Author's Note: :sob sob: I'M SOOOORRRY, EVERYONE! I KNOW IT'S BEEN 2-3 YEARS NOW! I'M A TERRIBLE AUTHOR! TERRIBLE! OH THE SHAME! I HAVE LET YOU ALL DOWN AND HAVE MADE YOU WAIT SUCH LONG AND TRYING YEARS! FORGIIIIIIIVE MEEEEE! I am a poor excuse for an author who cannot even find the time to set her priorities straight! OH THE SHAAAAME! I didn't realize I had chapter 15 done already, so I never posted it up! OMG, IM SUCH AN IDIOT!

Chapter 15

Dragons Marshes

"…I can't believe you're doing this."

Zell placed a hand over his forehead, giving a deeply reluctant sigh. He was dressed in a light armor and equipped with his favorite spike gloves. He shot Quistis a hot glare and growled in addition, "Oh don't look too pleased with yourself. I can't believe you've dragged me into this!"

Quistis did look pleased with herself as she folded her arms behind her. "Now, Zell, no one invited you to come along. You volunteered yourself into this, remember," she said, not bothering to wipe the smug look on her face.

"Oh shut up," Zell snapped in irritation. He looked as if he were ready to throw another one of his tantrums. "The only reason why I'm sticking my neck out for you is because of your stupidity. I wouldn't be in this right now if you hadn't decided to parade all across the lands searching for Ruby Dragons."

Seifer didn't look too pleased as well, cocking an eyebrow up, as he looked Quistis over carefully. "Why do you have to be so naïve?" he growled grumpily, folding his arms over his chest.

Quistis shot him a frosty look as she made her way out of the palace. "No one's asked you to come along either, Seifer," she replied coolly. "And you were the one who made a huge deal about Squall accompanying us, remember?" she added slyly, adjusting her gloves as she strode on forward.

"Squall's not going with Quisty?" an anxious looking Selphie inquired.

It was Seifer who replied. "Of course not. I wouldn't trust that emotionally constipated moron around Little Miss Princess over here!" he hollered loudly, making sure he was heard perfectly clear. "Besides, the castle will need defending. The GF's would most likely attack any time soon and they may still believe princess over here is still stuck inside the castle."

Selphie gave a reluctant sigh and nodded. "Well, if you say so. I wish I could come with you, but someone's going to have to fill in your shoes while you're all gone," she responded, gripping her hands behind her.

"You won't tell dad, will you?" Zell asked more out of paranoia than out of caution.

"Of course she's not going to tell ol' daddy, you idiot!" Seifer growled impatiently. "Just because you have the mental capacity of an infant doesn't mean everyone else does. Now shut up, chicken-wuss, otherwise you're going to be left behind!" And with that, he stormed out of the palace.

Zell looked as if he were ready to beat Seifer to a pulp. But judging from the fact that it would be meaningless at the moment, he rushed off, giving a small grunt to Selphie as he walked out.

The tower seemed empty and abandoned as the tall figure entered from the secret passage. The sudden movements scattered the century old dust to scatter into the air in thick clouds. Ancient and forgotten objects lay on the dirty floors, cluttered together into a large heap of garbage. It appeared that the tower had not been in use for over a century.

"Get rid of me, will they?" the figure snarled angrily, kicking at the dust covered scrolls lying beside his feet. "I'll show them…I'll make them pay!"

He swept hurriedly across the haphazard room and wrenched open the windows, sending more dust to scatter off into the air.

"We'll see…I'll make her suffer…"

"Brr!" Seifer shivered, feeling a sudden chill run down his spine.

Quistis turned towards her fiancé, a curious look rising to her face. "What's wrong?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Seifer shook his head and gave a shrug. "Nothing. Just felt a sudden chill there for a min–"

Before Seifer could finish what he was saying, Hyperion was wrenched out of its scabbard within a split second. Narrowing his eyes, Seifer swung Hyperion skillfully, as if ready to…

Quistis gasped loudly, and there came a small thud landing on the ground. "It's you!"

Millimeters away from decapitation, a little girl sat against the hard ground, looking quite frightened. She gave a quiver of fear, as she looked up at Seifer, wide-eyed with shock.

Zelll quickly helped the little girl back to her feet, holding her firmly. "What the hell's the big idea, Seifer?" he growled, throwing Seifer a venomous look. "You could've killed her!"

Seifer didn't reply. He continued to hold Hyperion up as he stared intently into the little girl's dark green eyes. It wasn't until Quistis uttered his name that he shifted his gaze to Zell.

