Chapter 9

"…Please reconsider this. This is what's best for the kingdom."

Fujin sat motionless on her seat as she listened to what the Council had to say. Although an emotionless expression remained on her face, her hands resting on her thighs were closed into balls of fists. Hidden from sight, her pale hands slightly shook as she dug her nails in them, drawing a small portion of her blood.

"We are only doing what is best for the kingdom. Therefore your powers are desperately needed," a council member said, his gaze fixed intently on the pale Fujin.

Fujin did not reply, but instead remained motionless. No matter how hard the Council had tried to persuade her, she had always refused and denied the fact that she had a Gift. What good use would come of it if she persisted on telling them that she had no power whatsoever?

Reading her silence as a response for refusal, Edea sighed. "Fujin, please. You cannot deny the existence of your powers. In order to save Balamb and the world we will need your cooperation," she said in a soft, wispy voice. "We must move quickly before the darkness takes over."

"If you cannot cooperate with us willingly, we will have no choice but to hold you against your will. I'm sure you do not wish to be held by force, Lady Fujin," Cid added, a grim look on his usually cheerful face. "Although I am reluctant to say this, but we must use any force necessary."

Still there was no reply from the pale Fujin. Instead, she shut her eye and stood up from her chair, walking away without making any noise.

"Lady Fujin! Sit down!" Counselor Martin ordered, slamming his hands against the table as he too stood up. "Our discussion has not been called to a halt yet!"

Fujin paid no heed to Counselor Martin's orders and made her way towards the large doors before her. Her hands now at her sides, she hid them with her sleeves.

"Lady Fujin!" Counselor Martin cried out again, his voice sounding furious. Noticing that the petite woman made no response to his callings, he raised his hand in the air, pointing at Fujin. "Guards! Seize her at once!"

With the sound of orders ringing in their ears, the guards that had been standing at the corners of the room moved from their place and rushed to Fujin, pointing deadly weapons towards her.

"Martin! Stop it!" Edea growled angrily, rising from her seat. She gave Counselor Martin a menacing look as if she were about to order his head chopped off from his shoulders.

Suddenly, Seifer burst through the entrance doors, Hyperion in his grasp. His emerald eyes flashed a hint of fury as he saw the guards surround Fujin. "What's going on here?!" he demanded angrily.

Counselor Martin's gaze quickly shifted towards the furious Seifer. Angrily, the corner of his mouth twitched as he burst out in fits of fury. "Who is this man?! Get him out! I want order here! I want order in the Council! And I want it at once!" he glowered.

"Seifer!" Edea exclaimed, jumping slightly when the doors had been thrown open so suddenly.

Seifer's menacing look narrowed suspiciously as he shot a hot glare at Counselor Martin. "Counselor Martin," he said coolly, his emerald eyes twinkling dangerously. "I should've guessed…"

Martin returned the cool gaze Seifer shot him before turning to glance at Edea. "I take it that this is the future king of Balamb?" he sneered cruelly, shooting his attention back at Seifer.

Seifer's expression remained still, although his eyes narrowed once again.

Ignoring Seifer's dangerous glare, Martin went on. "Forgive my comments, your majesties, but I believe that your son needs to be taught some discipline. We have an important matter to discuss. We do not have time for some silly boy barging into matters that need not be his business. This is a High Council. There is no room for silly games."

Trying to avoid any more conflicts, Cid cleared his throat, a stern look on his face. "That will do, Martin. Sit back down. We don't need a big confrontation in this matter. Now, if you don't mind, Seifer, we would like to continue this meeting."

Unfortunately, Seifer ignored Cid's request, as he rested the back of his gunblade on his shoulder. "Oh is it? I was taught that High Councils were meetings that only involved those who hold power among the nations. I was led to believe that they were well mannered and not ill tempered," he said loudly. "But, you have proven me wrong, Counselor Martin."

At that moment, the room broke out into quiet murmurs, including Edea's harsh whisper. A look of disapproval suddenly rose to her face. Martin looked as if he had been punched in the gut. Rising angrily, he slammed his hands on the table.

"I beg your pardon!" Martin growled.

"It is against the code of chivalry to hold anyone, especially young women against their will. Perhaps you should be taught that instead of wasting the Council's time with your ridiculous antics," Seifer snapped. Turning to look at Fujin, he mumbled, "Let's go," and headed out of the room.

