Ch 11 – Strange Interrogations

Squall dashed forward, catching Rinoa before she fell. "Are you alright?" He gasped.

She smiled up at him whilst she was held in his arms, and raised a hand to trace it across his firm chin. "I'll be fine…I guess I put too much energy into the magics."

Zell let out a sigh and turned to the others. "All ready?"

Emily and Trish nodded. Julius continued to type madly into his laptop. "I'll be ready in just a second…this is amazing…"

"What you go?" Zell asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well…" Julius murmured, lifting one hand to readjust his spectacles. "According to these readings, this Arch's energy is a lot more different then the one we passed through to get here. Not only does Rinoa's use less energy to stay active, it also seems to resonate a different…" He paused, before finally clicking in a few commands and waving Zell over. "It'll be easier to just show you."

Zell walked over to Julius and looked down at the screen. "See this line? Imagine it as… 'radiation' emitted from the Arch." He said, pointing down at a small wavy line, it's path smooth and elegant as it traced across a green background. "Now, this is the 'radiation' from the Arch we came through." He tapped a key, bringing up a second line, this one jagged and uncertain, spiking wildly in some places, then turning down into short bursts of jagged lines.

Zell shrugged. "So what? What does it mean, exactly? The Aches are different in size and weight, as well as the magics that activate them."

"The Arch isn't the thing emitting these readings!! It's the porthole into the other universes!" Julius exclaimed, looking excited. "The Arch is just the doorway. I think it's the prerogative of the caster that's causing these patterns. See how Rinoa's one is more natural, more calm, whilst the other one is more violent?"

Zell frowned, scratching the back of his neck. "Can you just tell me what you mean?"

"I mean that the factors concerning this Arch might not be a problem for us. The pain from the first one, as well as the thing with the metal…they might not exist."

Zell raised his eyebrows, smiling in delight. "Really?! Cool!! I really didn't want to go through that hell again!"

"But how do you really know?" Emily asked, crouching down next to the computer screen.

Julius blinked, looking down at the screen before looking backup at her. "Well…well, I don't…really…"

Emily snorted. "You may examine it with your machine all you want…but when the balls hit the brass, nothing beats good old physicality. Right Hunter?" She said, looking up at Zell with a humorous smile.

Zell gulped, cursing himself for doing so, before turning to look at the shimmering blue screen. "She's right. For all we know it might be totally dangerous to go through. We need to test it." He turned to Julius. "Do you have anything from when they tested our Arch?"

Julius pressed a few buttons, before reading some information quickly. "They didn't really do much…when they found it open they immediately set up a perimeter and sent some men in. They thought it was a still-active Arch left over from Ultimecia. Since you guys didn't have any real trouble when you went through Time Compression, they assumed it would be safe as long as they knew what they were doing."

"Obviously not…" Emily muttered with a smile.

"So, we test it." Zell confirmed, crossing his arms. "But how?"

They all thought for a second – before Emily unslung her backpack, opening it and reaching inside. "What? What is it…oh, okay." Zell said, finally understanding.

Finally withdrawing her hand, Emily revealed a small earring that she had placed inside when she had taken off her face jewellery to pass through the first Arch. Zell absently recognised it – it was like a spike, the tip wickedly sharp which expanded into a small ring. She looked down at it for a second – before looking up at Zell, her dead eyes locking onto his. "I need string." She muttered.

Zell stared back at her – before blinking. "Oh, right!" he said. Reaching into the crap he usually stored in his pockets, he began to pull it all out, muttering as he went. "Chocobo…keys…yo-yo…knife…cards…ah-ha!" He cried triumphantly, finally withdrawing a small ball of string.

He tossed the ball to Emily before busying himself with placing all his objects back into his pockets. Catching the ball easily, she unfurled it a bit and tied the loose end onto the ring of the earring, before walking up to the Arch. Spinning the piece of metal around on the string for a second, she suddenly released it, the earring passing through the porthole without so much as a ripple.

The string sat where she had tossed it, not dropping down like it was supposed to, and she dragged it back, the string popping out with the earring attached.

Zell nodded. "Excellent. But, just to make sure, we'll keep using the Orihalcon."

"Yeah. It really saved my knuckles this time around." Julius said with a smirk, slapping his laptop shut.

Zell turned to the Te'Gets who had managed to gather the courage to return, watching as they walked slowly back from where they had been blown away. Spying Ten'Kal and Ten'Jar, he walked up to them. "Well, thanks for having us, it's been a blast staying with you guys, but we got a mission to accomplish."

"We understand." Ten'Kal said with a smile. "We hope we'll see you in the near future."

"Hopefully we'll be seeing you again too." Zell said with a smile, before shouldering his pack. "Alright gang! Lets get going!"

*          *            *

In a desolate wasteland the Arch stood, it's blue light bathing the surrounding area as if displaying a warm, friendly glow. Occasionally sparks came from the Arch, as the paranormal intricacies of the two universes met and adjusted themselves to suit each other.

Suddenly a small earring popped out of the portal, landing on the cold ground with a loud clatter, killing the silence. It lay still for a second, before being pulled back through the portal roughly, creating another ripple as it disappeared into the blue.

Nothing moved. Rocks sat around the Arch, which stood as if alone on a wide open plain, the cracks in the ground the only things signifying that there had ever been movement in this world.

Suddenly a figured emerged from the Arch, the portal's blue ripping off him as if he had just stepped from a pool of sticky jelly. The matter seemed to be pulled off of him, floating back over to the portal to be absorbed once more.

Zell looked around himself, readjusting his Uber-Ehrgiez as he saw the desolation around him. "Does it always have to be rocks?" He murmured to himself, crouching as he ran his gauntleted hand over the rocky ground. "What's wrong with some nice grass and a stream or something?"

Julius emerged next, having to bend forward slightly to allow Veronica passage. Taking one look around, he grunted, before removing his backpack and pulling out his laptop, taking readings of the world around him immediately.

Zell walked about a little as Julius did his thing, just to make sure that they were actually alone this time. Narrowing his eyes and concentrating slightly, he cast Scan, his eyes bathing the areas he looked with green as he scanned for any life forms. Turning in a slow circle, he found he picked up nothing except Julius, and walked back to the hacker. "Hey dude, you know that you have a weakness to fire and like a small scotch when you go to parties?"

