Ch 30 – Tears Of Betrayal
Angel was lost.
Not in a literal sense but more in a metaphorical, a mental sense.
The man that held her in his arms was foreign to her still and yet, she drew a strange comfort from it. His smell, the feeling of his skin upon hers and the breath upon the nape of her neck, and the sheer thought that she was actually worth something to someone seemed to overwhelm all her other desires.
Of course, nothing could overtake her grief of Zell's death. She had tried to lose herself in battles, and in the tears – but the only way she could truly forget Zell was in the company of another. Wether it was this man here, or one of her friends – she needed to know that she was not alone, that the emptiness that had filled her life when Rinoa had spoken those dreadful words was not completely true.
They had found each other on the battlefield. Angel, having been bumped up to SeeD status only a few days before Squall and the others had returned, had been placed in charge of a flanking mission, taking a few thousand soldiers and manoeuvring them through the pits and valleys of War World to get the upper hand of the Queen's major forces.
It had almost worked. They had almost gotten the jump on them, Angel's troops having come around quietly and waiting for the perfect moment until the force had moved deeper into the valley, led by the retreating forces that had drawn their attention before.
But when Angel ordered the attack and leapt over the first ridge, she had been shocked to watch as the enemy numbers halved, the second half throwing themselves directly at the SeeDs whilst the rest had chased after the retreating SeeDs.
The manoeuvre had been meant to be a sneak attack. A quick jump over the ridge, take out as many as possible to weaken and distract their forces, before retreating behind the ridge and using the many nooks and crannies to make their escape. It was meant to be a reactionary attack – the enemy was supposed to be taken by surprise, not be ready for them. The tables had been turned and, as a result, the sneak attack failed completely.
Death and destruction surrounding her, her little brown ponytail wafting in the stiff breeze as she looked down at the fight, she had been unable to do anything but watch in horror as her men were defeated outright – a prepared enemy was more deadly then an unprepared one. It had occurred to her, as her men began to beat a hasty retreat when victory was unattainable, that many of these had happened very recently…so recently, in fact, it was like they were being orchestrated from the inside.
She hadn't known why she had simply stood there as her men retreated around her. It didn't occur to her that she didn't want to leave, by some strange twist of fate that this was how it was going to happen – that she was going to die and join her love in Heaven or Nirvana or the Otherworld, or whatever you wanted to call it.
Then the bullet had taken her in the left breast, blowing straight through the adamantine armour that had been issued to her and exiting out through her left shoulder-blade, shattering the bone instantly and causing her to stumble back.
She hadn't known she had been hit. She had simply stood there, stunned, unable to move, her body trembling slightly at the thought of a weird feeling in her chest – like someone was breathing heavily on it. A heavy wheezing had come from it, and she had looked down at her chest to absently realise that the bullet had grazed her heart and had blown straight through her lung. The hard breathing effect was her own breath – she could feel her lung pumping air out through the hole onto the wound.
She had fallen then, falling backwards – into his arms.
He had appeared suddenly, as if like an angel. His hair was wavy brown, his eyes a startling blue…much like Zell's. He had looked down at her with intense concern, and she had heard him calling her name but she hadn't been able to hear him. All she heard was a roaring noise in her ears that reminded her of the roar of the enemy and the roar of the ocean and the roar of his voice as he ran into battle…
Then she had felt something wash over her, and her feeling returned, her hearing coming back, all her senses rushing back in an instant. The man had sat back with a satisfied smile, much like Zells…
She couldn't have helped herself. She instantly sat up and hugged him tightly to her, tears running down her face, unable to say anything except to sob into his shoulder.
He had pulled back and whispered something meaningless to her, before his lips brushed hers, the feeling like static on her skin.
She had found out later that he had been the medic that had brought her back to the base, carrying her the entire way through the valleys and canyons, having to cast Cures on her again and again to stop her from bleeding out. He had run out of Curagas during the failed battle.
She had also found out that he had had a crush on her ever since he laid eyes on her, back during a training session with Zell all those months ago, before the Tournament, before the Assassin, before this whole destructive event ever occurred.
And she found comfort in his arms. Her grief was released by his soft touch, his caring words, his gentle caresses, his passionate kisses. She found that, by losing herself in his arms, she could make the memories of Zell go away…
At least for a short while. Angel had not gone the entire way with him – although he was pushing for her to – but every time their times together began to get too passionate, too heated, when her memories began to melt away in the ecstasy of his body and smell – Zell's image would appear in her mind once more, and she would feel a stabbing pain in her heart, a strong guilt that almost made her cry out in pain on several occasions.
She tried to rationalise the guilt. She tried to say that it was nothing but her grief clawing at her heart. She tried to tell herself that Zell was gone, that he had been decapitated and his body was completely destroyed. Even with his impossible skill to bounce back, nobody could bounce back from that.
Nobody.
So now the guilt hung in her heart again as Gerard kissed her neck, Angel's eyes closed as she moaned under his touch. Gerard's kisses were more passionate then Zell's, more fevered, as if he had little time in this world left – Zell had always taken his time, pecking her shyly before moving gradually forward, allowing her room to grow accustomed to his presence and his touch and his love. Zell had never been an experienced lover, although after a few times he had grown very accustomed to making her shriek of pleasure.
Gerard, it suddenly occurred to her, had the feel of an experienced lover. There was no hesitance, no shyness – he attacked all the sensitive spots like a professional, turning her on instantly and not stopping until she ordered him to. And even then he did so regretfully, making her feel even more guilt added onto the already present guilt.
Now he was doing it again, and although a part of her screamed to finally do it, to finally submit herself, to give herself to him fully and allow herself to be washed away by the shuddering euphoria of the event…
…But another part, a sadder part, told her no.
"Gerard, please…" Angel whispered, her breath husky as her back pressed against his chest involuntarily. They were in her quarters, back from another mission, this one actually successful. They had successfully routed the enemy, even after suffering heavy losses. Gerard had asked to come to her quarters afterwards to massage the kinks out of her body, and now it was getting more heated then just a professional courtesy.
"What?" He asked softly, his words tickling her ear as he removed his lips from their attack to her neck.
"…Please…I'm not ready yet…" she whispered, trying to force herself to turn around – but only finding herself leaning against him more.
"Your mind says no…" Gerard whispered, kissing her neck again before running his tongue along the edge of her ear and whispering into it sweetly. "…But your body says yes." Running his hand along her belly he began to push her shirt up slowly, pushing his hand underneath the edge and bringing it closer…
Angel moaned to his touch and sighed, falling back into his arms as his caresses grew more and more erotic, his hands touching places only one man had touched before…
He hadn't said goodbye.
Suddenly, and with shocking realisation, Angel realised why she had been so hesitant to go the extra distance with Gerard.
Zell had never said goodbye to her when they had parted ways. He had never said goodbye because he had wanted her to know he was coming back.
He was coming back.
Angel gently but firmly pulled Gerard's hand from underneath her shirt and sat forward on her bed, rearranging her bra and standing to turn and face him. His cute face was twisted in a sudden confusion. "…What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"
Angel sighed, shaking her head. "No…your touch is wonderful…it's just I cant keep doing this. I'm…still mourning Zell's death and doing this only a month after seems…almost sacrilegious to his memory." She was standing meekly in the centre of the room, suddenly feeling like she was talking to the entire SeeD army. She shyly clutched her shoulders and looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry…but I can't see you anymore. Please leave."
If Angel had been watching Gerard she would have seen the change in his face, going from confused understanding to a sudden hunger. He stood slowly and advanced onto her, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her roughly to the wall, her shocked eyes turning up to his as he suddenly kissed her lips, all the gentleness gone and replaced with a gruff violence that was uncharacteristic compared to his previous actions beforehand.
He pulled back to look into her shocked gaze, his voice low as he spoke. "Most of the girls who've lost their boyfriends during the war have come to me pretty willingly, but you, you just keep fighting and fighting my advances. It was fun for the first week or so, but now I've gotten tired of it. We're going to do it, and we're going to do it right now."