Fujin silently followed, not bothering to look back. Trying hard not to smile, she gave a sigh of relief. Thankfully for Seifer, she wasn't forced to do anything she was reluctant to do. "MY THANKS," she said in her low monotone voice.

Seifer nodded quietly, thinking for a moment. "Don't worry about it. Just be careful. That Martin's not to be taken lightly. From the looks of it, I don't think that guy's going to give up on you…"

Fujin nodded silently, hoping that Seifer was wrong.

*

The dinner that had taken place that very night seemed quite solemn. Almost every face in the room held a grim look. Occasionally, one or two people would glance at Quistis, giving her a sympathetic look before looking away.

Quistis, trying hard not to notice the odd silence, attempted to start conversation, although to no avail. Squall would merely shrug or give his usual "…Whatever" comments, and Seifer was sent away by Edea for embarrassing Counselor Martin. Meanwhile, Rinoa had refused to come near or have a pleasant conversation with Quistis, saying that she had better things to do. Obviously, Quistis surely could not depend on Zell for even a small bit of discussion after all the food he had shoved into his mouth, and there was no way she came even near to a conversation with Raijin, who appeared to be brooding to himself. Fujin was nowhere to be seen and was most likely keeping Seifer company. Not even Selphie was anywhere near Quistis to start up a tête-à-tête, due to the fact that she had been avoiding Irvine and his lame pick-up lines.

Soon, the feast turned out to be a long and torturous night for the young princess, as she sat where she was, picking at her food in silence. Drumming her fingers irritably against the wood, she caught sight of a few people giving her looks of pity. Tired of this monotonous juncture, Quistis placed her fork against her plate as she stood up from her chair.

"Quistis, where are you going?" Cid asked, jumping slightly to the sudden noise.

Quistis walked away coolly from the dinner table as she headed for her room. "I'm going to a place where no one's going to look at me as if I had died!" she replied tartly, opening the door in front of her and slamming it shut on her way out.

Attempting to keep her cool while rushing through the halls, she failed to notice a petite figure slowly emerging from a corner leading to the castle's High Tower. With a small yelp, Quistis bumped against the wall from the impact.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry, Fujin. I did not see you there," the princess apologized, spotting Fujin on the floor. With a quick movement, Quistis offered a hand to Fujin.

The crimson-eyed princess refused to take Quistis's hand as she rose from the marble floor herself. "DON'T BOTHER," she said coolly, walking away back towards the High Tower. Suddenly, she stopped halfway and turned back to look at Quistis. With a small nod of her head, she motioned Quistis to follow her.

Although unsure, Quistis thought it best to pursue Fujin, hoping she would discover something useful about herself. In silence, she and the crimson-eyed princess climbed the steps of the High Tower, wondering what Fujin could possibly want with her being in the High Tower.

The Lady Leila, Late Queen of Balamb, had once owned the tower. She had used the tower for her purposes of training her daughter the art and skill of sorcery. It had been there that she had so slowly passed away, her beloved children clinging onto her in desperation to keep her alive. Ever since that day, Quistis had refused to set foot into the High Tower, not wanting to remember the painful memory of a mother that had left her when she was still a child.

Snapping out of her reverie, Quistis shook her head. She brushed the thoughts of her mother away, scolding herself for bringing up an issue she had vowed to leave forgotten. "…That was ten years ago…No need to think about it…" she scolded herself softly as she entered the dusty tower.

Fujin closed the door of the tower behind her in a swift manner. Before speaking, her crimson eye searched the room carefully; making sure nothing was capable of eavesdropping on them. When she was satisfied, she turned to look at Quistis, an emotionless gaze held on her ivory face.

"What is it?"

Fujin stayed silent for another long moment. Then she strode towards a ragged curtain blocking out the view of the outside world. Taking a deep breath, Fujin threw the curtains open and pointed out towards the horizon. "OBSERVE," she said in her dull, monotone voice.

Slowly, Quistis walked towards the window and stared out into the horizon. Although it was unclear, she quickly realized what Fujin was pointing to and gasped. Earlier that day when she had visited Squall in the hospital wing, Quistis had seen dark clouds rising from the horizon. Quistis had believed that a storm was approaching.

But from what Fujin had shown her, Quistis was greatly mistaken. For the "dark clouds" she had seen were clearly large puffs of smoke coming from the Earth itself. It appeared that there had been some kind of eruption that had caused the black smoke to rise from the ground.