Julius looked up at Zell, his expression deadpan – before shaking his head, looking back at the screen. "Everything seems normal, air, water…the gravity is slightly different then ours, though…but at least it isn't boiling like in Te'Get. Satellite images show that the continents have been broken into pieces, and are completely flat…like somebodies been destroying them one by one."

Zell snorted. "Looks like it to me." He muttered, looking down at the screen. "Where are we now?"

Julius brought up a map of Gaia and compared it to the map of the world the computer had gotten from the satellite. "We're currently where Winhill is supposed to be…hmm." He grunted.

"What?"

"There is a shitload of Draw Points nearby…and they all seem to be extremely high-level."

Zell narrowed his eyes, taking in the information and processing it slowly. Every SeeD was taught at a young age that Draw Points were small, focused paramagical fountains where a person could draw and store magical properties, usually in an elemental way. Only extremely high levels of paramagic flow released high-levelled magic – and the flow needed to be very focused, very concentrated. "Gods…whoever resides here must've stabbed their magic right into the heart of Gaia to release such potent powers…" Zell whispered, feeling horrified and slightly sick.

Julius nodded slowly – before turning to the Arch.

Rinoa and Squall walked through together, Rinoa obviously still feeling sick from the casting – but as soon as she stepped onto the soil, she doubled over, crying out.

Everybody ran to her, Squall hugging her close as he watched her tears stream down her cheeks. "Rinoa! What is it?!" he cried.

"This planet…it's pain…I can feel it…"

Squall watched her cry out in pain once more, before setting her down on the ground. Placing a hand on her head, he cast Sleep, sighing as she fell into a deep slumber. He shook his head and stood. "Opening the Arch has raised her magic sensitivity up a few notches. I didn't figure it would be this bad, though."

"How do you know that?" Zell asked, kneeling down next to her.

"I'm her Knight. I'm supposed to know." Squall said confidently. His frown, however, signified that he really didn't know how that information had came to be within his memory…but he shrugged it off. "She'll be fine once she's rested."

Trish and Emily finally came out of the Arch, Trish walking quickly – to be stopped abruptly by Squall, placing a hand forward to stop her from tripping over Rinoa's body. She was breathing heavily, obviously quite anxious as she didn't open her closed eyes. "Is…is it over yet?"

"Yes." Emily muttered – before giving her a shove, causing her to slip past Squall's hand and fall straight for the floor. There was a small yelp from Trish as she saw the ground coming towards her quickly – before she disappeared in a puff of smoke, appearing behind Emily.

"Hey! That was uncalled for!!" She yelled.

"It amused me." Emily said with a smirk. "That's all. It's not like I hate you…much."

Trish felt like putting a fist into the pale girls pretty face, but stopped herself at the last second. She knew she couldn't beat her in a fight – so she'd bide her time. Turning and walking over to Rinoa instead, she brushed past the smirking Emily and kneeling next to the sleeping Sorceress. "Is she alright?" she asked nobody in particular.

"She'll be fine…" Squall said, kneeling next to Trish – before looking up at Zell. "…But we wont be unless we get out of the open."

Zell nodded, taking the advice to heart. "Right. It's dark right now…and we made the mistake of camping on the spot last time. We'll start out now…Julius, any civilised areas around?"

Julius quickly checked his com-map. "Uhhh…there looks to be a built up area about fifty kilometres to our immediate north. Shouldn't be very hard to find. It's rather big."

"Righto, we'll start out for that place and make contact. Hopefully Rinoa will be awake by the time we get there. Lets move."

*          *            *

The landscape didn't change much as they walked, the dirt-brown rocks spanning out in all directions with no sign of life whatsoever. The Arch had disappeared behind them an age ago, and the only movement that the SeeDs found were the occasional Draw Point, the blue lights floating softly from the ground.

After walking for a few hours Zell called for a rest, stopping beside a small cluster of the floating blue lights. As Squall placed Rinoa, who was still asleep, down on the ground, Zell shoved his pack off his back, the Orihalcon hitting the rocky ground with a metallic clang, and gestured for Trish to follow him.

He moved over to the collection of Draw Points and sat down next to a small group of them, motioning for Trish to do the same. "So, what's happening, Zell?" Trish asked, tired from the walk. "Need to give me a pep talk? Cause if you are, you may as well tell someone else, cause I'm too tired to…"

"I was wrong about you."

Trish looked up at him, seeing the seriousness in his eyes. "What…what do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"I figured that you'd be powerful enough to take some of these guys we've been fighting…but I guess I overestimated yer strength."

"Hey! I'm stronger then I look!"

"I know…but that was in our world, against our people. This is a whole new ballpark…and I can't afford to keep looking over my shoulder for you."

"So far you haven't even helped me in a fight! What are you complaining about?! It's not as if you're my mother! And besides which, I've been able to hold myself in a fight so far! You guys are supposed to be the experts, and you keep getting your asses handed to you! It's not like I'm sucking as much as you are…"

Zell rolled his eyes. "Just shut it for a second, will you!!" He shouted, his frown turning into a scowl.

Trish shut her mouth, looking insulted as she pouted at him sullenly.

Zell calmed down, tracing a pattern in the dust on the rocky ground with his metallic finger. "Look, I'm sorry, but it's the truth. I have been looking after you. Remember the first fight? I paired you off with Rinoa, and I knew you two would come up with a suitable plan. And lets just say my trip through the wall of the kitchen at Ten'Kal's wasn't a mistake."

Trish rolled her eyes and crossed he arms. "Fine, you've been babysitting me. What's the point?"

"The point is that I'm going to give you a crash course in magic, so shut up and listen!!" Zell growled, the irritation really beginning to show itself.

Trish's eyes widened – before composing herself, shrugging as if it was no big deal. "Um, yeah, okay. Whatever."

Zell smiled at her, feeling his heavy mood wash away. "I knew you'd react like that. But I'm not talking about Cures or Status magic's. I'm talking about refining, junctioning and multi-casts...high-level stuff."