His words were like an order and she tried to squirm out of his grip as he tried to kiss him back. "No! I don't want to!!"
"Oh, don't say that! You'll enjoy yourself, trust me – all the girls scream my name near the end." He advanced once more, pinning her hands to the wall as he began to kiss her lips again…
"I said no!" Angel shouted suddenly, tearing her lips from his and slamming her knees into his groin, making him groan painfully and bend double – to receive a hammering uppercut, the blow literally lifting him from his feet and causing him to crash to the floor.
Angel grimaced down at him and wiped her mouth, his taste on her tongue suddenly disgusting. Gerard wasn't a man – he was a monster of the worst kind, preying on the emotionally distraught widows and girlfriends of fallen heroes in the war to satisfy his own urges.
His groans, however, made her feel a twinge of pity on him, and she knelt down beside him, helping him to sit up on the side of the bed – before he suddenly rammed his hand into her chest and made a magical sign.
Suddenly she couldn't move, her muscles atrophying as the Stop took hold of her body. She could do nothing but blink down at Gerard as his pained expression turned into an evil smile. "You think I was nothing but a doctor, huh? I'm a SeeD before I'm a medic, Angel – and my major was Status magic."
Standing and working his jaw to make sure it wasn't broken, he picked her up and placed her on the bed, straightening her legs and undoing her belt to pull down her pants, the garment bunching around her boots – before he spread her legs. "White panties…I figured as much…" He muttered with a smirk as he slowly lowered his head to her crotch, Angel unable to do anything but cry, tears streaming down her cheeks as she prepared herself for the inevitable…
There was a sudden ding ding ding on the door, the rusted metal seeming to shake with each ding. It sounded strangely like metal hitting metal.
Gerard froze. If anybody walked in now, he would be caught red handed – but Angel was Stopped, she was unable to respond to the knocks. He decided to take a gamble. "Go away." He called, looking back down as his confidence grew. "We're busy."
"I'm here to see Angel." A voice called through the door. A male voice.
It cant be…Angel thought to herself as she recognised the voice, her tears falling more rapidly now.
"I told you we were busy, asshole!" Gerard called again, looking up at the door once more, his face twisting in anger. "Fuck off!"
"No." Was the simple reply.
Getting up and walking briskly to the door, Gerard pulled it open and growled through the frame at the man behind it. "Listen dickhead, wait your turn…"
His voice trailed off as he saw who it was.
Zell looked down at the scene before him. Angel, thrown on the bed with her pants down her ankles, stared up at him unblinkingly, tears streaming down her cheeks as she obviously tried to move. The man before him, a handsome looking gent, looked about as flabbergasted as a thief who had been caught red handed, stared at him from the door.
Angel whimpered, the sound coming from her throat – her mouth didn't move at all. She had been Stopped.
The look Zell turned on the man was not a happy one to say the least. Words could not describe the rage he was feeling at the moment.
Gerard tried desperately to redeem himself. "Hey…Zell…if I'd known you were alive I wouldn't have tried! I mean…she came to me, I didn't go to her! Seriously, we all thought you were dead, there was no harm in it…c'mon man, give me a fucking break!"
Zell reached forward to grasp Gerard by the shirtfront, his blood-red gauntlet drawing the shirt in and making the womaniser's shoulders bend forward as the Hunter pulled him close, so close their noses almost touched. "You're not going to fuck anything ever again. And I'll give you a break. I'm going to give you several." Zell snarled, his words as ice cold as Seifer's, perhaps colder.
Pulling the man through the doorway, Zell threw him back against the wall in the hallway, his head smashing into the stone and rebounding off it easily before he fell to the floor unconscious.
Walking into the room and closing the door behind him Zell immediately went to Angel's side on the bed, casting a Dispel on the Stop and giving her full movement once more.
As soon as she could move again she let out a sob and threw her arms around his neck, wailing as tears rolled down her cheeks, trying to desperately find the words to express her sorrow and regret.
"I'm so sorry Zell!! He was so suave and I was so lost when they told me you were dead I couldn't think of anywhere else to turn, he seduced me! Gods, please forgive me, just please forgive meeeee!" She sobbed, finally running out of words and just burying her head in his shoulder, the tears streaming down her face at an alarming rate.
Zell, for lack of a better description, was in a state of shock. Reaching around her shoulders he patted her back gently, looking down at her with dead eyes, his face a stony mask. A part of him realised what she had done and accepted it as acceptable – I mean, he had been killed irreversibly by Gaian standards. How else would Angel react? She certainly wouldn't have killed herself to follow.
But then…it had only been a month or so since his 'death'. How could she find someone in so short a time? Was he worth so little to her? Exactly how long did she grieve? A week? A fortnight? Did this event just happen by chance, or had she been seeing him before he had left for the mission? After his departure? A few days after his departure? Was this even the first time?
Look at her…Siren's voice whispered in his mind, startling him. She's obviously feeling regret for her actions. This was probably a spur-of-the-moment thing.
I don't know that, Siren.
Put yourself in her shoes, Zell. Imagine what would have happened if she had died and you couldn't bring her back? What would you do if someone, in your time of grief, offered you a shoulder to cry on – and maybe a more physical release for your guilt and remorse.
Zell couldn't reply. How could he? He had never been in the situation before. …I suppose…I would do the same…
Then don't judge her. Comfort her. She, evidently, had almost been raped just then. Does it seem consensual to be Stopped by your partner to you?
Zell looked down at Angel then, her shoulders heaving as she continued to cry into his shoulder. Reaching around, he slowly undid the clasp on his left gauntlet, slowly pulling it off, the metallic glove sliding off to hit the floor with a clang, the loud sound making Angel jump and looked up at him with wide, tear filled eyes.
He hadn't taken the time to wash when the gang had told him about Angel's recent actions with a SeeD medic. He had instantly dashed to where her quarters were supposed to be, needing to find out for himself. His body was still covered in grime and blood from the battle he had fought before, his clothes torn and worn form the fighting, and as Angel looked up at him he saw that her face had gotten smudged from the dirt caked on him.
Reaching up with his bare hand he gently – ever so gently, the most tender touch he had ever given anything in the whole world – brushed some of the soot from her cheeks and wiped the tears from them – before leaning forward to kiss her gently.
Angel melted into his grasp, relief and love washing over her as she returned his kiss, his familiar scent, touch and sight bringing the peace she had been looking for the past few weeks.
Everything was going to be alright.
Dee sat silently in Squall's room, looking down at the unconscious commander.
Having now met Rinoa and seen Squall, she realised how much Hale, the other Newborn, looked like them. The girl had Squall's posture, his commanding presence – even in his comatose state he seemed to command the room, drawing all the attention towards himself. The marking of a born leader, it would seem, as Dee looked up at Rinoa. Hale had her natural beauty, the raven black hair and smooth facial features, the smooth supple body and graceful walk.
Not only that, but this man was so much more different then her father – lean where Zell was thick, his hair a chocolate brown as opposed to Zell's spiky blonde. He was even taller then her father, and his smell was a major difference – she hinted a smell of gunpowder and blood as opposed to Zell's mild sweat and candy smell. Looking back at the one called Irvine, taller then both Squall and Zell as well as being slightly more handsome, he was also vastly different then Zell in almost every way possible. She wondered just how many other differences these males were to her father…
The Immortal suddenly wished she was back within her own universe, surrounded by the Valkyres and Mistress Aries. Looking about the room, at Irvine and Selphie, Quistis and Rinoa…all these people were foreign, their faces distant, their thoughts private. With her father she could read him almost instantly, his thoughts usually wide open for the world to know.
She wondered if her mother had…no, was the same.
Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look up at Selphie. The small girl smiled down at Dee, the cute brunette warmly holding her hand out for her to shake. "I'm not sure we've all been introduced to you. My name's Selphie. What's yours?"
Dee stared up at this wondrous creature. Just a little shorter then Dee was, the girl was voluptuous in the strangest way – even quiet and subdued in this sad atmosphere she radiated warmth and happiness, a bubbly glow seeming to radiate off of her, easing Dee's hesitation a little. "My name is Dee." The blonde said to the brunette, grasping her hand firmly and shaking it before retrieving her hand.
