dodge civilians, but he found that the Galbadian police and military, despite the chaos inside the Palace gates, had maintained a degree of control outside. The main avenue through the city was clear, though Squall spotted dozens of police and military vehicles in the distance. As Squall drove, he spotted what looked to be vehicles blocking each other, and soldiers and police arguing. Caraway must have caused this, fouling up orders to the police and military to give him an opening. Squall silently thanked the general for the support and accelerated. He wouldn't have much time.

By now the archway was only a hundred feet away. Squall slammed on the brake and spun, skidding the car toward the float. The vehicle slowed, the tires squealing as it slid in, then slammed into the iron portcullis. Squall leaped out, barely shaken by the impact, and jumped through the metal bars. A second bound took him up onto the float, where Edea stood calmly. If she wanted to, the Sorceress could have fled by the time Squall had arrived, but the woman stood, glaring at him, with absolute calm.

She sneered and narrowed her eyes at Squall, and the SeeD noticed for the first time that her eyes were of an amber hue. The second thing Squall noticed was the figure beside her, kneeling like a loyal vassal, resting his right arm on his gunblade.

Seifer shared Edea's sneer, though this one was one of anticipation, exhiliration and truimph all mixed together. With a flourish, Seifer rose, his immaculate white coat flying out wide as he stood. He raised his gunblade triumphantly, the silver edge of Hyperion glinting in the torchlight of Edea's float. Standing out pointedly between Seifer's eyes was the scar he had recieved from Squall, mirrored on his rival's face. He met Squall's eyes, Seifer's darker gray orbs connecting with Squall's blue. After several moments of the two rivals staring at each other, Seifer threw back his head and laughed. As with his sneer, elements of triumph, elation, and exhiliration composed the sound.

"So, this is how it turned out," Seifer asked, looking at Squall once more. "Oh, I knew I'd see you soon, but when I spotted your face in the crowd, somehow I realized that we would meet again before the night ended." He held his left hand out, palm up, and closed it into a fist.

"And now, here we stand, fated rivals," Seifer continued. "Ever since we met, I knew this day would come. I knew that sooner or later we would meet on the field of battle. What do you think, Squall?" Seifer held out his hands, indicating the large float within the archway.

Squall didn't respond, instead drawing the Revolver. That alone was answer enough. Seifer watched the gunblade emerge, and laughed.

"Yes!" Seifer shouted, pumping his free fist in approval. "Let's do this, as it was always meant to be!" Squall shrugged, and the gesture turned Seifer's smile into a frown and a scowl.

"I'm surprised," Squall responded, shaking his head. "You've become the Sorceress' lapdog." Seifer responded with a contemptuous laugh.

"I prefer the term 'knight,' Squall," Seifer replied. He leveled Hyperion at his foe. "Its in my grasp, now, don't you see? This is my dream, as it has always supposed to be! I am Edea's knight, and I will be remembered for all time!" Seifer ended his speech with a sudden jab of his left hand, and Squall twisted aside as a fireball flashed past. The Revolver rose instinctively, and it deflected Hyperion's first strike as Seifer closed in.

Squall responded with his own left jab, this one a fist, as opposed to magic. Unlike Seifer's spell, Squall's balled fingers connected on Seifer's cheek, knocking his head back. A one-handed swipe with the Revolver sent Seifer retreating, but the knight came right back in with a spinning cut. Squall ducked below it, thrusting out with the Revolver at Seifer's stomach. Seifer sucked his belly in and smashed Hyperion down on Squall's blade, almost forcing it to the float's floor. Squall leaped back, the Revolver rising vertically to intercept an arcing left cut from Seifer, then snapping across to deflect a second cut as Seifer spun away to the right and came back in.