He had gathered her attention, finally, and straightened up a little, beginning his descriptions of the differing magic's and how you used your own paramagical senses – or 'Wa', as Zell called them – to determine what magic was what. Making sure he dumbed it down – for that was the only way they could both understand – and sketching on a small pad to point out the magic's evolutionary tree, he showed her what he had learned in a good decade in only two hours. He finally stopped talking and smiled. "Okay. You remember how to Draw magic, right?"

Trish nodded, feeling slightly weary from the constant barrage of information that had been handed to her. "Yes…I think."

"Right. Now, concentrate on me. Focus all your 'Wa' onto me. You should feel several different magic's within me."

Trish narrowed her eyes, and Zell watched as they began to glow blue. "No! Focus on me, not on you!" he said sternly.

Trish blinked and began to concentrate once more, concerning herself with only the things outside of her own paramagical field. Even she was able to sense her own power, and she had grown so accustomed to it that she needed to really focus all her energies into not focusing on it in order to feel Zell's aura.

It was like seeing a tiny flame in the dark, except Trish didn't use her eyes to see it – she used her mind. Zells face broadened into a smile as he watched her face light up in amazement. "Yeah…there you go…"

"Gods…what is this…" Trish gasped, feeling the aura grow stronger and stronger.

"Wow…you're really going good. It must be because of the teleport technique you use all the time. You're all ready to draw and cast magic – you just gotta use that power outward, not inward like you've been doing so far."

Trish reached out with a hand suddenly, Zell blinking as he felt something within him disappear. "Hey! I didn't tell you to do that yet!!" He said, his tone annoyed yet pleased at the same time.

Trish looked down at her outstretched hand – before narrowing her eyes. For a few seconds nothing happened, Trish having to concentrate even more – before a tiny spark suddenly shot out of her hand.

She jumped in surprise, closing her hand involuntarily and drawing it back into her body – before Zell grabbed it firmly. "Hey, don't be afraid. You can't be hurt by it. Well…not unless you shoot yourself…" He stood suddenly. "Look, just watch me."

He walked a few meters away from where they had been sitting and pointed at the ground, his hand open. A small shard of ice suddenly shot out of his hand, slamming into the ground like a nail being shot out of a nail gun. Pointing just to the left of the shard, Zell closed his hand into a fist, pointing a finger at the ground to unleash a small Thunder, the electricity slashing across the rocks and leaving tiny scorch marks in the dirt. Finally, Zell pointed at the iceblock itself, a small line of flame drilling a neat hole through the ice itself to leave a red-hot smoking hole in the ground.

"Very nice, Hunter." Emily said with a smirk, walking up behind the two of them. "But I think you ought to be teaching her the less subtle parts of the lessons…as in letting her play with real fire instead of that low-level crap you call 'magic'."

Zell lowered his hand, frowning at Emily as she moved up to him. "She's only just gotten to drawing magic. Yeah, I'll admit she's gotten pretty far in the last few minutes – but she's nowhere near ready for something as powerful as that. It'll eat her up inside."

Emily scoffed his words and waved her hand at him dismissively. "Bullshit. She's ready…all she needs is a little 'push'." Walking over to the little cluster of Draw Points, Emily pointed down at one. "Hey, use this one."

Zell moved in front of the Draw Point. "No way, that's a Flare. The power is too much for her."

"Oh come on, Zell." Trish said, standing up and walking over to the little Draw Point. "I've gotten this far in so little time. Let me try it."

Zell looked at her, chewing on his bottom lip. What would Squall do? He thought to himself…before shrugging. "Fine. If you think you can handle it. But if anything goes wrong, I'm pulling it all from you as quickly as I can, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Trish said, pushing past him and walking up to the paramagic fountain confidently.

Zell took a step back, allowing her some room. Keeping his eye on her, he kept his hands open, making sure he had an open connection to her at all time. Emily walked up behind him and gave him a pat on the ass, making him start with surprise. "C'mon Hunter, relax." She purred, the humour obvious in her voice. "She'll be able to handle it. She might even like it."

Zell shot her a look, not wanting to take his eyes off Trish for too long. "If anything does go wrong, you'll be held fully responsible." He said, his tone deadly serious.

Emily snorted and shook her head, before taking a step back herself.

Trish stepped up to the Draw Point, taking a deep breath before holding her hand out. She felt the magic almost immediately, and felt the warmth of it radiating from the paramagical fountain. Smiling confidently, she reached out with her aura, drawing the power into her body, allowing it to seep into her mind and take a place within her brain.

Almost immediately she felt strange, the heat radiating from the Draw Point sudden seeming to magnify ten-fold, the heat almost unbearable as she stumbled away with a cry. It felt like her head was swelling, her mind not able to contain such awesome power as she drew more and more in, the tiny magical bubbles coming up from the ground beginning to dwindle to a few as she sucked the fountain dry, the draw point finally disappearing completely.

Zell stepped forward as Trish fell onto the ground, falling on her butt with a thump. "Are you okay?" He asked, moving forward and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Its…it's so hot…" She whispered, her body trembling with the power contained within her.

Zell stared at her for a second – before standing, holding his hand out toward her. "It's too much. I'm drawing some off you." Before he could make a move, however, he felt his muscles atrophy, his bones suddenly becoming steel rods as he became as still as stone. What…what the?! He screamed with his mind.

Emily walked into his vision, smiling prettily at him. "I should say I'm sorry, Hunter – but I'm not." She said with a shrug, before moving over to Trish, crouching down before her. "Okay, now that you've drawn the magic, you've got to cast it. Only then will you fully be able to withstand it."

Trish looked up at Emily, the fear obvious in her eyes. "I…I don't know…if I can…"

There was no softness in Emily's voice as she spoke, the tones commanding and gruff as she pulled the thief roughly to her feet. "Of course you can. If you can draw it, you can cast it. Now, concentrate."

"I…I…"

The sound of Emily's slap rang out over the range as Trish's head snapped back. "Do it now!!" Emily screamed.

The physical push was all Trish needed. Her anger at Emily suddenly grew into a full blown rage, and almost subconsciously she placed both palms together like she had seen the other do, threw her hands out and fired, the Flare concentrated and fired in less time then an amateur would usually accomplish the difficult task it. It blew out of her hands like a shell being blown from a massive cannon, the size of the beam dwarfing Trish almost instantly.