"Dee? Well, nice to meet you. Wow, that's some grip you have." Selphie says with a small grin, taking her smaller hand back and rubbing it.
"I'm sorry…" Dee said, looking down at the hand which had contained Selphie's only seconds ago. "…I'm a fighter like…Zell is."
"Oh really?" Quistis asked, walking over to the girl and sitting down next to her. "What universe are you from?"
Dee blinked at this woman. Zell had told her about her beauty – but even his good storytelling skills had done her no justice. Her smooth, flawless skin, creamy in colour underneath the red dust, the deep blue eyes like emerald droplets on a gorgeous face, the perfect figure hidden deceptively within a SeeD uniform.
Quistis sighed with irritation. This always happened. "I asked what universe you're from."
Dee blinked suddenly, snapping out of her stupor. Incredible…it's like this woman is a descendent of Mistress Aries, their beauty are so close… "The Immortal universe, ma'am."
"My name is Quistis. And the Immortal universe, you say? So they figured out a way to get Zell back to us, hmm? We must make sure to thank them later on."
"Actually…that will be a bit hard…" Dee said unhappily, looking down at Squall again.
Quistis frowned in confusion. "Why? Have the Hearts taken over your universe too?"
"No…" Rinoa whispered, looking over to Dee with her eyes wide. "…Because you don't know how to get back to your universe either, do you?"
Dee nodded slowly, her head low. "Its…it's alright though. I'm sure we'll beat this Sorceress Queen…and then I can start a new life with Zell here…I'll be fine as long as I'm around him."
Quistis had been shocked to hear that this young girl had come to this place when she had no visible way back to her home universe – but hearing what she had said then had really put her in a spin. Is she…Zell's lover? "Start a new life…what do you mean? What are you to Zell?"
Dee shifted in her seat, now feeling every eye on her when she hadn't felt them before. They seemed to sizing her up now, not threateningly – but she was feeling uneasy under their stares. "It's…it's complicated…"
Rinoa walked forward and crouched down next to Dee, looking up into her blue eyes and scared face. She seemed to be looking directly into her soul, reading her very thoughts, and although Dee tried to pull away she found that she couldn't move – she was locked in her gaze, those light brown orbs staring into hers with a critical gaze…
Before Rinoa blinked, suddenly realising. "My gods…you're…" She whispered – before grasping Dee's hand. "Tell me…is there one like you…from…"
Dee smiled down at Rinoa, feeling a slight relief that she knew and that she didn't hate her for it. "Her name is Hale. I have a picture in my pack, if you want to see."
Rinoa nodded, her eyes wide as saucers, her hands trembling as they grasped Dee's hand. "Could you?"
Dee nodded and reached for her bag.
Selphie took all this in and threw her hands into the air, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Geez, is this some kind of Immortal ritual or something to not tell people what's going on? What's your connection with Zell, lady? And what is she exactly, Rinoa?"
Dee hesitated slightly as she grabbed her bag, beginning to feel frightened again. Rinoa saw this, looked up at Selphie, and immediately Silenced her with the wave of her hand. Selphie opened her mouth to speak once more – to find she couldn't talk. A look of furious rage built up on her face and she began to jump up and down, pointing at the Sorceress and gesturing wild hurty things and silently screaming curses and threats and very, very annoyed comments at her.
Rinoa watched all this and promptly ignored her, turning back to Dee who had one hand in her pack on her lap. "Please Dee…" she asked, her voice almost hoarse with the suspense.
Selphie gave up and walked up to Irvine – who pushed past her to look down at Dee with Quistis and Rinoa with mild interest. He had been checking his guns whilst waiting for Zell to come back so he could catch up with what had happened to him and had missed the whole Silencing fiasco.
And Selphie wasn't happy.
"Hey guys, what you got there - " Irvine asked Dee and Rinoa – before his eyes widened to the size of saucers and his voice was choked off as Selphie disengaged her tiny foot from where she had slammed it up between his legs behind him into his already extraordinarily bruised balls and gave him a little shove forward.
Irvine collapsed to the floor clutching his privates, unable to make a sound except a few high-pitched squeaking noises whenever he moved. Selphie, thankful she had adequately chastened her boyfriend and relieved herself of her aggravation, walked over and promptly sat on his back, holding him down and causing him to emit another squeak.
Dee watched this with wide eyes. "My gods…are all your people this violent?"
"Not all…their relationship is weird…" Quistis explained patiently, Dispelling the Silence on Selphie now that she had calmed down. "…You learn to get used to it."
Dee nodded, before turning back down to her bag, seeing the suspense building with her every move.
Finally finding what she had been looking for – a small booklet – she opened it and flicked through a few pages until she found… "Here. These are all the Newborns – myself, Hale and Max."
One second the booklet had been in her hands – the next Rinoa snatched it out and peered down at the picture, Quistis and Selphie jumped behind her to look down at the picture.
A small garden was in the background, tall silver buildings reflecting the sun in the distance. In the foreground were three teenage girls – one with blond hair, one with dark black hair, another with a wavy brown, all of them dressed in the beautiful silk robes of the Immortals. The girl with blond hair had her arm around the brown-haired girl's neck, the two of them smiling and laughing in the camera – the one with raven-dark hair was standing to the side, watching the other two with a small, almost invisible smile on her beautiful face.
Selphie blinked, unable to comprehend why this was so important – before pointing at the girl with the black hair, her eyebrows raised in slight surprise. "Hey! Hey, she looks a lot like Squall, don't you think?"
Quistis leaned forward, having been studying the blond haired girl – obviously Dee – and looked down at the black haired girl. She looked up at Rinoa, before looking back down at the picture, before looking back up at Rinoa, almost as if comparing the two – then smiling as everything fell into place. "No…no, I believe she looks more like her mother."
Rinoa didn't say a word. She simply clutched the photo in a trembling hand, having to hold the hand with her other in order to steady the picture of her teenage daughter. Looking up at Dee, who was smiling shyly, Rinoa felt tears trail down her face. Unashamed of them, she sniffed once before reaching into the little plastic sleeve the picture was kept in and pulled it out. "Do…do you mind if I…keep this?"
Dee's smile grew larger, and she took the booklet from Rinoas hand, flicked through a few more pages, and pulled out a plastic card from the back of the book. "I think that this one would be a lot more better…" Dee said, looking at the card with a sad smile before handing it to Rinoa.
This picture only had Hale in it, the girl looking into the camera with her cold grey eyes, her beautiful long hair brushed to a shine, her slender hands clasped before her as she smiled another sad smile – so much like Squall.
Rinoa gripped the card tight with one hand to stop it shaking and reached out with the other to brush her fingers gently over the face of the girl, her words soft as she spoke. "You look so sad…"
Touching the picture suddenly made it spring to life, the girl seeming to stand out of the card and stand on it, no more then three inches in height – before reaching out to grasp a microphone with both hands and raise it to her lips.
A haunting voice, filled with passion and sadness, began to sing from the hologram, Hale's song breezing from the musical card that had been sold in all the stores in the Immortal world only a few days before Dee and Zell had to leave. Dee loved the song – it was a melody which grasped her heart and shocked it, turning it cold and also warming it at the same time. It always made her want to cry.
Quistis and Selphie sat, dumbstruck, as they listened to the song. It was like being hit by Siren's Lament – it left them breathless, unable to speak as the song wafted over them – even though they had heard it before.
As the song wound down Selphie turned to Quistis woodenly, her mouth agape as she spoke. "That…that wasn't…"
"It was." Rinoa whispered, her face unable to be seen by the others as she looked down at the hologram.
"'Eyes On Me.'"
Every bone in all their bodies chilled as they all turned to see Squall sitting up, his face pale and gaunt – but alive and awake. His cool grey eyes shone slightly as he looked at them all – before he smiled at them all. "You all make too much noise."