Seifer hopped up as Squall jabbed his left leg down at his foe's knee. One of Seifer's own legs snapped forward at Squall's face in midair, but Squall caught it with his left forearm while countering with another one-handed cleave. Hyperion shot around and intercepted the Revolver, then jabbed at Squall's head. The SeeD twisted his head away, the tip of Hyperion slicing a small cut along his scalp. Squall's blocking left arm jabbed forward as he did so, hitting Seifer in the chest and knocking the airborne SeeD back a couple of feet. Seifer landed on his feet easily, then held up Hyperion for inspection. The tip was stained with dripping crimson.

"First blood," Seifer commented. He snapped the blade down to his side. "Squall, you're mine!"

Seifer charged, and Squall stepped forward as well. Hyperion rose as Seifer spun in a blindingly fast right cut. Squall deflected it easily enough, and anticipated Seifer's next attack. Seifer's left hand crossed over his sword and discharged another firey blast, but Squall was already beneath the spell, ducking low. The Revolver dropped and arced out wide in a low left slice at Seifer's right leg. Seifer twisted his leg up and over the cut, jumping back while jabbing down with Hyperion. The Revolver rose from the low slash, parrying Seifer's jab, and Squall dashed after Seifer, not letting him escape. Seifer landed slightly off-balance and had to quickly adjust his positioning as Squall's weapon cleaved in hard. Hyperion worked in a blur, defending Seifer from a half-dozen cuts as the knight set his feet.

Squall thrust the Revolver, and pulled the weapon back even as Seifer moved to block it. The weapon arced up and over Squall's head in a brutal cleave aimed for Seifer's head. The knight spotted the feint quickly enough, and swung Hyperion over his head. The two gunblades met high in the air, sparks flying as they rang in the night air. As the gunblades met, Seifer's left hand shot forward, grabbing Squall by the front of his shirt. Seifer pulled hard, grinning sadistically as he jerked his head forward.

Squall, surprisingly, reacted at the same moment, snapping his own head forward. Both fighters' foreheads connected in an explosion of pain, and the two broke away from one another, rubbing their injured heads. Squall recovered a second before Seifer did, and the knight found himself fighting on his heels once more, Hyperion working to deflect Squall's cleaves and thrusts. The initial barrage was parried by a series of brilliant parries and dodges, and when Seifer managed to regain his footing enough to force Squall back on his heels, all that the SeeD had to show for the assault was a tear in Seifer's coat and a shallow, bleeding wound on the knight's left flank.

Squall fell back before Seifer's countercharge, and the knight took the upper hand in to conflict, Hyperion jabbing and cutting in a series of quick and precise motions. Squall, however, knew Seifer's own fighting style well, and easily parried the quick strikes, actually anticipating many of them before they'd even begun. The knight's grin turned to a scowl of frustration as every strike was met with an agile dodge or the ring of blade on blade. Squall set his own feet and began launching his own counters, parrying Seifer's strokes and jabbing his gunblade into the openings the knight left. Seifer's offensive soon became a stalemate as he found himself as often having to retreat and defend as much as he was attacking.

Seifer then suddenly ducked low, jabbing at Squall's waist. The SeeD hopped back out of Seifer's reach, and raised his gunblade into a guard across his chest, not surprised when Seifer hurled another spell is way. The fireball exploded off Squall's guarding weapon, but unlike in the training battle, Squall's junctions hardened him and kept the SeeD on his feet. Squall blinked away the flash of light, and began to charge at Seifer, but immediately ducked as he saw Seifer was no longer in front of him.

Hyperion sliced past Squall's head as Seifer struck from behind. The knight had used the distracting flash as cover to sneak up on Squall in plain view. Seifer retracted his gunblade and sliced down at the ducking SeeD. Squall blindly threw his weapon behind him, expecting the overhead cut, and was unsurprised as the Revolver rang with an impact. Even as he was parrying the rear assault, Squall spun, kicking out with his left leg. His foot smashed into Seifer's left knee, knocking the knight off balance long enough for Squall to regain even footing. The Revolver chopped and dove, and Seifer once more had to fight on his heels as he deflected Squall's assault.