Emily had jumped back to allow for some room – before catching the super-hot magic in her hands, the power of the blast causing her to skid on her feet across the ground with the sheer weight of it…before she pushed it up and out into the sky, the Flare screaming up into the higher parts of the atmosphere…before exploding brilliantly, lighting up the night sky with red fire.

Trish lowered her hands, her breath laboured, her eyes wide as she looked up at the gigantic fireball in the sky. "I…I did that?" she whispered.

"You have some promise yet, girl." Emily muttered, blowing on her palms as she Cura she cast on them healed the burnt skin. "That'll do for now." She said in a teacher's tone, before walking past Zell and back to where the others had been.

Julius ran up past Emily, looking from the frozen Zell to the obviously distraught Trish, before looking back at Emily. "Hey! What the hell did you do?!"

There was no answer as Emily walked out of earshot.

*          *            *
Zell was finally able to move again, and the first thing he did was slam his fist into the ground, in rage unmeasurable. "Dammit!! Who the hell does she think she is?" He growled. "I have good mind to Silence her for the rest of the damn mission!!"

Trish was still on the ground, not listening as she stared at her hands, still not believing the power that had emitted from them.

Julius placed a hand on Zell's shoulder. "Zell…that blast would be easily seen for miles around. I think we ought to get a move on."

Zell was grinding his teeth in anger. Dammit! How can she just play with our lives like that? What would have happened if she hadn't been able to deflect it? What if Trish had mis-cast it? And how dare she do that to me! I knew it was a bad idea to bring her along, she spells nothing but trouble!!

"Zell!!"

"What?!" Zell spat at Julius, looking up at the hacker suddenly, the rage evident in his eyes.

"Calm down, man." Julius said carefully, concern in his voice. "I'm not your enemy."

Zell blinked, before looking down at his hands, watching as they clenched and unclenched. "I know, man…but I'm not so sure of Emily right now…she has a twisted mind, and I don't need a wildcard in the team right now."

"Look, as long as she keeps to herself, you don't have to worry about her, okay?" Julius said…before seeing Zell shake his head.

"No…she likes mind games. You've read the Tournament files; your hack records show that. I should have never allowed her on the team. I should have done something…"

"Zell…"

Both men turned to Trish as she waked up to him. "Zell…I'm fine. I…I feel great, actually. I'm not hurt, nobody's hurt. Its just…school of hard knocks, you know?"

How else was I going to learn in such a short time? He interpreted. Zell sighed loudly, seeing the look in her eyes, before standing up straight. "…Fine. As long as you're okay."

"I am."

"Right. Lets get going then."

*          *            *

"What the hell happened?!" Squall yelled as Emily sauntered back into camp.

The Goth simply shrugged and walked over to her pack, sitting down far from the middle of the group.

Zell, Trish and Julius returned a few minutes after, each moving to their pack and packing quickly. "C'mon, we gotta get a move on." Zell said to Squall, who was looking very confused.

"Can somebody tell me what happened?" He said sullenly as he began to stuff his blanket into his pack before snuffing the fire in the middle of the camp out with a quick Blizzard.

"No." Emily said unemotionally, before setting out in the same direction that they had been taking the whole time – north.

Squall pressed his teeth together, a sudden feeling of annoyance coming over him – before looking down to the still asleep Rinoa. Shaking his head and sighing, he picked her up and began to follow the others.

*          *            *

Beginning to get a foreboding feeling as the city began to come up on the horizon, Trish walked up behind Zell and tugged at his sleeve. "Uh, Zell…are you sure about this?"

Zell continued to walk forward, Trish unable to see his face in the darkness. "We have no choice. We can't locate the Arch's by ourselves yet – we need to start from somewhere, and a civilised location is the best bet so far."

"But…what if they aren't friendly?"

Zell didn't reply for a second, his head turning to look at the ground…before looking up. "Then we move on and find a place that is friendly."

"Oh…okay…" Trish murmured, falling back to walk beside Julius once more. Her head turned to the ground ounce more as she hefted the pack around on her back, trying to find a comfortable position for it.

"Let the straps around your waist rest on your hips," Julius said suddenly, breaking the silence, "And tighten the shoulder straps a little. It'll feel less foreign that way."

Trish gave him a small smile and did what he told, but knew that he wouldn't be able to see it in the darkness. "Um…thanks…it does feel better now…" She murmured, falling back into brooding mode as her pack finally stopped digging into her sides.

"Do you want to tell me what happened back there then?" Julius asked, Trish looking up to just see his glasses reflecting the stars in the sky as they looked down at her.

"Um…no…"

"I see…"

They walked on for a little while longer in silence. Emily had somehow managed to take point, and they followed her, Zell staying a moderate distance away from her, Trish and Julius in the middle, with Squall carrying the sleeping Rinoa in his arms taking up the rear. Zell had asked wether Squall had wanted to give Rinoa to him to allow him to have a rest, but Squall had politely declined, saying that the Regen he had cast on himself was melting away the fatigue.

Trish was beginning to hate the silence as they walked, the only sounds being their breathing, the sound of boots crunching on the rocky ground, and the chink of their packs as clips knocked gently against Orihalcon. "So…" Trish said quietly to Julius, almost as if she was afraid to break the silence. "Did you find out anything? About…you know?"

She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw Julius smile. "No. The Te'Get's technology is too primitive to help me…and though I had an inkling that there might've been something useful in all those ancient tablets and manuscripts, I didn't have enough time to decipher them all, even with Ten'Kal's notes."

Trish nodded. "It's very noble, what you do for her."

Julius nodded too, his words sad when he spoke. "My old SeeD friends always said I had an overlarge sense of loyalty…heh, Veronica always called it stubbornness." Julius' frame suddenly turned to look up at the stars, his glasses reflecting the starlight perfectly. "I'm not so sure about it anymore. I've been doing this for a good four or five years…and now it's all I know. I've done everything to accomplish what I've achieved so far, which wasn't very much…and sometimes I think the prices I've paid were way too dear."