Seifer snarled down at the battle-map, the tactical hologram spinning this way and that as he tried to assess just how much more damage they were going to take from yet another failed assault. SeeD messenger-bunnies scurried left and right, shuttling data analysis to the infirmary and weapon stores as well as getting reports to the A and S grade SeeDs in charge of the operations. Right now Seifer was trying to figure out just how three simultaneous deployments of thousands-strong troops had gotten so out of hand. "Raijin, what's your situation?"
"Not good Seifer! We've lost half our men, half of the survivors have been Berserked, and the bad guys keep taking out our tanks and artillery before we can even use them!"
"Dammit!" Seifer yelled, slamming his fist into the display screen that had Raijin's face on it, his gloved hand smashing straight through the plexi-glass and shattering it, sending shards everywhere. "If you don't hold that ridge, Raijin, I'll come down there personally and kill your ass myself!! Understand?!"
The disembodied voice of Raijin was unperturbed by the threat. It hadn't been the first time Seifer had threatened him with death, and it was rare that his best friend actually followed through with them. "Gotcha Seifer. We'll show these guys who's boss."
Turning to another screen, Seifer glowered down at the face who looked up at him. "You'd better have good news for me, Colonel Almasy."
The Earth Seifer glowered back up at himself in the screen, explosions and gunfire aplenty in the red background. The two Seifer's had met when Gaia had sent a party to ask for assistance – suffice to say, they hadn't hit it off from the get-go, as the Earth people said. "I'm a Major, dammit, get it right – and my Marines are only human, Commander Seifer!" His voice shouted through the screen. "We cant fight all day like Gaian's can!"
"You would be able to if you weren't such pussies, wouldn't you!? The only reason I tolerate your presence is because you Earthlings have got to be the sneakiest bastards I've seen since I fought Squall and the others! Now give me an update on your situation before I come down and gut you myself!"
Major Almasy grinned at the compliment, before speaking up. "Seeing as we've all been getting ansty about the surprise attack the Heart have been launching at all our secret missions, I decided to go against orders and take the left flank as opposed to the right."
Seifer groaned. He had worked a full five painstaking hours on that battleplan. "What the hell for, Major?!"
"Because if we had come around from Insertion A and gone to CheckPoint B by following the cliff-face as you said, we would have been caught in the open if they had been atop the cliff – which they were."
Seifer blinked. "…So, what's happening now?"
The sound of a bullet whizzing past Major Almasy's head rang out over the speaker, as well as a deathrattle as a body flopped down onto the Major, who shoved him off as if it happened every day and continued his sit-rep. "Well, my men managed to take out their scouts with sniper fire and we're proceeding with the main battle-plan, only in reverse. Right now we're negotiating a cease-fire with our M-16's and P-90's with extreme prejudice from the left cliff top and face. We're going to need an ammo drop soon, and the more Remedies you drop the better for those Berserked, but we've managed to send their main attack unit running and we're currently picking off the last few survivors. With your permission I'd like to take our remaining troops after we've taken out these sorry bastards and rendezvous with Raijin – his canyon isn't too far from our position, and if we move quick we ought to outflank the enemy there and get him some support."
"Two Black-Hawk helos have just been dispatched to your current location…" Seifer said into the speaker, looking about behind him before grabbing a runner by the shirt and pulling him close so they were seeing eye to eye, his voice as cold as death. "Aren't they?"
The runner nodded fearfully, an Earthling soldier who looked like he had eaten too many Balamb Fish, before Seifer released him and sent him running off to deliver the message and info to the pilots.
Seifer turned back to the screen. "Hold that position until the Hawks arrive. I'll reprimand you for disobeying orders when you get back."
Major Almasy grinned at his Doppel through the screen. "Better be careful, Commander – next time the safety might not be engaged on my Desert Eagle."
"And next time," Seifer said, his hand hovering over the end-transmission button, "My Hyperion will cut more then your chin whiskers." He said before cutting the link.
"Honestly Seifer, must you be so brash towards the soldiers…" Cid said, walking into the command centre with the rest of the representatives of the Universes they had managed to enlist with them. Men and women from all over Gaia, Earth and Te'Get were present in the struggle to stop the Hearts from dominating the known universes – it was surprising how quickly they had joined forces, especially the Earthlings. All bets were off when it was revealed that the Hearts had already infiltrated the Earth population – the President had been more then happy to join with the Gaians and give them whatever they wanted in order to keep Earth safe.
"No harm done, Headmaster Cid…" General Raijin said, the older version of Seifer's best friend standing beside the old SeeD. "The little misunderstanding at Area 51 was resolved with…little difficulty."
"If I recall, General, we had to Stop the two of them before they killed each other irreversibly."
General Raijin smirked. "I guess men will be men in times of war…even if they're the same man. Some people just don't like themselves."
"How's the situation going, Commander Seifer?" Te'Hard said, the female leader of the Te'Get resistance forces getting right to the point. Although they weren't trained for war, the Te'Gets made up almost half of the Universal's Army – they may not have the skill, but they had the determination and numbers to prove they weren't going to put up with being slaves anymore. Te'Hard was the personification of this ideal – in her fifties and covered in battle scars along with the rest of the men preset, she was as much of a warrior as the rest.
"Ma'am, if we had about twice our numbers and three times the firepower, I don't think we'd be able to keep up the attacking formations we've been using much longer." Seifer said to the woman harshly, turning back to the battle-map and spinning it once more to make up for Major Almasy's altercations to their mission. "It's like the Hearts are telepathically reading our planner's thoughts and setting up their men before our troops ever get to the designated zone."
Commander Carpenter stepped up to the battle-map, flanked by Laguna, who was looking more serious then usual. "Have they hacked into our databases and leeched information that way?" Carpenter asked Seifer.
Laguna shook his head, answering for the angry gunblader. "No way. I had the Estharian anti-bugging unit sweep the entire base several times during our time here, as well as keep an eye on the skies for any hidden satellite transmissions. They hasn't been a single transmission they haven't personally checked for leaks, and they haven't been able to pick up any signals going into the base either."
"They might be using technology more advanced then what we have." General Raijin said solemnly. "It's a major problem in our wars back on Earth."
"I'm afraid not…" Cid said. "The Estharians are rather advanced in their technological field. If there was anything going on, I'm quite certain they would know about it."
"So either we've got one or more spooks on the inside…" Raijin muttered. "…Or there's more to the powers of this 'Sorceress Queen' then we know."
Seifer looked over the men and women as they stood about the battle-plan map, looking down at it, his cold blue eyes analysing each and every one of them, their body movements and facial expressions, his hand lighting curled around the handle of his Hyperion. In actual fact, the Estharian team had been finding strange, encoded messages disappearing into the WarWorld sky every now and then after a major mission briefing – only Seifer hadn't let the team tell Laguna and the others on the 'Universal Council'.
Seifer had an inkling that one of them had been their mole, their 'sleeper' as the Earthlings said. Squall had already been suspecting someone when they came through the Arch back to Gaia, but had been caught up in the rush of things to do a thorough investigation, having to organise the Gaian forces for the War. He had entrusted Seifer to be his second-in-command – as well as to try and smoke out the sleeper Doppelganger.
Seifer's investigations had finally come down to the Council after almost a month of research – after all, checking almost two billion soldiers to make sure they were the real deal wasn't an easy job. Squall had already assumed it was someone high up – the high amount of bad luck they had had in the assassination mission had been way too coincidental to be simple chance, as well as they way the Heart Seifer had played the SeeDs like violins, plucking their strings to make them sing the right songs. Only someone of high rank and of Gaian background would be possible to do that.
Which had left only three candidates in Seifer eyes.
Headmaster Cid.
Commander-In-Chief Carpenter.
President Laguna.
Each could have been turned or replaced with a Doppel at any time – the SeeDs had no real clue how long the Big Arch had been activated, only knowing that it had been present since Ultimecia's death – which left a good chunk of time for someone to wheedle their way into the SeeD ranks and proclaim dominance in place of the real Cid, Laguna or Carpenter.
"How are our numbers compared to theirs, Commander Seifer?" Carpenter said suddenly, breaking Seifer's musing.