Any trace of Seifer's grin was gone. This battle had not progressed as he'd expected.

"Not bad," he admitted, leaping back to the edge of the float. Squall said nothing in response to the compliment. Seifer was fighting well - brilliantly, better than most other SeeDs could have hoped - but to Squall, who had been fighting Seifer for as far back as he could remember, the knight was not at his fullest. It seemed as if Seifer was too confident in this battle, was too aggressive and was not anticipating his foe's counters, as if expecting every attack to end the fight then and there. It was a minor weakness, one that would not have mattered against a weaker foe, but against a foe as skilled as Squall it spelled defeat.

Seifer growled and charged once again, leaping into the air, Hyperion rising in an arcing overhead cut. Squall watched him descend, and recalled a lesson from one of the combat trainers at Garden - when a foe was aware that he was losing, he would often attack with everything he had, but rarely in the direction one would expect.

Seifer descended, and Squall did not raise his gunblade to knock the overhead stroke aside. When Seifer began to spin in midair, however, Squall was ready.

Just before Seifer reached Squall he spun around in midair, Hyperion dropping low into an arcing uppercut that an overhead block never could have stopped. However, the Revolver was waiting for Hyperion as it rose. Sparks flew as the two gunblades rang in the night, and before Seifer could even realize he had been foiled, Squall's right leg smashed into Seifer's ribs. The knight, expecting the simple deception to have won the battle, fell back in surprise and confusion, trying desperately to realign his defenses.

Squall did not give Seifer the oppurtunity, charging in close and batting aside Hyperion. Seifer began to back away and bring Hyperion to bear, but Squall followed him, staying close. While the SeeD could not bring the blade of the Revolver to bear, he did smash the butt of the weapon into the side of Seifer's head. The knight staggered under the Guardian Force-enhanced blow, and was laid out flat as Squall struck with the butt again, this strike hitting Seifer in the left temple. The knight was laid out flat, groaning in pain.

"You're losing it, Seifer," Squall commented at his rival, shaking his head. Squall turned away from the knight, and faced Edea, pausing only to wipe the blood seeping down the side of his face.

"A SeeD," Edea spat, looking down at Squall. She scowled and clenched her fists. "An accursed SeeD, planted in a run-down Garden . . . ."

--------------------

Galbadian soldiers and police were still engaged in arguments over their orders on some of the side streets, but for the most part they had begun to mobilize in response to the disturbance in the archway. They had recieved reports that someone was attacking Edea herself, and were responding.

Or rather, they would if it hadn't been for the damn riot.

It wasn't really the fault of the people who were rioting, even those who had been fighting around and inside the Palace. It was simply the result of Edea's magical influence being redirected. Whereas before, her magical power had directed the people to reverence and joy, the sudden dropping of the gates and the subsequent battle inside the archway had shifted Edea's emotions to those of anger and wrath. As an unintended side effect, this shift in emotions effected those under Edea's influence.

What resulted was a mass riot as the people under Edea's influence were infected with feelings of fury. The police and military were partially influenced as well, and this resulted in harsh responses to the rioting. Several nasty melees were erupting across the city, and in the havoc, Galbadian troops were having a hard time getting to the archway to intervene. However, for the assassination team, this also had another inexpected benefit, in that Rinoa and Irvine were able to slip out of the Presidential Palace in the confusion. Now, however, as they slipped into the park Irvine and Squall had cut through earlier, Rinoa was looking toward the center of the city, at the distant archway.

"We have to help him," she said to Irvine, who shook his head.

"Squall's got it handled," he responded. "Besides, there's no way we can get to the gate with all this confusion."

"But we can't just leave him!" Rinoa snapped. "What if the Sorceress is too powerful? What if the Galbadian army gets to the archway before he's finished? What if-"

"There's nothing we can do!" Irvine responded, shaking his head. "There's an army of rioting people and soldiers between here and there, and one or two more people in there are not going to do any good. Plus, he's a Balamb SeeD, he's more than able to handle himself. We can't do anything!"