"You were doing what you thought was right." Squall said suddenly, making Trish jump as she realised that he was right behind them. She had been so wrapped in the hacker's words that she had forgotten of the others. "You needn't worry about that. We all have our choices."

"Yes…" Julius murmured. "But were my choices really the right ones?"

"Obviously some weren't…but that's the price some pay for love." Squall said, his deadly serious voice seeming to have an even more serious edge to it. "What happened to Veronica should have never happened…and I think you're as much entitled to a second opinion as I was."

Trish blinked, looking at the silhouette of Squall with the supine form of Rinoa in his arms, before hearing a sound of recognition in Julius' voice. "Ah…your little space walk. So you understand what I feel."

"Obviously."

"Then tell me this – would you do anything for her? Anything at all? Including betraying the people you have worked with for your entire life?"

Squall was suddenly silent, his face unreadable in the darkness as he pondered the question.

The break in the conversation was filled with a sound from the distance, the sound distinctly mechanical, like that of cars. Rumbling loudly, the cars finally slowed to a stop about fifty or so yards from the SeeDs, before the engines cut out and the people within the cars piled out. Then a new sound rand out - the sound of a voice as it called out over the plains. "Heeeey!!" From the cars on the horizon came the silhouettes of a group of people, their sizes and shapes varying. In the darkness, however, the SeeDs were unable to make out who they were.

Emily slowed to a stop. "Showtime." She muttered, tightening her gloves.

Zell stepped forward. "Lets just see what they want. I think they knew we were coming anyways – we need them to know we come in peace."

Emily snorted in contempt. "You're the 'leader', Hunter."

Zell chose not to answer, walking past the woman to make the first move. He walked forward slowly, holding his hands out. "Hey there." He said clearly.

A few of the group – Zell saw it was a big one – peeled off and walked up to him, two men and a woman. The woman walked forward to poke Zell in the chest. "What the hell are you doing in this region, punk? And taking our magic as well. Who the hell do you think you are?" Her voice was throaty and course, like she drank sand for breakfast, and Zell felt the power in the poke as she jabbed her finger into his sternum.

Zell gulped. Not exactly a warm reception… "Uh…we're not exactly from around here. Could we stay in an inn at your town until we figure out our bearings?"

As the woman thought about his words, one of the men walked up behind her. "Where you guys from, anyways?" He asked, his voice soft yet deep.

Shit…do I tell the truth, or not? "Um…from the south?"

The woman snorted then. "Southerners…typical. You think you can just come along and take our magic? You know the rules of seizing land."

Zell did a double take, frowning in the dark. "S-Seizing land? We don't wanna do that! We're just travelling, that's all!!"

"He's lying, Dianna!" The second man suddenly said, the man's voice as weaselly as they came. "They're spies from the south! I say we take em out right now!!"

Dianna turned suddenly and slapped the second man across the cheek, the sound of the man's jaw breaking obvious in the open area. "Shut up, Row!! I'm leader, and I say what to do!"

"Yeth, mu'um…" Row said painfully, picking himself up and fingering the broken bone…before healing himself with a Curaga, the green light flooding out as it course through his body.

The light lit everything around it in it's green glow, and Zell saw the face of Dianna, trying not to stare. She…she looks like…Angel…

Angel's soft cheekbones, the brown ponytail, her soft brown eyes…it was all the features of the young librarian. Zell could even tell it was her from the stance she held – leisurely yet ready for anything. Her personality, however, was completely changed. This Angel – Dianna? – was as rough as guts and probably twice as mean.

No only that, but heavy scarring covered her body from what Zell could see. She was dressed in battle-torn clothes, the shirt she wore tied tight at her torso to cover her chest, revealing her scarred stomach. It…it is her! Right down to her birthmark on her side…my gods…

Dianna seemed to be staring at him also, her eyes travelling over his face and body as he finally tore his from hers. "I-I'm sorry!" He said abruptly, suddenly ashamed at staring.

She narrowed her eyes as he apologised, frowning as he looked down at the ground, the green light finally fading from Row's body. "What's your name, boy?" she asked, her voice suddenly sinister.

Zell blinked. "Zell…" He said – before finally recognising the look in her eyes, the sound of her tone.

Triumph.

Dianna suddenly turned to her group screaming shrilly. "It's the SeeDs!! Capture them!!"

"Shit!!" Zell yelled, throwing his hand out to blast Row in the chest with a Firaga, the attack catching the man completely by surprise as the fire lit up his face to show the shock of his face as his guts turned to charred flesh. Throwing his head back, Zell screamed at the others – "Hearts!!" – before the man with the soft voice tackled him to the ground, Zell falling on his pack painfully.

The two groups suddenly charged each other, Squall's LionHeart cutting through the darkness to slash straight through several of them, arms, legs and heads flying in all directions as the gunblader cut a bloody swathe through them. Julius stepped forward to grab one by the face and toss him back into a pair of Warriors, the bodies falling to the floor in an unkempt heap.

Emily smashed her fist into the face of one as he ran up, knocking him to the ground – before reducing him to ash with a Firaga to the face, his screams disappearing with his remains as he was cremated on the spot. Turning suddenly as she blew smoke from her palm she whipped her foot across the faces of three men, their bodies spinning through the air – to stop in mid air. Emily's smile was unseeable in the darkness – but her bright blue eyes were as the three men suddenly flew straight up – to smash straight down into the ground, the sounds of breaking bones and pulping bodies like music to the Goth's ears.

Squall's dance of havoc was having an effect on their attackers, his blade sizzling with the sound of blood evaporating on the energy blade – before it was arrested by a man's hand, the man catching the blade expertly with one hand. Squall grimaced, trying to push the blade up – before the man reached back slowly and let fly, the punch connecting with the gunblader's face and sending him careening into the distance.

"Squall!!" Zell yelled, watching as he tried to push up on the man pinning him down. He grunted, pushing and pulling with all him might, but unable to budge.

The man on top of the SeeD laughed out loud. "Welcome to the Crisp planet. We thrive on battle. You're puny strength is nothing compare to mine. For instance, I can do this…" He growled, suddenly grabbing Zell's arms and flipping the SeeD over onto his belly like a child, before pulling the arms back at an awkwardly, bending them unnaturally. Zell screamed out loud as his arms threatened to snap, the bones creaking in ways they weren't suppose to.