"At last count we're somewhere in the fifty million mark, sir." Seifer said, looking up from the plan. "We started with almost two billion."
"So many dead…" Te'Hard whispered.
Of course, Seifer hadn't ruled out the possibility that the Te'Gets or the Earthlings had been turned either. Both of the foreign races had been exposed to the Hearts well before the Gaians had ever heard of them. It was fair to assume that the Te'Gets or the Earthlings could have been in league with the Hearts from the very start of the war.
"Many of those died for their universe and for the sake of the other universes." Laguna said softly. "Don't think of their deaths as being the vain kind."
"What about their numbers?" General Raijin asked.
"After confirmation from several fly-bys by Rinoa, Black Hawk squadrons and Ragnaroks, I think their infantry number at about double ours." Seifer delivered the information coldly, without any emotion except his usual simmering anger. "That's been knocked down from around three to four billion warriors."
Carpenter shook his head in amazement. "I never thought our forces would be this good…to think that our collaborated efforts could knock them back so much…"
"It's only through our magical teams sweeping through the regencies in the heaviest battled areas that we've been able to keep our numbers at an acceptable level." Cid said sadly, his comforting old face drooping slightly. "It seems the Hearts don't care about their comrades when they die – almost as if it's what they're here for…"
"Sending men into battle just to die…what is she thinking?" Raijin muttered, disgust evident in his voice.
"The souls."
Every single person turned to see Squall standing in the main doorway, looking down at the Council as they surrounded the map. Even Seifer was surprised to see Squall up and about – the medical officers had told them that Commander Squall wasn't going to be getting up for a very long time.
"Squall…" Laguna breathed in relief, turning to face his son – before his initial shock gave way to a pride which swelled his chest. "Yep. That's my boy. Takes the hits like a man and keeps on rockin, hey Squall?"
Squall sighed. "I suppose so, father."
Laguna nudged Raijin gently with his elbow. "That's my son, you know."
"The Sorceress Queen doesn't want to win this war – that was never her objective." Squall said, walking out of the doorway and being closely followed by Rinoa, Quistis, Selphie, a limping Irvine, Dee and finally, Zell.
Everybody in the room, even the messenger-bunnies scurrying to get their tasks done, stopped cold as the proclaimed dead man stepped into the room.
Zell had managed to get cleaned up a little with his time with Angel, his tattoo dark on his face as he grinned down at Cid, Commander Carpenter, and Laguna. "Yo."
Cid coughed.
Carpenter spluttered.
Laguna grinned like an idiot. "Booya, right?! I knew you'd show up sooner or later! You're like one of those blow up clowns that people punch, Zell – get knocked down, come right back up and laugh in their faces, right?!"
Zell shrugged and nodded. "Something like that."
Squall stepped up to the table, placing a hand on Seifer's shoulder, who was staring up at Zell, his mouth wide open. Seifer turned to look at Squall, evidently dumbstruck – but Squall simply patted his second-in-command's shoulder and led him to the side a little before taking the head of the table once more. "Ladies and gentlemen, the main objective of Sorceress Queen Heartilly has been, and always has been, to create as much death and destruction as to ensure she had enough spiritual energy to revive her own race – the Angel Race – from the grave."
Rinoa stepped up beside Squall. "She told me herself. She's been living, all alone, for almost half her life, with a burning desire to find someone to compare herself with, to share her life with – to commit with. She's trying to find a way to revive some of her own people…so she wont be alone anymore." She sighed sadly, hesitating before continuing. "But she needs spiritual energy in order to do this – souls. And in massive quantities, which is why we've been running neck and neck with the Heart forces for the last month and a half. She wants us to kill her men, she wants our soldiers to be Berserked and turn on each other – because each death is just one more step towards the completion of her goal."
General Raijin didn't know what to make of all of it. Souls…Sorceresses…resurrecting dead races… "…I'm in way over my head…" He breathed, crossing his arms and leaning on the edge of the table. He was, after all, only human – Earthlings didn't even know wether the soul existed. Confusion ran rampart in the man's head, and he suddenly felt the urge to go off and fight with the rest of his Marines and the other Earth Special Forces. He always felt that urge when doing laborious paperwork or attending board meetings – you can take the soldier out of the war, but you cant take the war out of the soldier.
Carpenter was far from confused, however. "So we've been playing into her hands this entire time?! Are you of able mind, Commander Squall?! When I debriefed you when you came back, you told me that she was amassing an army that was going to squash our universes in case we didn't retaliate with a force of equal magnitude, isn't that right?!" He spat, all sense of his former control lost.
Zell turned and looked at Carpenter, his blue eyes narrowing as he watched the Garden Commander-In-Chief's temper boil. Just like Squall said…lost his cool.
"That's true, Commander Carpenter…" Squall said, sagging gently against the edge of the battle-plan map desk, Rinoa grasping his shoulder with sudden shock – but being waved away as he stood under his own strength. He evidently wasn't fully over his injuries just yet, everyone saw.
Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Squall turned his cold grey eyes to Carpenter. "…Because I wanted you to believe that I was ignorant to the Queen's true purpose."
Carpenter blinked. "What…what do you mean?"
"I think you know, Carpenter."
Carpenter narrowed his eyes. "You will address me as Commander, Mr. Leonhart."
One of the doorways on the side of the room opened suddenly, allowing the entrance of a tall, blond haired man with wire-frame spectacles perched on his nose and a beaten old laptop tucked under his shoulder. "Why address someone by a name they never gained – at least, not legibly." Julius Garner said, walking into the room with a sure stride.
The fist fighter, like all the other people in the room, was covered in red dust and was sporting a few new scars – his left eye, still a light sky blue, had a jagged white line trailing down over it behind his spectacles, and it looked like someone had almost cut off his nose judging by the white line lacing horizontally over the bridge. As he walked in he nodded a greeting to the Sorceress Heroes – and winked at Zell. "Hiya Zell. Got the tattoo back, I see. Good to have you back, pal."
Zell smiled back at his friend – before realising that he had been the only one besides Squall to not be surprised by his appearance. "Good to be back, Jules."
"Someone tell me what is going on?!" Carpenter ordered firmly, his hands balled into fists and shaking uncontrollably as stares began to descend onto him – before his eyes widened as something cold and metallic was jabbed into his back.
Irvine smiled down at the brown-haired man. "Just shut up, pal – otherwise you'll miss the exciting part." He jabbed the Vincent Valentine .45 calibre handgun in his left hand into Carpenter's back to punctuate the point as his right pulled up a chair – and shoving Carpenter into it. "Sit. Stay."
Squall let out a heavy breath, before turning to Julius. "Julius, please enlighten the Council of the information that you and Seifer have gathered and have been gathering over the course of the events leading up to this moment."
"With pleasure, Commander." Julius said, drawing up his own chair at the head of the display desk and sitting down, putting his laptop on the desk and connecting it a port next to the small read-out screen.
Flipping the laptop open, Julius spoke as his fingers whirled over the keyboard, his spectacles reflecting the soft glow of the screen as his words drew the attention of the people in the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, as you are well aware our war has been far from successful on most fronts."
Tapping a few keys the main holo-deck sprang into life, showing two bars, the left twice the size of the right. "As you can see from this graph, the enemy were twice our numbers at the start of this war." Pressing another button let a small numerical display blink into life next to the bars, the numbers rising rapidly as the bars dropped dramatically. "As you can see, the decline of numbers between the two forces have been, for the extent of the battle, equal – they have always been a step ahead of us in deployment and troops, and it is because of this reason that we have been declining along with them. I estimate that if we attack with our original forces and under normal circumstances, this war would have been over weeks ago, with the Universals as the victors."
He pressed another button and two more bars sprang up next to the declining ones, these ones of the same size as they former were before their steady drop. Julius pressed another key and the second set began to fall as well – but instead of declining evenly, the smaller bar stayed in place whilst the other fell like a rock dropped into a pool of water.
General Raijin watched the graphs. "You said under normal conditions. What are the variables of these graphs?"