"Coward!" Rinoa responded with a venomous glare. Irvine recoiled from the label as if he'd been hit with a brick. He opened his mouth to say something, but Rinoa spun away and began to run toward the gateway. Irvine shouted to Rinoa, but she didn't respond, instead continuing to run.

She hadn't really meant to call Irvine a coward, but at the moment, she only cared about getting to Squall. Rinoa might not have been able to fight alone, but with Squall beside her, she felt like she could take on anybody. He had saved her from the Iguions, and even now he might need her help.

Irvine may have been right, maybe she couldn't do anything, but she had to at least try.

-------------------

Squall's eyes met Edea's in a brief battle of wills. The Sorceress and the SeeD glared at one another, the seconds stretching past with neither of them moving. Squall buried his gaze into Edea's endless malevolence, and Edea percieved Squall's cool determination.

Squall broke the spell first, charging with sudden ferocity, the Revolver rising to cleave into Edea. He kept his eyes open, watching Edea for any motion she would make, but the Sorceress did nothing as Squall crossed the short distance between them. Squall's gunblade descended, and then Edea snapped up her hand.

A half-dome of blue energy formed beneath Squall's blade as it fell, and the gunblade rang as if it had hit stone. Not surprised, the SeeD retracted his weapon and struck a second time, a low cut. Edea's hand shot low, and easily deflected the chop. Squall cut again, and Edea blocked the attack once more.

Behind her protective shield, Edea smiled, and her right hand rose toward Squall even as he swung a fourth time. Black cascading energy erupted down the length of Edea's arm and into the SeeD, past his defensive junctions, and hurling him across the float. Squall landed near the edge, smoke rising off his body as he stood. Pain exploded along his body, but Squall ignored the searing wounds and readied his weapon. Still, the ease with which Edea had brushed off his attack worried the SeeD.

Edea's hand flicked toward Squall, and an arcing bolt of lightning shot toward him. Squall leaped aside, but even as the bolt reached the SeeD, it split wide into a dozen seperate bolts, three of which speared Squall. He groaned in pain as the electricity flared through his body, and landed hard on his side. The SeeD was on his feet in an instant, however, grimacing away the pain and focusing on his own spell power. He called forth one of the more powerful spells he had stocked, and cast it at Edea.

The rising cold air of a Blizzara spell formed around Edea, but the Sorceress simply gestured out wide with her hands, and a ring of fire encircled her, canceling the spell out before it could even hit her. The cold dissapated, and Edea countered, gesturing forcefully at Squall. The ring of flames seemed to lift off of the ground, the fires rising into her palm and then launching themselves at the SeeD.

Squall quickly cast another spell, a warding antimagic spell, Shell. A protective multilayered barrier formed around Squall, barely absorbing the magical fires as they hit. Squall then began casting another spell, calling up the power of a stocked Fira spell. The ground rippled with flames as a burst of fire shot through the ground, rising as it reached Edea. The Sorceress snapped a hand toward the flames and a wall of ice enveloped them. The fires hissed and a curtian of steam rose where the two spells met.

Edea gestured again at Squall, and the SeeD suddenly felt an explosion of pain throughout his body as magic struck his insides. He then began to feel weakened as burning pain ran trough his veins. The SeeD began coughing, and realized he had been poisoned with a potent toxin. There were spells that could do that, among them one called Bio, but he did not have any available. The SeeD gritted his teeth through the pain and rolled aside as another spell tore through where he'd been standing, this one a column of fire that ignited that sectioon of the float.

The SeeD grabbed a vial off his belt and downed the sweet and sour contents. It was an antitoxin vial, a multipurpose potion that could heal nearly any type of poison. The burning pain vanished as the potent concoction flowed through his blood, but Squall had to leap aside once more as a second pillar of fire tore through where he'd been standing. Squall landed, launching another spell Edea's way, this time a basic Thunder spell. Edea simply held up one hand as the spell hit, absorbing the bolt of lightning into her palm and redirecting it at Squall. The SeeD caught the bolt on his gunblade, wincing as electricity shot through his body, and charged once more.