Julius looked over to the fist fighter and ran to help – before being stopped by a small woman standing in his way. Looking down a the woman, Julius suddenly slammed a fist into her stomach, lifting her up off the ground and ramming her back down into it, the rocks crumbling around her. In the darkness he couldn't see her expression – but he could hear her laughter as she suddenly kicked out, the foot connecting with his stomach – to send him flying up into the air. Reaching the zenith of his flight, he began to careen back to earth – to be kicked up into the air once more, the woman's laughter pealing out as the hacker flew up once more.

Emily watched it all – before throwing her hand out, the woman attacking Julius suddenly encased in a round block of ice as the Blizaga formed around her almost immediately. Walking forward, she span suddenly, blocking the first three attacks – before being kicked in the stomach, the attack sending her flying into Julius's path, the two of them crashing to the ground, Julius landing atop Emily to crush her beneath him.

Zell's screams were reaching a crescendo as his attacker continued to bend his body, the muscles in his shoulders and back threatening to tear unless something wasn't done. Looking up in pain, Zell saw the unconscious bodies of Julius and Emily as the enemy advanced on them, and realised that nobody was there to protect them. No! You're better then this!! Something screamed within him, and reaching deep within, Zell began to fight back, turning his screams into grunts of effort.

The man straddling him gasped as the arms he was bending back previously began to slowly move down, the man's efforts to restrain them going unfelt as Zell's hand suddenly reached the ground – and Zell threw his head back, the top of his skull hitting the man square in the face, the sound of a nose cracking like music to Zell's ears.

Trish stood beside Rinoa's body, watching it all unfold as she remembered Squall's words as he had pulled her aside – "Protect her!" – before throwing himself into the fray like a madman. To tell the truth, she was grateful – she didn't really favour the idea of jumping straight into battle with these fellows. Then she three men were running for her, the warriors dodging the SeeD's attacks to make a beeline towards her.

The first thought was of teleporting away – but then she remembered the body of Rinoa lying behind her, and saw the way that they others were getting beaten. Aren't you awake yet? She thought desperately as she held her hands out, concentrating desperately – to fire the Flare, the flames searing forth, bathing the entire area before her in light and flame, throwing her back with the kick of the blast.

The SeeDs sensed it before it was cast, and Emily and Julius were suddenly awake, instinctively surrounded by red bubbles as they threw themselves from the blast.

Squall stood from where he had lay, standing on wobbling feet to look up at the magic – and smile as the Flare bore down on him, enveloping him in fire!!

"Squall!!" Zell cried – before the Flare washed over him, blowing the man on top of him clean off and away, the super-concentrated blast passing right over Zell's body.

Trish finally cut the Flare off, blowing on her palms desperately as if they were on fire themselves, and landed on the ground to skittle away into the distance.

Zell flipped up onto his feet, rotating his arms painfully to get circulation going again – to see Squall standing, his clothes smoking slightly, but unharmed nevertheless. Oh, I see – he's put his Fire defences up so he can absorb the energy. Zell thought to himself.

As if to prove the point, Squall turned suddenly – to scream up to the remaining Hearts, his blade tracing through the air in a long, swerving pattern as the sound of slicing and dicing bodies cut by a sizzling blue energy blade filled the dark air.

Finally the sounds died down to be replaced by the choked death-rattles of the dying and whimpers of the wounded, Squall's blue sword pattern finally fading away to nothingness. Zell watched as Squall walked up to him, the LionHeart shimmering in the darkness surrounding them the only thing signifying his approach. "That was a bit scary…" He said quietly.

"Yeah…" Zell agreed, falling down and sitting on the ground tiredly, feeling adrenaline begin to wash out of him. "But…now that it's over, I'm not so sure that they're Hearts after all."

"But they knew we were SeeDs." Julius said, walking up behind them, his hand holding his side where the woman had broken a few ribs. "That girl knew who you were."

Zell nodded, not wanting to tell them it was Angel – before looking up. "Wait! Where did she go?"

Squall grimaced in the light of his gunblade. "She escaped, along with quite a few of them, when I made that last attack. They'll no doubt warn their superiors."

Zell nodded again, surprised to feel a little grateful that he hadn't recognised her as Angel. "So, what should we do?" he asked.

Squall shrugged in the starlight. "How should I know? You're the leader." He tapped the LionHeart on his shoulder, thinking for a second. "Although if I were you, I'd say we continue to the city and take our chances. They didn't know who we were until they got a close up look at your face. I think we might be able to hide away in the city until light comes, then come up with a plan then."

Zell laughed slightly. Do this, Dincht. It's what I'd do. "Okay, good plan."

"Guys…" Trish suddenly called, and the men turned to see both her and Emily crouched next to a body. "This dude is still alive."

The SeeDs crowded around the man, his silhouette trembling slightly in the darkness. "Somebody get some light going, huh?" Zell asked

Squall obliged, holding his hand out and allowing a small Fire to burst into life in his palm, holding the light to the man's face – before stepping back suddenly. "Gods…we know this man…"

The face of Grey looked up at them, blood covering his face from the numerous cuts bestowed on him by Squall. His raven-dark hair had been cut short compared to it's length in the Tournament – but Zell recognised the ash-like eyes, the dead eyes spewing contempt to the world. He gulped like a fish out of water, blood dribbling out of his mouth when he coughed suddenly. "I'll…I'll tell you…nothing…" He spat weakly.

"Oh, I think you're going to tell us everything…" Emily said icily, seemingly unfazed by the appearance of the man she had used as a red herring during the Tournament.

"N…Nothing, damn you!!"

Zell blinked, getting over the initial shock. "Well, he's as stubborn as he usually was." He muttered, before leaning forward, speaking quietly. "Hey dude. You're dying, you know that? I'll make you a deal. You tell us what we need to know, and we'll heal you up and let you live. What do you reckon?"

"Damn you and your soft heart, Dincht!!" Emily spat. "What can we achieve with that?!"

"Shut up!!" Zell growled suddenly. "He deserves to live as much as anybody!!"

"I…don't want your help, you bastards!!" Grey growled, his voice full of determination as blood began to trickle out of his nose slowly.