Julius looked up at the General. "The first set of bars shows the effects of the war if someone on the inside was feeding information to the enemy on an almost daily basis. The second set shows if there was no such espionage."
The Earthling narrowed his eyes and shot a glance to Carpenter, who said nothing.
Julius looked back down at his screen. "In all manners of war-faring sense, the Universals may not have the numbers of the Hearts, but we sure do have the skill and equipment. It's been estimated that one Gaian can take down about five normal Heart soldiers, and as I know through personal experience it only takes a well trained SeeD to get past the Orihalcon armour and Adamantine armour issued to the higher-ranking Heart soldiers."
"And it's not just the Gaian's who have been fighting with impressive results – the armaments from Earth have been a blessing to the Te'Gets, and the Earth Special Forces have amassed a gigantic kill record for their numbers. I believe the record is one unit of…SEAL, is it? Destroyed several of the Heart war machines in a manner of minutes with the use of their plastic explosives and demolition skills. Also, the Earth Forces have been very adept in scouting out and eliminating Heart ranking officers using subtle sniping and expert bombing raids."
General Raijin simply smiled smugly and said nothing.
Julius continued, getting fired up as he spoke. "It was only through these tactics we have been able to stand against the Hearts the way we have – it's believed that the longer we had been fighting against them under our current conditions, the greater the chance that our forces will be completely depleted in less then…" He stabbed his finger down on a key, a display coming up on the hologram.
"…Less then three weeks?!" Laguna cried in surprise.
"Oh, that's what it says…" General Raijin said with a smile. As with all the Earth forces, he was wearing a communication device to listen into the Gaian's and Te'Gets – reading, however, was an entirely different matter.
Julius nodded to Laguna. "However, I believe that, with the current strength of our forces we can sustain an all-out attack, forcing the weaker and less adept Hearts back to their main base. The strength of our forces will overwhelm them in a manner of hours, and in less time we will be able to launch our secret attack on the Queen."
Carpenter looked up then. "What do you mean?"
Julius looked at Carpenter. "As we attack with our men the Hearts will have no choice but to fling their entire force at us – their only strength, it seems, is their numbers. During that time a select group of SeeDs will fly in on Black Hawks or Ragnaroks, steal their way into the base, and destroy the Queen."
Carpenter shook his head. "This is insane! You're willing to pit your men against a force twice their numbers?!"
"The difference is, Mr. Carpenter, is that it'll work this time." Squall said.
"And how do you know that?!"
"Because we've got the sleeper in our sights." Irvine muttered, his gun resting gently against the back of Carpenter's head.
Every single eye turned to Carpenter, who was seething in his seat. "You've gone crazy, damn you! I'm your Commander-In-Chief, how dare you accuse me of this!"
"The signs were all there, Commander." Squall said, resting gently against Rinoa. "We just didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle until Zell came back."
Zell stepped forward, his tattooed face grim as he turned to the Council. "Through the mission we've been having trouble spring up that simply shouldn't have been there – the fire and our rooms being ransacked at the start, the welcoming committee when we first went through the Big Arch, our capture and torture by the Crisps, and the arrival of Azel to the Immortal world were all things that were tweaking my curiosity as I waited to get back."
"Then the mole at Area 51, and the elaborate scheme to capture Rinoa in the Heart world…as well as our increasing bad luck in the war…" Squall muttered. "It was obvious that something was wrong all the way through the mission – from within, as well as from Gaia."
Julius looked at Carpenter, his face expressionless. "When did you join SeeD, Commander?"
Carpenter blinked. "You think I'm…?"
"When did you become a SeeD, Matthew Carpenter? Which Garden did you train and teach in before you became the Commander? How many missions have you performed during your time in SeeD?" Julius continued.
"I…" Carpenter fumbled for words, looking more and more lost as he looked about the room for support…but nobody was offering any.
Julius had had enough. He stood up and tapped a few more keys into the keyboard of his laptop. "In our first…and only mission statement, at least to my knowledge, we spoke briefly. You were surprised to find me making the statement – you told me that you had expected Zell to make them, but I had a feeling you meant someone else. Also, after we spoke about Trish and Emily, you called the Arch the 'Tidus', the name that the Hearts and the Te'Gets call it." Julius cocked his head to one side. "I hadn't told you that name, sir. Nobody called it a 'Tidus' in Gaia. The consequence that the names would be the same in several universes would be astronomical – especially since we hadn't deciphered the Angel language yet."
Carpenter gulped. He'd been found out by a simple slip of the tongue.
Squall stepped forward with Rinoa's help and looked down to Carpenter. "We know you've been sending the Queen secret messages regarding our troops, Carpenter. We know you were the one who ransacked our rooms and planted the explosives in Balamb Garden during the Garden war-games. I checked the records when I got back – you were absent during the whole day. Plenty of time to go through our quarters and plant explosive devices in the security room."
Zell sighed. This was the hard part. "Of course, now we know who the Garden Mole was, we need to know who the mole in our team was. Obviously it wasn't me, Rinoa, Squall and Veronica for obvious reasons – which leaves Julius, Trish and Emily." He said, looking over to Julius. "Jules has been nothing but a boon to Squall and Rinoa whilst I was away, so we know it wasn't him…which just leaves the girls."
"Both of them are able to use Blues, which means telepathically linking with them is more difficult then usual." Rinoa said. "If I tried to check them out, I find myself unable to focus on their thoughts."
"The two of them have secret pasts that they have not shared with anyone but each other, and they had been spending increasingly large amounts of time together too. They confide with each other, and even sleep in the same room. It's obvious they've gotten close – which makes it even harder to figure out which one was our mole." Squall growled, turning to Carpenter. "So, 'Commander'," Squall muttered, spitting the title out as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "If you wish to have a quick and painless death, you had better tell us who it is."
Carpenter sighed and looked down at his hands. He had been caught out, it seemed. And, seeing as the Queen had refused his constant requests for him to return to her, abandoning him after wasting years infiltrating and building himself up as a Commander in the SeeD forces…he had nothing to live for. He was disillusioned, unable to grasp why she had left him or what he had done to deserve it.
But, he thought as his mind rankled at the thought of the SeeDs achieving his task, at least this way I'll be able to show her that I can still be of some use to someone other then her…
Trish ducked behind Emily fearfully as the shells whistled over their heads, flying into the red horizon to explode brilliantly, lighting up the twilight as the gigantic red sun sank down behind the mountains, revealing itself periodically from the blanket of clouds before disappearing behind the cover once more. "Are you sure I ought to be out here?!" Trish cried to Emily, grasping her leg and quivering slightly as red pebbles and debris rained down on them. "I'm a thief, not a fighter!!"
"The whole point is to make you a fighter!" Emily shouted down to her, looking left and right as her squad of SeeDs fell back to the ridge they had retreated to. "If you don't like it then go back to base!"
Trish pouted and looked down at her battle-cracked armour and fighting gauntlets – but said nothing.
Emily smirked. The girl has spirit in all the wrong places… She thought as she looked over the ridge briefly, seeing that the remainder of the enemy had already regrouped and had begun to advance on their position. She quickly ducked back down as bullets marred the rock she had glanced over, digging great holes and chunks from it's surface and shooting clouds of red dust in her face as she huddled behind it with her lover.
One of the SeeDs crawled up beside her, his face bloody on one side, his hands grasping an Earth rifle. "Ma'am, we've just received word that reinforcements will be arriving soon, ETA. Our orders?"
Emily grimaced and looked up at the sky. She had hoped that Squall would not make her a squad leader – but, of course, he had, which riled her right up. She was a loner, lone wolf – it was the reason she acted the way she did, the reason she dressed. Why would she want to command a squad of five hundred crack SeeD troops? The logic behind it was incomprehensible to her. All she wanted was to fight and spend time with Trish… "Regroup and make contact with Raijin's forces – they ought to be on that other ridge behind us. We will hold this ridge until our reinforcements get here – got that?!"
The man tried to salute but realised his arm was broken, so he did it with his other arm. "Yes ma'am!"
"And get that arm looked at!!" Emily yelled as the man scurried off.
