Chapter 10
Squall woke Vincent and pointed up. Sephiroth and Litta were flying just above them. They made sure they were quiet, but slowly followed them. They checked to make sure they had everything and then went to meet Sephiroth, again.
When they walked into the clearing, Sephiroth was looking straight at them. He seemed to have been waiting for them.
"Right on time," he said.
"Where have you been?" accused Squall.
"I've just been training up my daughter, that's all. I'm sure you don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," Squall told him. "Where have you been?" repeated Squall.
"We've been at an island, training. Now that's she's ready, I wanted to test out her skills." Everyone looked at him, no one quite sure what he meant, not even Litta.
"What do you mean test out my skills?" Litta asked.
"Just that." He looked at Squall and Vincent. "I want you to kill them." She hadn't expected that.
"I won't kill my friends," she refused.
"You have no choice."
"Of course I have a choice. It's my life, I-" but before she could go on, she felt dizzy. She couldn't think straight. All of a sudden it felt like she was loosing control of her mind. "What's going on?" she muttered. No one heard her. She hadn't even said the words aloud, but she didn't know that.
"The potion was slow working, I'll admit," Sephiroth said, "but it seems to be doing its job." Squall and Vincent had no idea what he was talking about, but they weren't sure they wanted to find out.
Suddenly, Litta stood up straight, and looked around. She seemed fine, only something was different. Squall couldn't quite tell what it was.
"Well, what have I missed?" she asked. It was her voice, only it wasn't. Something's wrong, Squall thought.
"I was just saying that this is your first battle to test your skills."
"Really?" she asked. It wasn't so much a question, but a statement of interest. "So I get to battle these two for my first test?"
"That's right. I'll let you work and I'll come back later." Sephiroth walked off into the forest, leaving Litta with Squall and Vincent.
"Litta, are you all right?" Squall asked.
"I'm fine, and quite ready to kill you in battle." What am I saying? Litta thought. Why would I say that to Squall? Why can't I control myself anymore?
"Litta, what's wrong? Don't you recognize us?" Vincent asked.
"You're only my opponents, nothing more." Only opponents, what am I saying? Litta pulled out a sword and charged at Squall. She also pulled out a gun at the same time and fired off a few shots at Vincent.
"You don't want to do this," Squall told her.
"No, I really think I do." She came at him hard, and showed no signs of letting up. So Squall was forced to fight back, and Vincent kept dodging the bullets she fired his way. One hit him in the arm, which slowed him down. He quickly healed himself, and kept moving.
"What are you doing?" Squall shouted at her. I'd like to know that myself, she thought. There has to be something I can do to gain control over myself again. As Squall was fighting her, she suddenly pulled back and bent over as if in pain.
"I...can't...control...myself," she mumbled. "Help...me." Squall walked over, but she stood up straight and came at him again. "Don't leave yourself open for an attack, or you'll get yourself killed." How can I break through to the real Litta?
"I'm afraid you won't have the honor of killing me."
"No?" she asked in a mocking voice. She came at him harder, but then pulled back again and whispered, "Help me."
"How?" Squall asked. He didn't know what he could do. He used dispel on her, but it didn't seem to work. She stood there, seeming to argue with herself. It's starting to look like my dream, but I can't let that happen. I won't kill Vincent or Squall. I can't. She lost control again, but regained it back.
"Squall, please do something."
"What can I do?"
"I don't know." Squall couldn't think of anything that might free her from Sephiroth's spell. "Squall, please." He tried dispel again, but still nothing happened. Maybe it will just wear off, he thought.
"Just hold on. It might wear off."
"I can't control myself much longer." He noticed the change in her again, and she charged at him. "Not the best at defending yourself are you." It was a challenge, and he met it. He charged at her, but she wasn't ready for it. She stumbled back and his blade went through her shoulder.
"Litta, are you ok?" She healed herself and was up in answer to his question.
"I know how to use magic, or did you forget about that?" Before she could charge, she gained control of herself again, only at this point Sephiroth came back.
"Litta I had expected you to have killed them by now."
"I won't kill my friends."
"The magic seems to be wearing off. Maybe I should give you another dose."
"Or not," Squall added.
"This does not concern you Squall."
"Oh, but I think it does."
"Really? And why is that?" Sephiroth waited for his reply.
"Litta is my friend and I won't let you hurt her anymore." Suddenly he noticed Litta was doing something. She had pulled out her two guns and had loaded them till they were both full.
"Move Squall," she told him. He moved, and she fired all her shots at Sephiroth. Sephiroth hadn't been watching her until she spoke, so a few of the first shots hit him, but he moved and she couldn't keep up with him. When she was out of ammo, Sephiroth left and she fell to the ground unconscious.