His only hope was to get close to Edea. Squall realized that in a battle of magic against magic, he was certianly no match for her. Yet Squall had already seen that melee was no better; she would just use her protective shield. He mentally ran through the list of spells he did have available, ignoring the directly offensive ones. Any of those she could simply brush off with her own defenses. He checked the energies of his supportive spells, looking for something useful. If only he'd been carrying a dispelling spell, he could cancel out Edea's magical defenses, then get a hit in.

Squall chopped again, but as expected, his gunblade hit only the protective shield. Still, he had no other options, and kept striking as rapidly as he could. The Revolver sang a song on Edea's shield, but the Sorceress simply smiled an almost condescending grin, and jabbed her right hand at Squall. Squall went flying away, hurled by telekinetic force. He almost flew past the float and into the iron portcullis, but then stopped in midair, held by Edea's will. She widened her smile, and flicked a hand. The SeeD smashed into the wall of the gateway, the stone cracking under the force of the impact. Squall grunted in pain as he felt the stone give under the impact, but simply shook it off even as Edea ripped him out of the wall and sent him flying down. Squall's stomach met the corner of the top of the float, and he let out a much louder grunt, along with some coughed up blood, as the jabbing pain shot through his stomach. Then, he was in the air agian, and Edea slammed Squall down, this time directly into the float's floor. He hit hard, cracking his head against the vehicle, but grimaced the intense agony away. Stubbornly, Squall began to stand, all the while reaching back into his mind.

Squall realized then that he could not defeat Edea, that the Sorceress was far too much for him to handle. However, Squall had other options. He, a human, might not be able to defeat Edea, but a Guardian Force was another story.

The air burned as Ifrit answered Squall's summons. Out from the firey hole stepped the Guardian Force, roaring his unearthly cry. Fires rippled down the GF's length, and it gestured forcefully at Edea, gouts of flame blasting at her.

As Ifrit appeared and unleashed his fury, Squall tried to stand, and then suddenly felt the pains diminish as waves of curative magic washed over him. He looked up, confused, and then saw Rinoa standing beside him on the float. A thousand questions filled his mind.

"What?" he asked. "Rinoa, what are you doing! Its too dangerous here!" His warning was punctuated by a fireball from Ifrit directed at Edea.

"Squall, you can't defeat her alone," Rinoa said as she grasped his arm, helping the SeeD to steady himself. "Let me help. I can fight if I'm with you."

Squall wanted to tell her to get back, to run, but he said nothing. Rinoa was right in that Squall couldn't defeat Edea by himself. But Rinoa was no SeeD. How could she help him?

"Do you have any dispelling magic?" he asked, realizing what he needed. Rinoa cosed her eyes for an instant, checking her magic, then nodded.

"A few," she replied.

"Stay back and support me," he told her as another flash came from Ifrit. "I'm going in, and I need you to cast it as I reach her." Rinoa nodded, and focused, preparing to cast the spell at the right moment.

If Edea was in any way effected by Ifrit's fiery attacks, she didn't show it, except to raise a hand into the oncoming flames. They parted around her like water around stones, and as the flames dissipated, Edea countered with her own attack. A swirling mist of water surrounded Ifrit, and then froze into a million tiny shards of ice. A second gesture sent every shard burying into Ifrit's body. The Guardian Force roared in pain and fury as the ice dug deep, then his roar was multiplied tenfold as every shard exploded beneath the GF's skin. Steam erupted from Ifrit's skin, and the GF spasmed in agony, before being consumed by its own fires and returning to where it came.

In Squall's mind, Ifrit's voice was silenced, not dead, but inaccessible.