Ducking back down she looked over to Trish, who was staring at her with a look of awe. "I hate it when you do that." Emily muttered morosely, avoiding her gaze. "Stop it."
"I cant help it…" Trish whispered. "…I keep thinking about how different you get when we're out here…it's like you're a completely different person from..."
"From what? The bedroom?"
Trish bit her bottom lip and looked down at her gauntlets again, falling silent.
Emily looked away as well, mentally kicking herself for speaking out. She does change when in the battlefield – you need to change. This isn't a mission where you're up against one or two people, where you interact with them and get to know them – this is war, where the people you're up against are legion and faceless, and where you are not alone. In order to survive you must work as a team – she may not like it, but she couldn't deny the fact that it had saved her life on numerable occasions…
As always when she said something that hurt Trish, Emily scooted forward to give her a kiss on the forehead and to draw her into a rare but affectionate hug, exclusively dealt to Trish and Trish alone, and as always Trish accepted the hug with reverence.
That was one of the things that Emily liked about Trish. Her easy acceptance and her forgiving attitude.
Drawing away Emily placed her hands on Trish's shoulders. "Okay. We're going to go back out there now. Are you ready?"
Trish sighed and made sure her gauntlets were on snug before nodding, a small smile on her dust-covered face.
Impossible…it's impossible… Zell thought to himself as the Ragnarok shot through the sky at unbelievable speeds.
Somebody was talking to him – Irvine possibly – and was telling him about how the Estharians and the Galbadians had worked for three days straight to create a massively gigantic Arch, big enough to send the giant mechanical Dragons through in one piece so they didn't need to break them down and set them up later. He was beginning to mutter on about how they had done the same thing with the Earthlings and the Te'Gets to make sure fresh troops could come in and out at will when Zell rammed his Uber Ehrgiez Gauntlet into the unoccupied seat beside him, the metal bending under his fist as he tried to relieve some of the tension in his gut.
"Okay, Hyne, I'll shut up then…" Irvine muttered, sitting back in his seat and pulling out the M4 Carbine that the Earthlings had given him from his side, checking and rechecking the M204 grenade launcher fitted snugly beneath the main barrel before making sure it was cocked, locked and ready to rock.
…How could I not see it? Was she that good at playing all of us? Zell thought again as the Ragnarok dipped and swerved through the mountain ranges over the piles upon piles of dead corpses and bearing down swiftly on the fight that was raging just a few miles away…
Emily swung her leg around and broke the man's jaw in half with her heel before the leg landed – and she stepped forward to smash her fists into his chest, sending him flying back into the crowd of Hearts and disappearing into the throng.
Throwing her head to the side she deftly blocked a right cross from behind before sending out a mule-kick which took the man right in the guts, sending him to the ground crying out in agony. Spinning and throwing her hands out at the group that was bearing down at her, her eyes flashed blue – before the entire ground suddenly rose, great sheets of rock carrying the confused men up high into the sky – before dropping, as if the wind had suddenly died down whilst carrying a falling leaf into the sky, the leaf obeying the laws of gravity once more.
The group of men crashed to the ground sending bodies flying everywhere and Emily was given a short reprieve as the men tried to pick themselves up, the warrior-woman turning to look for Trish.
The thief, contrary to her grievances for being on the field, was actually holding her own. Staying to the back of the group, she ran forward to take out any men who tried to get around and flank the SeeDs, bashing the small teams of three or four with her usual strategy – tackle one to the ground before teleporting away to perform sneak attacks on the men, appearing within their group and making them lash out only to hit each other, not really fighting at all – just letting them kill each other before getting rid of the last man standing.
Snapping the Heart's neck with a sombre expression, she dropped the man's body and turned to Emily – to flash her a courageous smile.
Emily didn't acknowledge the smile with one of her own – she simply turned and threw herself into the enemy once more, satisfied that she was holding her own.
Smashing her fist into a man's face and caving his skull in, Emily pushed his body down and flipped over him to hook her legs around the shoulders of another Heart soldier, her crotch bumping against his face for a brief second – before she squeezed her thighs against the sides of his head and twisted her hips suddenly, breaking his neck and causing him to fall to the ground with her toppling along with him. Falling hard and rolling off the body before she could be trapped beneath it, Emily found herself staring up at several advancing Heart, racing towards her with their weapons held high – before she threw her hand out to them, an Aero blowing them all out of her face and into the distance.
Flipping up to her feet she looked left and right again. Amazingly they were holding their own – she could see Raijin spinning his thick club in the middle of a hoard of men, bodies flinging and flying in all directions as he smacked them out of this world. His and her SeeDs were also hold their ground with admirable dedication – the Hearts were only fitted with what seemed like old armour, not even Adamantine, and these ones didn't seem to have Berserk junctioned to their weapons – indeed, it was like they were only fighting just to die…
All of a sudden there was a deep roaring in the background, like some kind of magical dragon was beginning to bear down on them, and Emily almost sighed with relief as several Ragnaroks flew over them at incredible speeds, slashing through the sky like red, blue and green deities.
The SeeDs stopped their fighting for a second to pump their fists into the blood-red sky and whoop out a cheer as the massive dragons banked around and began to return for another pass, the Hearts now hesitant in their fighting – before they all placed their hands to their left ears, listening to a command coming in over their radio head-sets – before discarding their weapons and retreating, running back the way they came.
The red Ragnarok slashed through the sky with it's mini-guns blazing, sending sizzling metal through the air like water form a hose, washing down the retreating enemy with no mercy, dust slashing out from the ground around their bodies as the Hearts simply evaporated under the extreme barrage of gunfire.
Lowering her fists and shaking her head, sending beads of sweat and blood in all directions, Emily raised her hand to keep the dust from her eyes as the Ragnarok's lower burners activated, allowing it to hover in the air and kick up massive quantities of sand and dust in all directions. Watching the massive dragon's back compartment open and allow a team of people to jump down, Emily suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Trish smiling at her.
"We're going to go back to base now, right?" Trish asked.
"I suppose…" Emily muttered in reply, turning back to watch three figures, concealed in the dust and breaking away from the main group, run towards the nearest SeeD and speak to him before being pointed towards her and Trish. The other began to rally her troops up and get them into the Ragnarok.
Trish breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against Emily gratefully, rubbing her cheek against Emily's and feeling the smoothness of it. "Thank the gods…I don't think I'll ever get this dust off my skin…and this blood…it's good we get combat fatigues instead of being dressed in our own clothes…"
"Don't worry." Emily said absently, watching the three men approach them. "When we get back I'll make sure to wash you clean."
"Is that a promise?" Trish asked with a giggle – before looking forward to watch the three men approach them. "Hey, who are they?"
Irvine looked at Julius and Zell as they neared the two women. "Uh…are they…you know…sliced wholemeal instead of white, if you catch my drift?" He asked uncertainly, seeing the way they stood together.
"Yeah." Julius said with an affirming tone. "…They started somewhere in the Immortal World, I think."
"…It's only going to make this harder on her, you know." Irvine muttered, looking back at the two women, making sure the Carbine was held in his hands but not threateningly. "She's not going to take it well."
"Would you if it was Selphie?"
Irvine sighed and nodded. "Yeah…you're right."
Zell said nothing. He simply walked forward, ignoring the others as the dust finally crept away from him, revealing his face to the pair.
As usual, there was the initial surprise etched into their faces – before Emily smirked. "Well well well, Hunter – I should've known that losing your head wouldn't have kept you down."
"I'm strange like that, Emily…" Zell said with his own smirk.
Emily shook her head and looked away as if having to be forced to deal with a child as his joke sank in.
Trish stood behind Emily, her mouth wide open as she looked Zell up and down again. "Z-zell?! Is it really you?!"
"Yup. I'm back, Trish. Hard to believe?" Zell muttered with a small smile, before beckoning Emily forward. "We've been sent here to bring you back to base, Emily. Come and give me a sit-rep."
Emily and Trish began to walk forward – before Zell raised his hand to stop them. "Sorry Trish, just Emily."
The two girls looked at each other, some kind of secret message being sent between them before Emily looked back at Zell. "Why can't she come too?"