Quietly, Quistis watched as Seifer withdrew his Gunblade away from the girl. Still, she noticed that he did not put Hyperion back in its sheath, but instead held it firmly in his hand.

Zell slowly brought the girl to her feet and held a strong grip on her shoulders. "Are you alright?"

The girl gave no reply as she looked nervously from Seifer to Quistis. Her look still held fear within her eyes, and before anyone could utter a word, she dashed away from the site, leaving the three companions puzzled.

Quistis gaped for a moment as she watched the child scuttle away into the distance. Then, giving a small sigh, she turned towards Seifer and shook her head. "Looks like you scared her off."

Slowly, Seifer placed Hyperion back in its scabbard and gave another shrug. "Sorry," he mumbled, not quite paying attention to Quistis. "I must've been mistaken."

Fujin watched from her window the three figures making their way out of Balamb in a quick pace. She stood rigidly behind the dark drapes that hung limply from the wall.

"Lady Fujin?"

There came a soft rap on the door, and a rather inexperienced looking maid slowly entered the room.

Fujin immediately released the drapes she held in her hand, covering the window fully. Irritated, she turned her one eye towards the maid and made a mental note to herself to kill the maid once she was finished putting a spell on her door.

The maid wrung her hand nervously on her apron as she felt strong tension emit from Fujin's stone cold gaze. "Um, didn't mean to barge in, my lady. But…"

Fujin's eyes narrowed impatiently as she watched the maid babble on and on meaninglessly. It wasn't the first time she craved to tear out palace servants' hears out.

"Oh, my, well…um…What I mean is…" the maid sputtered on, growing beat red. "The king wishes a word with you–"

Before the maid could finish her message, Fujin brushed past her rudely and strode out the room, heading towards Cid's study.

"Oh dear! Wait, Lady Fujin!" the maid cried out, running after the pale noblewoman. "The King of Esthar wishes to speak with you. He's located in the docks!"

Fujin shot a menacing glare at the maid, as if blaming her of the error. Without saying anything, she quickly rushed to the other direction, stalking impatiently across the halls towards the docks. It wasn't for long, however, that Fujin's sour mood was interrupted as she collided with another figure.

The pale noblewoman jolted back in reflex as she felt the impact of the collision. Shaking her head, she looked up and discovered Squall wincing slightly from the clash.

"Sorry," mumbled the Prince of Esthar. "Didn't see you there."

Fujin cleared her throat and shook her head. Cocking her head towards doors ahead of her, she replied, "DOCKS."

"Oh, so you're going there too," Squall mumbled, reaching the entrance to the docks. Quietly, he pushed open the door and watched Fujin step inside first.

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO RECKLESS!" Laguna glowered loudly at Kiros. "You shouldn't have said anything about those parts!"

Kiros looked as equally agitated as Laguna. "Reckless! YOU'RE the one who mentioned the ruby dragons!" he retorted stubbornly. "Not to mention, YOU egged her on about it. Saying such ridiculous things about her being too weak to handle anything…"

Fujin cleared her throat loudly once again and clasped her hands behind her. Almost immediately, the two men ceased to bicker and turned quickly to the source of the noise.

Kiros caught sight of Fujin and quickly excused himself, mumbling about helping Ward with the mechanics.

Laguan broke into a smile and hurried over to the pale noblewoman's side. "Fujin of Galbadia! It's wonderful to see you again!" he greeted cheerfully, enveloping Fujin in a quick embrace.

Fujin looked taken aback by the unexpected movement and jumped back slightly. "GREETINGS," she replied plainly.

Laguna continued to beam with joy as he grasped Fujin by the shoulder and led her towards the Ragnarok. "I haven't seen you since you were engaged to Squall," he said cheerfully. "It's been so long since you left Esthar."

Fujin gave no reply, but glanced behind her to find Squall staring intently at the Ragnarok.

Laguna followed Fujin's gaze, and his eyes soon rested towards his son. His smile quickly dissolved into a puzzled gaze. "Squall?"

Squall shifted his gaze lazily towards his father and gave a shrug. "The Lady Quistis said you would be needing my help," he replied.

"But I thought you would be accompanying her?"

"Seifer insisted that I stay behind," came the dry reply. "I might as well make the most out of my time."

Laguna looked quite impressed, but said nothing of the matter. Instead, he gave a nod and hid a grin behind his hand. "All right then. I was just going to ask Fujin to take a look at the cockpit just to see if there are any damages there. I'm sure you can assist her, Squall."

Squall gave a shrug as a reply and followed Fujin into the Ragnarok without another word.