"What is that?" Quistis asked in a firm whisper, her blue eyes staring at the rising smoke.

Fujin thought for a moment before replying. "BARRIER. TERMINATED," she finally replied.

"Terminated? Do you mean the Underworld Prison?" Quistis asked, squinting through the darkness in order to get a better view of the black smoke.

The crimson-eyed princess gave a nod. She turned to look at Quistis, her gaze firm and piercing. It somewhat resembled that of Seifer's when he became serious. "GF's…SEARCHING. TREPE."

Suddenly, as if a brick had hit Quistis, her face paled with shock. "That means…"

*

Seifer leaned against a marble column, his head rested against the cold marble as he closed his eyes. Trying hard not to think about his growling stomach, he tried to clear his mind in preparation for meditating.

"You like her, don't you?"

Seifer turned his head towards where a petite figure was standing. At first he remained silent, as he fixed his gaze straight at the glaring crimson eye. Finally, he looked away, shrugging. "What does it matter?" he replied, tossing a pebble towards the ocean. Quietly, he watched as his pebble skipped far away into the blue ocean.

There was a long moment of silence. Only the rustling of the wind and the rhythm of the ocean could be heard for a long time.

Finally, the petite figure slowly strode to Seifer's side, her hands clasped behind her back. Gazing far off into the distance, she replied, "You're a very bad liar, you know."

Seifer turned to gaze at his friend. As he looked at her, he could not read her expression, for her silvery hair covered her. Quietly, he merely observed his friend, watching her hair flow gently into the wind.

The figure gave a small smile, although her lips trembled in difficulty. She had not been used to smiling. Turning to look at Seifer, the corner of her mouth curved into a small grin. "That's okay. You don't have to answer…"

Seifer remained silent for a long time. His emerald eyes stared upon his pale friend, as he studied her carefully. "You pick a funny way of being jealous."

The figure let out a soft chuckle. "Really? I thought jealousy was the way you acted with my last engagement…"

There was a small growling sound emerging quietly from behind the blonde prince.

Snapping out of his reverie, Seifer slowly turned around. As he moved, he could feel hot breath against his neck.

The mysterious growl sounded once again, although it seemed louder than the first time.

Turning to face the creature, Seifer found himself face to face with a strange beast appearing to be some sort of a lion. Swearing under his breath, he scolded himself for being caught off guard. "Nice, kitty," he mumbled softly, edging away from the growling creature.

Unfortunately, Hyperion was nowhere in reach for Seifer. Instead, the Gunblade rested inside its case at the foot of his bed. To make matters worse, in order for Seifer to reach his precious Gunblade, he had to find a way to get past the growling beast.

The beast bared its teeth at the blonde prince. It's sharps fangs, coated with dripping saliva, readied themselves as if to attack. The creature then lowered its head, although it kept its eyes focused on Seifer.

Guessing that the creature was getting ready to pounce, Seifer eyed his Gunblade, preparing himself to leap forward towards Hyperion.

Suddenly, the beast leaped quickly into the air, its sharp claws unsheathing and heading towards Seifer. In an instant, the blonde prince quickly dodged the claws as he leaped to his side. Taking advantage of this, Seifer then sprang across the room, running towards his Gunblade.

Unfortunately, the creature was much too quick for the blonde's liking. Before Seifer was able to throw open the lid of the Gunblade case, the beast had wound its tail around his foot, dragging him away from the weapon.

"Blasted beast!" Seifer cursed, trying to kick away the tail wrapped around his leg. In a struggle of desperation, he stretched his hand forward, trying his best to reach the black case that held Hyperion. His fingers so close to reaching the case, Seifer gritted his teeth. If only the creature would loosen its grip…

"Fira!" Seifer screamed, raising one hand towards the creature as he gave up reaching his Gunblade.

The lion like beast gave pained yelp, loosening the grip on Seifer's leg.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Seifer pushed against the floor and threw open the lid of his Gunblade case. Snatching Hyperion from where it rested, Seifer quickly slashed it against the beast's chest as it leaped towards him.

The creature gave a furious growl, cowering back slightly. Baring its teeth at Seifer, the creature took a few paces backwards, circling him ever so slowly.

With piercing eyes, Seifer never looked away from the creature's gaze. In the back of his mind, he knew that the beast was not letting him off that easy…