"New procedures. We think we've discovered a mole in the ranks of your unit, as we need to debrief the squad leaders in private." Julius said evenly, keeping his eye firmly on the two girls.
Emily took a step back, making sure Trish was behind her as she looked over the three men, spotting the differences as she snarled her words. "Why so formal, Hunter? And I'd take your finger off the trigger if I were you, Slayer…?"
"Just making sure nothing bad happens, Em." Irvine said, keeping the stock of the rifle against his shoulder but having the barrel lowered.
"Emily…they're scaring me…" Trish whispered to Emily.
Emily blinked, her stomach growing tight as her eyes darted from Zell to Julius to Irvine. "Hunter…"
"Emily, step away from Trish." Zell said sadly.
"No."
"Emily, it's an order."
"I said no."
"Emily…don't make me move you by force."
"You'll have to…" she spat back – before her eyes widened as she drew in a sharp breath, feeling something jut through her stomach.
Zell grimaced as he watched the tip of a knife press against the back of Emily's breastplate, pushing the Adamantine forward and creating a bloody patch as the red liquid seeped through the plating around her armpits and abdomen.
Emily's grey eyes went wide as she choked, coughing hoarsely as she turned her head – to looked down at Trish, her slim fingers curled around the hilt of a wickedly-sharp knife, the blade cutting straight through the armour in her back to jab deep into her spine. "…Wh…what…" Emily gasped, unable to comprehend the motion as Trish looked up to her with sad eyes.
"It was fun, Emily…it really was…but my Queen needs me…" Trish whispered, her free hand gripping the shoulder-blade of the armour as she jammed the knife in deeper, twisting the blade within the wound.
Julius began to run forward – before Irvine shouted, the Carbine to his shoulder and pointed towards the hidden Trish. "Stay back!! If she lets off some magic we wont be able to revive Emily – so stay away!!"
Emily was in excruciating pain, and as the blood coursed past her lips she felt something wet on her cheeks, cutting channels through the dust caked on her face. Confusion raged in her mind once more – before she realised what it was.
Tears. Tears of betrayal, tears of deceit found out – tears of deception. This was the pure reason she hadn't gotten close to anybody in a long, long time – she feared a knife in the back.
She never figured she would receive one literally.
She groaned as the knife was pulled from her back, blood pouring from the wound – before she felt Trish's slim arms wrap around her neck and felt the tip of the knife enter her throat, jammed in deep, all the way to the hilt.
She felt nothing then. A small tickling sensation on the nape of her neck, which she found annoying – before she figured that was the tip of the knife exiting from behind her neck, so she let it slide.
Instead she found herself hearing the voice of her betraying lover beside her ear. "Let me leave, Zell, and I'll leave her in a revivable shape."
"You know we can't do that, Trish." The Hunter replied. "You're responsible for the deaths of millions of our soldiers, as well as all the shit you put us through during the mission. Letting you walk would just be another opportunity to let you stab us in the back."
"You'd let her die, a comrade in arms, a friend?" Trish muttered back. "You SeeDs are fucking heartless, you know that? Julius, you know all about that, huh?"
Emily watched Julius' face pale slightly – but he spoke up all the same. "Let her go, Trish."
"If I tear this knife out to the left, I sever her spine and render her a cripple. I can then teleport us away so you'll never find her – at least, not in enough time to heal her completely."
Zell tried another tactic. "Let us help you, Trish."
Her beautiful laughter entered Emily's ear like an electrocution to her brain, shocking every nerve. "How can you help me, Hunter?! You have nothing I need!!"
"You two have had sex, yeah?"
Trish snorted. "Not that it's any of your concern, but yes!" Trish's voice echoed in her ear as she spoke directly to her. "…And I loved every second of it…"
"Did Emily tell you of her Blues?"
Trish faltered slightly as she looked back up to Zell. "…Of course…"
"Then you know that her kiss, no matter who she gives it to, is deadly."
Trish looked down at Emily, trapped in her arms with the knife still stabbed deep into her throat, blood pulsing from the wound. "You're…you're lying…there's no such thing…"
"It's true." Irvine muttered. "Zell and me have been victim to it. Zell almost died from it, and me…well, lets just say I wasn't myself. And remember the guy in the Crisp world, the guy we needed info from?"
"You…you're lying!! Damn you, it's not possible! She was in love with me!!"
"You obviously don't know Emily as well as I do…" Zell said slowly. "So alone…so scared of everything…if she found someone who gave her unconditional love, I'd put all my money on the fact that she would do anything to keep them…even to the point of physical blackmail."
Trish's pretty face curled into a snarl as she looked back down to Emily. "…It's true, isn't it?! You bitch, you've killed me!!"
Emily, feeling betrayed and more hurt then any wound would give her, felt a small sense of satisfaction as her purple lips twisted into a deadly smile – before her hand reached up to grasp the hand holding the knife into her throat.
Trish blinked. "Hey!!" she yelled – before her eyes flashed blue…
…To do nothing. "What the fuck?!" She screamed. "What have you done to me?! I cant teleport!!"
"It's one of Emily's blues…" Zell muttered. "I checked with Carpenter. She has the ability to block a person's magic – that's why he sent her along on the mission. To make sure that Rinoa didn't turn Angel and screw up his plans by killing the Queen. She was ordered to keep tabs on Rinoa and make sure that I was the one to kill the Queen. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to use that Blue – otherwise everything might have turned out a hell of a lot differently…"
Trish wasn't listening, however. She struggled against Emily's grip, shaking her hand with the knife firmly lodge in her neck as Emily's grip seemed to grow stronger. "Let go, you bitch!!" Trish screamed at her, trying desperately to yank the blade out and run – but Emily's grasp was too strong, and running from behind Emily would give Zell, Julius and Irvine a clear shot.
Irvine, for that matter, had the Carbine trained on the two woman as they battled for control of the arm, his gun wavering left and right as her tried to get a bead on Trish's pretty face. "All I need is one opening…c'mon Emily, just gimme one opening…" He whispered to himself, his eyes looking right through the small M68 sight, designed to be looked through with both eyes for close-quarters combat.
Emily burst of strength was beginning to wane, however. Her blood was pumping through the stab in her back and from her neck at an alarming rate, and as she felt her grip on Trish's hand loosen, she watched as the edges of her sight began to grow dark, blackness closing in around her…before everything sharpened as her feeling came back, the knife ripping through her neck and severing her spinal cord, leaving her head attached to her body by only a few threads of muscle.
"You should've died from my Smoke Demon…" Trish whispered into Emily's ear as everything began to grow dark once more. "…I was telling the truth when I was having fun…"
But the rest was lost as Emily passed on into the great unknown.
Her captive dead, Trish dumped the body and looked up – to look down the barrel of Irvine's Carbine.
There was no time to draw on the necessary energy to cast the teleportation Blue. The velocity of a bullet from several yards away was too much for her to comprehend as she watched the barrel flare brightly…
The 5.56mm rounds flew true as usual, drilling five neat holes into Trish's forehead and blasting the back of her head into a bloody mess, reducing her brain to pulp and making her golden hair fly out and scatter in the wind.
Irvine stood where he had been positioned, the barrel of his Carbine smoking as he stayed in place like a statue. He had liked Trish. They had talked a few times, and she had playfully stolen a few of his things whilst they had become friends. She had even hit on him once or twice.
Julius looked down at the bodies of two of his comrades and simply shook his head. He had thought he had known them…had thought he had almost come to understand them. It was obvious now that there was no real way to truly know a person inside and out. They all had their secrets and their demons…and the only way to have them known was for them to be revealed willingly.
Zell simply sank to his knees. He had been too late to save either of them.
Didn't see that coming, huh?
Don't worry, peeps, I'm getting there, slowly but surely. Just make sure to hang in for the next chapter – the big battle is coming up, not to mention not one, not two…but six GF's!! Am I insane!? My friends say so!!
Plus, the battle you're all waiting for…Azel VS Zell. How will it turn out? Lets just say Zell will never be the same again.