Edea turned to Squall, and scowled to see the SeeD standing, healed partially from the wounds she had inflicted. However, before she resumed the barrage, Edea paused, noting the building energy around Squall.

Squall built all the pain he had taken from this battle, all of the pent up frustration as each spell had been countered, into a single focused point. The fury and desperation centered within Squall, building up the power, rising to its Limit. Once more, Squall's emotions were focused into his unique Limit, and time slowed.

"Now, Rinoa!" he shouted, his words coming out slowly as he leaped forward at Edea, the white trail of energy following him through his Renzokuken Limit. Rinoa began casting the dispelling spell, the energies rippling out toward Edea. However, Squall reached her first, and struck hard, hoping to hit her before his Limit ran out and the intense emotions faded. He could only maintain the Renzokuken Limit for so long. Edea's shield flared as the gunblade hit it repeatedly. Edea seemed to move in slow motion as Squall struck, but somehow her shield held as the gunblade cut five, then six, then seven times, arcing and stabbing.

Then, the dispelling magic from Rinoa, reaching through the slowed time, struck Edea as Squall retracted for one final hit before the Renzokuken ended. Edea's warding shield faded, and she twisted aside as Squall struck.

The gunblade scratched past her, the razor-sharp edge cutting a gash into Edea's flank as she twisted away. The wound was painful, but far from deadly.

Squall pulled his weapon back, ready to strike again, this time to finish Edea, when a wall of force hurled him away to the edge of the float.

"Impudent SeeDs!" Edea shouted in raw rage.

Blue light shot out around her, tiny motes of ice magic swirling around the Sorceress, before rippling up along her body and down her left hand. She fixed her gaze directly on Squall, the magic soldifying and centering directly on her hand as she raised it. Then, above her head, there formed a single long shard of ice, glowing with its own inner magic. Squall stood, staring at the shard of ice, as it cracked and broke into several pieces.

Edea smirked, then jabbed her hand down, as if throwing something, and the glowing ice shards rocketed forward, faster than Squall could even twitch. They flashed across the float, and then past Squall.

He jerked, and then gasped as a numbing cold leaked through his veins around his right lung. He looked down, seeing one of the pale, glowing ice spears lodged in his right breast. He began to reach up to the shard, but his right arm did not respond.

He turned, looking to Rinoa, who stared at him in absolute horror. The numbness spread through his chest, and down Squall's legs. He felt his knees buckling, and heard the sound of his gunblade slipping to the floor of the float. The weapon bounced off the edge and clattered to the pavement below.

Rinoa screamed Squall's name, but it sounded so distant as he felt himself slipping backward, falling of the end of the float. He knew the ground was rushing up to meet him, but instead of hitting the road below, Squall plunged into darkness.

He saw Rinoa at the edge of the float, reaching toward him desperately. He tried to raise his own arm to her, but he kept falling away into the shadows . . . .

And Squall Leonhart knew no more.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------

Wow. What an ending.

That's it. The end of an era. Its the end...of Disc 1. Whoo.

Okay, to my notes on this chapter:

The fight scenes. Yes, I know. Squall did a lot of fighting on his own here, especially against the Iguions and Edea. I prefer it that way, as it makes things more dramatic to have the one-on-one battles. Not to mention it showed his ferocity and determination to save Rinoa. The seeds of romance have been sown now....

I modified the moment when Irvine fired so that Rinoa said the important things, instead of Squall. I did that because, as I always figured, Rinoa is very empathetic person who is good at motivating people. She seems far more likely to have been the one to aid Irvine in shooting than mean old Squall. XD Plus, I like Rinoa, a lot, and I try to improve on her character when I can. Rinoa helping Irvine seems natural to me.

Also, as a side note, I'll be referencing real world firearms when referring to irvine's weapons. Which means that, yes, Irvine will be using more guns aside from his shotgun/rifle and revolvers. In fact, Irvine will really come into his own soon. There will be guns...lots of guns.