"Squall, pick her up and follow me. Let's not be around when Sephiroth comes back, which I'm sure he will." Squall nodded and gently picked up Litta. He grabbed her guns and followed Vincent. They headed towards Esthar.
They checked into a hotel when they reached the city. Squall put Litta on a bed and closed the door.
"Is she still unconscious?" Vincent asked when Squall walked in.
"Yes." He lay down on his own bed and let his mind wander. Was it really magic that caused her to act like that? Could she have really hurt us if she hadn't been able to control herself? What did she do to Sephiroth when she fired all those shots? Was that her limit break?
"...Hopefully she'll be able to talk to us in the morning about it," Vincent was saying. "What do you think Squall? Squall?"
"What? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
"I noticed. I was wondering if you thought Litta would be able to tell us what happened to her while she was with Sephiroth. Do you think she'll remember?"
"Probably." He went back to his thoughts and Vincent left him alone. He too had his own thoughts he was dealing with.
They eventually fell asleep, but Squall was woken up by something in the middle of the night. What woke me up? It sounded like someone crying. Wait, there it is again. It was coming from Litta's room. He opened the door and saw Litta sitting up on her bed.
"Who's there?" she asked. He could hear the huskiness in her voice.
"It's Squall. Are you ok?" She made no response but looked down at her bed. "Can I come in?" Still no response. He walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed. "What's wrong?"
"It was the same dream, only it went further this time. It was all his fault. He killed her!"
"Who killed who?"
"My father! Sephiroth killed-" she started crying again.
"Calm down. It was only a dream."
"No," she said when she had stopped crying. "It wasn't. My dreams are about my past," she paused, "or my future. My dream was about my mother in a hospital bed. She was dying. I couldn't stand it. My father had poisoned her. I heard her telling him how she knew when I left the room. How could my father kill my mother?" She choked on the word mother. She was trying not to cry. I've never heard her call Sephiroth her father before, Squall thought.
"What other dreams have you had about your past?" She had caught his interest. She looked up, as though unsure if she wanted to answer. She sighed, and told him about her other dreams. She left out the one that showed her killing Vincent.
"That's how I know Sephiroth killed my mother."
"You said you had dreams about your future too. What was that about?" She hesitated, not wanting to tell him what she had seen. "Litta?"
"Well, it showed me not acting like myself the way I was today. I had already killed Vincent and was trying to kill you. Then Sephiroth came, he killed you, and," she paused.
"Go on."
"He told me to leave so I wouldn't get to you when you told me not to leave. Then you died before I could reach you. It was awful." She started to cry again, only silently this time.
Squall didn't know what to say. Her dream had started to come true today, like she had said, only for some reason it changed. Why, he asked himself. Maybe they just show what might happen in the future. That's it. They don't actually come true. He convinced himself of that. "What did you do when you were with Sephiroth?"
"He trained me with every weapon he had along with magic and materia. Why?"
"I just wondered what you did for three weeks." For the next few minutes neither spoke. Finally Litta broke the silence.
"Why did you come in here?"
"I woke up when I heard you crying. I wanted to make sure you were ok."
"Oh." Another couple of minutes of silence. "You can go back to bed now. I'll be all right."
"Are you sure? You seemed pretty upset when I came in."
"Yes, I'll be fine. Goodnight."
"Night." Squall closed the door and went back to bed. It was another hour or so before he fell back asleep. Litta couldn't sleep the rest of the night, but finally fell into a restless sleep just before dawn.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Is that all you got?" asked one of the two men.
"You wish," said the other.
They fought hard, not giving the other any slack. Finally one got a hit in, and gave the other a huge gash across the front of his face. The young man fell down for a second, but got up and charged at the other man. He gave the other man a huge gash across his face as well.
"Just thought I'd return the favor Seifer," said the one. Seifer motioned for the other to come at him again, daring him to try to hurt him. The other needed no prodding. He charged and the battle continued.
"You're getting tired Squall," Seifer taunted.
"Not as much as you are." The two continued fighting. The clouds in the sky had grown dark and the rain let loose. Lightning flashed. The dirt on the mountain top where they were fighting started to disintegrate. They started to fall but kept fighting.
Suddenly Seifer jumped up and caught Squall off guard. He swung his sword...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Litta woke up. Her room was bright with sunlight, and she guessed it to be well into the morning. What a strange dream. It appeared to be Squall fighting someone, but how could I have a dream about Squall's past? She wondered about it, then decided to get up and see what Vincent and Squall were doing.