At the sight of the two nobles heading inside the Ragnarok, Kiros rushed back to Laguna's side and whispered quickly, "Why didn't you just ask Lady Quistis to fix the cockpit?"

Laguna shook her head. "I would've if it would do any good. But the only people who are able to recharge the Ragnarok's power are those in my bloodline, and the one who gave it power."

Fujin studied the controls of the cockpit carefully, trying to detect any malfunctions that would have occurred during Laguna's reckless flight. Sighing, she crouched down under the panels and wrenched open a small door leading to the wires of the controls.

Squall had crouched beside Fujin and was peering down at the jumble of wires. He gave a small cough and wafted away the smoke that emerged from the electrical jolts the wires gave. "Laguna's jammed it," he grumbled, bringing out a small flashlight and pointing it towards the wires.

Fujin gave a nod and slipped her upper body into the nook and put a hand on a clump of damaged wires.

"No use. The wires are too–"

Before Squall could finish, Fujin yanked out the clump of wires in her hand violently, and tossed them aside like rubbish.

Squall looked as if he had chocked on a pastry. "W…what are you doing?" he demanded, quite surprised. He watched as the wires were thrown onto the floor, and wondered how the Ragnarok was ever to going to fly again.

"CAMOUFLAGE. USELESS," Fujin replied, clearing out the last bits of wires from the nook.

"What?"

Fujin gave an exasperated sigh and wrenched herself out of the nook. "Oh for heaven's sake! The wires were just camouflage! They have nothing to do with the ship at all!" she growled impatiently. It was the most she had spoken in five years.

Squall stared at her in shock and disbelief. It had been five years since he last heard Fujin speak in clear sentences. "You…you're talking…"

Fujin cut him off quickly as she slid her upper body back into the nook. "Of course I'm talking. I'm around you, aren't I?"

"…Before–"

"Didn't I just say I'm around you?" she growled irritably. "You're the one who broke my Mirror, remember?"

Zell gasped for breath as he reached the top of another rocky cliff. He leaned tiresomely against his knees and looked up at Quistis. "Just what the hell are we? Rock climbers? How much further do we having to go?" he panted heavily. "Wait, scratch that…Just where the hell are we?"

Seifer looked towards the distance for a moment before replying. "Ruby dragons can be found around this area. Luckily, they don't come in flocks."

"Yes, but the ruby dragons were exterminated here a long time ago," Quistis pointed out. She too looked out into the distance, yet her eyes held a look of anticipation. She was waiting for something.

"What?" Seifer demanded, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. His eyes burned intently as he glared at Quistis. "Just what the hell are you up to, princess?"

Quistis shrugged off Seifer's death glare and gave a smile. She quietly strode forward towards the edge of the cliff and turned to glance at both Seifer and Zell. "Well, you catch on quickly, Seifer," she replied, slightly amused. "I couldn't tell you before, since I knew the two of you would try to stop me."

"Just what the hell are you getting at!" Zell demanded, standing up straight and looking enraged.

"Well, we're not really here to look for ruby dragons," Quistis replied, standing a safe distance apart from the two princes. "I wanted to go to Bahamut's Marsh. There's something I need to do there ' she explained calmly, despite the murderous looks on both Seifer's and Zell's faces.

Seifer looked as if he were ready to slice Quistis's head off with his Gunblade. "Bahamut's Marsh! You are insane! Do you have any idea who rules that area!" he shouted furiously, his voice echoing loudly. "BA-HA-MUT! GF!"

Quistis gave Seifer a blank stare, unperturbed by his sudden outbreak. "I'm well aware of the dangers, Seifer. But I need to see Eriol Enolle."

"That old witch? What the hell do you need from that old hag!" Zell grumbled, shaking with anger. His urge for throwing something was growing great ever second.

"Never mind the reason. We just need to get there quickly," Quistis replied quickly.

Seifer looked had a flush of purple tint his face as he inhaled sharply. "And just how, pray tell," he said slowly, his voice shaking from the strain, "are we going to get there fast enough?"

Quistis gave another smile and snapped her fingers together.

A strong gust of wind suddenly surged into the air, and the sound of flapping wings could be heard, quickly approaching the cliff.
Author's Note: :sniff sniff: AAAAH WHAT HAVE I DONE! ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! NOOOOOOOOOO! OMG! I swear to you! I alreayd have chappie 16 done! I'm just going to tweak it a bit and see how many reviews I get. I SWEAR I'LL DEVOTE MORE TIME IN GETTING THIS FIC DONE!