Squall shook his head. "This is getting us nowhere. He's obviously not going to tell us anything.  Lets go."

Trish stood up then, her arms rigid by her sides. "Whoa whoa whoa…are you saying we just walk away with him like this? What kind of people are you?!"

"We're SeeDs. Mercenaries. If he doesn't want to cooperate, then it's his prerogative to die." Julius murmured.

"You…you heartless bastards!!" Trish exclaimed in a whisper, her voice incredulous.

"No…we just do what we have to complete the mission." Squall muttered, chewing on his bottom lip…before turning to Zell. "Heal him up, then send him to sleep. We'll just have to deal with the consequences later."

"Like hell we will…" Emily muttered, bending down and kissing Grey square on the lips!!

Trish took a step back as the Goth pashed the dying man with a passion, her face twisting in disgust. "Oh my gods! What are you doing?!"

Emily finally withdrew her face, wiping the blood from her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Getting information." She said, licking her lips clean of his blood as her glowing blue eyes died down to their regular icy stare. "Now then…" She purred, addressing the man. "What's your name?"

The man's eyes had become blank, and he found no trouble in talking now. "My name is Bloc."

"My gods…" Zell whispered. "I recognise this…"

"Yes. It's the same Blue as what I cast on your friend Irvine." Emily said with a smirk, before looking down at the dying Bloc. "Now then, Bloc, how did you know who we were?"

"We were told by our war marshal, when he came through the Tidus for his inspection of the planet. All Heart soldiers know your names and your faces." Was the monotone reply.

Zell narrowed his eyes. "Ask him if he knows who the war marshal is."

"Who's the war marshal, Bloc?"

Bloc frowned slightly, the blankness in his face giving way to slight confusion. "I…I don't know that answer. He's always wearing his Orihalcon armour. It covers his face."

"Hmph…" Zell grunted, sitting back on his haunches.

"This is gross…I'm going back to Rinoa…" Trish said, not being able to stand watching the dying man speak any longer, turning and staggering back towards the sleeping Sorceress.

"What do you do here on this planet, Bloc?" Emily asked, since everybody else was silent.

"This planet is the planet Crisp." Bloc said, gulping back some blood before continuing. "We are the backbone of the Heart Army. We worship only two gods – Our Queen the Sorceress, and the God of War. We fight - that is what we are good at. We have fought each other for centuries, and have fought many battles for our Queen for the last five years. We kill our enemies. It is surprising that we were defeated by him…" The dying man muttered, turning his cold blank eyes to Squall. "His power is considerably less then ours, even though we were unprepared for battle."

"Well, that explains the condition of the planet…" Julius muttered. "The battles raged here must've been very great, considering the power of these guys…"

"Yeah. It took everything I had to defend myself, let alone attack." Zell muttered, rubbing his chin…before looking up at Emily. "As him where this 'Sorceress Queen' is…ask him if there is a back door to her world."

"Where's the Sorceress Queen, Bloc? How can we reach her without having to fight the entire Heart Army?"

Bloc blinked, his words beginning to slur. "The…the Queen is two worlds away from this one…one of technological advancements…controlled by women…and one with people so…divided…they cannot live with each other…that is all I know…"

"Does the Queen control these worlds yet?"

"…No…the first have defences we cannot penetrate…the second is of no value…"

"Then why tell us this?" Zell asked.

"Because…that is the only way you'll be able to…get to her world…without going through the main Tidus…"

Squall stood back, his scarred face screwed up with thought. "Potential allies?"

"Duh." Zell said. "Anybody who can survive these dudes should be on our side." He looked at them all. "Can we think of anything else to ask him?"

All the SeeDs looked down, thinking of what to ask. Zell couldn't think of anything – besides the Alternate Angel, Dianna. I wonder what she's like in this world?

Suddenly he felt very lonely. Shaking his head, he stood quickly, dusting himself off. "Uh, right, well, if nobody else has anything else to ask him, we'll patch him up and move on."

Emily snorted. "No can do, Hunter. That may have been my Slave spell – but he was a tough nut to crack. I had to kiss him to make the magic work. And you know what happens when these lips touch another…right?"

A feeling of dread washed over Zell, and he clenched his fists tight, the adamantine/Orihalcon hybrid covering his fists creaking with the strength. "Damn you…"

"Oh, c'mon. He's not in any pain anymore." Emily said, waving her hand at him. "He wont even care when it happens."

Zell shook his head. "He deserved another chance. Warriors honour, if anything."

Emily snorted and stood. "You and your weak ideals…you're just as bad as them, only you don't know it." Her bit said, she turned and walked away, shouting over her shoulder. "Remember, Zell – this is a different world. We're not in Gaia anymore."

Zell's fists were trembling, and he pushed the anger away, burying it deep into his mind. "Fuck!" He spat, looking down at the dying body of Bloc, Grey's features looking up at him dully in the flickering Fire-light. He sighed, before gesturing to the others. "C'mon…lets leave him to himself for his last few minutes…"

The SeeDs got up and moved away, walking back to where Emily and Trish sat. Zell watched as Emily picked up her pack from where she had dropped it and moved away from the group once more, sitting down just where the bodies began to start and pulling some Te'Getian fruit from her pack. Biting down on it, she looked up at the stars.

Zell shook his head and looked at Squall. "What should we do with her, man? She's a loose cannon – she'll get one of us killed."

"Maybe…" Squall said. "…But it's like Commander Carpenter said. Her Blue magic's are ones that we cannot go without. Now we have a general idea of the enemy, information we couldn't have gotten without her. I'll admit, she does seem a little…crazy. But she hasn't threatened anybody yet, and I have no reason to suspect her doing so in the future."

"I do." Zell muttered, stealing a glance at the Goth as she continued to eat her fruit. "You don't know her, dude. I do. I've seen what she's really like. And I reckon that, if she was given the chance and that it helped her, she'd abandon us without a second glance."

Squall shook his head. "You're being paranoid, Zell. Remember what I said about trust?"

Zell sighed irritably, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Fine. But if she ever does anything like that again, I'm gonna Silence her and carry her all the way back to Gaia if I have to."

"Whatever." Squall muttered, walking over to Rinoa and sitting down next to her.

Zell shook his head and sat down next to Julius – before hearing two wet popping noises in the distance.

"What the hell was that?" Trish exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

Zell shook his head. "Nothing…it was nothing, Trish…"

*          *            *

After the SeeDs had gotten a bit of rest, they continued north, the city on the horizon like a beacon to them. The night was finally beginning to die away, the sun coming up to their east like a burning fireball. Unlike Te'Get, however, the sun warmed them cheerily, it's heat like one from a gentle fire. Not wanting to be burned, however, they stopped for a second to make covers from their blankets, wrapping the long green martial around them like cloaks to block out the suns rays.

The landscape was finally recognisable, and as the SeeDs prepared to move once more they were slightly astonished to see that it was an off-green colour. "What do you think it is?" Trish asked Julius as they kept walking.

"I don't know…my readings show a high metal content in the ground, but was unable to determine which metal."

"Orihalcon?" Squall asked, still carrying Rinoa in his arms.

"No. The computer says it's a mixture – but there's no Orihalcon."

They continued in silence, finally reaching the city just as the sun was released from the horizon's grip. The city was surrounded by a sheer wall that went on forever, the wall seeming to be made of the same green substance as the ground was. A large metal gate was situated nearby to where the SeeDs had come from, and they walked over to it.

Zell had discussed this just before they walked within looking distance of the city. "Okay guys, remember the plan. We're wandering fighters looking for a resting place."

Trish frowned, her pretty blue eyes peeking out from the hood of her cloak. "But…that's what we're doing anyways, right?"

Zell rolled his eyes and sighed. "Just be quiet. I'll do the talking."

So they walked up to the gate. Along the edge of the wall, just where the escarpment was, were several guard holes, and Zell spotted several rifles being pushing out of the holes and trained on the group as they walked up to the guard station. Scared, huh? He thought to himself as they walked up to the guard.

"What do you want?" The man said gruffly. He was dressed in a navy-blue guards uniform, and had a firearm strapped to his waist. He had a good foot on Zell, and looked down at him with mixture of contempt and boredom.

"We wanna go in." Zell said, making sure to make his voice sound equally gruff. "You got a problem with that?"

"You wanna show me some ID?"

Zell reached into his back pocket, withdrawing the card from his pocket. Thanks to a quick search of the remains of the Crisps they had fought, the team had managed to procure some identification. A quick zap though the computer Julius carried, place the information into their SeeD 'Interchangeable ID' cards, and suddenly they became Crispians, right down to the place of birth.

The guard looked down at the card, before looking up at Zell, Zell's face slightly obscured by his hood. "Got a bit windy out in the Plains, huh?" The guard muttered suspiciously.

"Why do you care?" Zell grunted. "Are you gonna let us in, or what?"

The guard looked at Zell for a second more…before handing the card back and pressing a buzzer on the side of his booth. "Okay, you talk the talk. Rules are – no wanton destruction or magic allowed. Curfew at two a.m. – make sure you're indoors then, otherwise I'll give you another hole to breath out of."

"Whatever." Zell said dismissively, walking past the guard and through the rising gate.

Trish walked up to Zell, falling in line beside him. "That went well." She whispered.

"We can relax when we find a safe place to hide." Zell muttered. "Until then, don't stray far."

Now within the city, the SeeDs saw that the place was as heavily built as Galbadia – only more run down, more desolate. The buildings were cracked and full of bullet holes, the ground stained with large red marks that could only be described as bloodstains. Since it was early in the morning, there weren't many people about – but they ignored the SeeDs mostly, pushing past them as if they had something important to do.

The people looked dressed more or less like the SeeDs – many of them more the same kind of clothes, and many others wore long cloaks to keep the sun out. The only difference was that the people were more aggressive then the usual Galbadian or Estharian. Zell watched as a man bumped into another – and a fight broke out, resulting in one man flying into a wall, the wall crumbling beneath him before the first man stepped forward and put his fist through the man's face. The first man now dead, the second took his wallet and boots – before moving on.

Nobody even tried to stop him.

"The sooner we get inside, the better." Trish whispered, making sure she was close to Julius and Zell.

"Hey, pal!" A man suddenly said, walking up to the gunblader and pointing down at the sleeping Rinoa wrapped in a blanket in his arms. "Looks like you got a good catch there! Wanna share her for a bit of cash?"

"No." Squall said, his voice dripping with malice. He made to move past the man…before a hand on the shoulder stopped him.

"How about this, then, pal. I take the girl – and you get to live. What about that proposal?"

Zell stopped the party and turned around, walking up to the man. "Got a problem, mate?" he said gruffly.

The man looked down at the shorter fighter. "You own this slave?" he said, cocking his thumb at Squall.

Zell blinked, slightly surprise – before nodding. "Yeah. So what?"

"I'll buy em both off ya for fifty thousand gil."

"They aren't for sale, bub."

The man was beginning to get agitated. "Fine then. Maybe I ought to just beat some sense into you. Then will you give them to me, you dumb fuck?"

Before the man could say anything else, Zell stepped forward and launched an uppercut into the man's chin, the man flipping up into the air to land on the ground, a sickening crack erupting from his head as he landed on his face. He began to scream, his face dripping red – before Julius kicked out, the man crashing into the nearest wall and falling to the floor, unconscious.

Zell made to move on – before stopping. Turning around, he bent over to rummage through the man's pockets. It was only then that the people surrounding them began to move on, the argument resolved like most arguments in this world – with somebody knocked out or dead and robbed.

Zell found a wallet and a pair of keys, as well as a wad of cash. Flipping the wallet open, he checked the address before looking down at the keys in his hands. "Hmmm…house keys." He muttered, looking up at the team. "I think we've just found our place to stay."

*          *            *

Whee!! It's starting to go now!! Isn't Emily evil! Can't wait to see put her to really good use!!

I hope I did all that Draw stuff right. I haven't actually played FF8 in a while…I'm playing it all by ear now. Well, look forward for the next few chapters – I'm really going to throw a wench in the works soon (about four or five chapters away, so keep reading!!)

Remember, reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy, so keep doing it. It'll make me write more!