She finished getting dressed and knocked on Squall and Vincent's door. At first there was no answer, so she knocked again. She heard someone stirring inside, and Squall answered the door.
"Well this is a change for me to be the one waking you up," Litta teased.
"I didn't get the best sleep last night." He looked straight at her almost in an accusing look. She blushed and looked away.
"I'm sorry, that's my fault. You shouldn't have come in."
"I'm glad I could help you." She looked back at him. She thought for a minute, as if preparing to ask a question. Squall waited for her to speak.
"Is Vincent awake?"
"No, he's still sleeping. Why?"
"I wanted to ask you some questions, but I don't want to wake him up." Squall closed the door behind him.
"Then we'll go to your room, if that's okay with you." She nodded and followed him in. She closed the door behind her. She didn't want anyone walking by to overhear their conversation. "So what did you want to ask me?" He saw her stop to think for a minute.
"I had another dream last night, only this one was different." She stopped to look at him, trying to see if he wanted her to go on. When he nodded, she sat down on the bed next to him and went on. "Usually my dreams are about me, either my past or my future."
"Yes, you've told me that."
"But this dream," she paused. "Well, it was about you."
"Me?"
"I don't understand it, but it was about you. I don't know whether it was your past or future, but I didn't understand it. I couldn't figure out how I could have a dream about you. I don't really know that much about your past."
"What was the dream about?" He looked at her, but she was looking at the faded scar on his face. She's only noticed my scar from Seifer now? he thought.
"Where did you get that scar?" she asked as if she hadn't heard his question.
"First tell me what your dream was about."
"Oh, right. It was you fighting someone on a mountain top. I think his name was, hold on, let me think...Seifer! That's it. You gave each other scars, just like the one on your face. That's why I wanted to know where you got that scar from." She noticed he didn't seem to be listening anymore. "Are you listening to me?" No response. "Squall? Are you okay?"
"The dream you had is about my past. Seifer was my rival as long as I can remember. We never got along, and when we fought, well, you can see what happened."
"But how could I have a dream about your past?"
"I was wondering the same thing." He got up and walked around the room. "Wait here, I'm going to go talk to Vincent." He left the room and closed the door. Strange, she thought. What does he need to talk to Vincent about? Oh well, I'll find out later I guess. She sat there until Squall came back.
"Vincent, when did you get up?"
"Just after you left to talk to Litta. What did you talk about?"
"She had a dream about my past." Vincent only raised his eyebrows.
"What was it about?" he asked Squall.
"You remember when I told you about my so called 'training' battle with Seifer, right?"
"Yes."
"Well she had a dream about that. I thought I might take her to see Zell and find out if he knows anything about Seifer. I wasn't sure if you'd want to come with us or do something else." Vincent sat for a moment to think.
"Go ahead and take Litta to see about Seifer. I'm going to find out what I can about Sephiroth. When I'm done, I'll look for you at Balamb with Zell. If you're not there I'll talk to him to see where I can find you."
"Okay. We're probably going to leave right away." Vincent nodded his farewell. Squall went back to Litta's room, but there was no one in there! Great, now where did she go?
"Did you miss me?" Squall turned to find her smiling in the doorway.
"Where did you go?"
"I just wanted to see what you would do if I wasn't in here, but you didn't do anything."
"Sorry to disappoint you," he mumbled. "We're leaving for Balamb."
"Now?"
"Yes. Is that all right with you?"
"I just wasn't expecting it, that's all. When are we leaving?"
"As soon as you're ready." She looked around her room.
"I'm ready." She smiled. She obviously thinks this is funny.
"We're going to see Zell about Seifer's whereabouts." Her smile faded.
"Do you want to see Seifer again? I thought he was your rival."
"He is, but, I've been wondering what happened to him when our world collided with this one." He walked out of the room and Litta followed.
"So what will you say to Seifer when you see him again?" Litta asked after a while of walking in silence. I can't stand this silence anymore, but I hope that wasn't the wrong question to break it with.
"I'm not sure. He'll have heard of Rinoa's death by now."
"Rinoa?"
"We tried to stay at her house, remember? Back at Deling City?" She thought for a second.
"Oh yes. Now I remember. Did he like her?"
"I think so. But Seifer didn't voice his feelings a lot, unless they put someone else down by making fun of them." Sounds kind of like you Squall, except you don't put people down. You never say how you feel, just what is best for whoever is with you.
They walked another hour or so in silence, but Litta dared not try to break it again. It was starting to get to her by the time they reached Wutai, where they would rest for the night.
"Are we going to stay with Yuffie?"
"I don't want to bother her. We're just going to stay at a hotel."
"Oh." Litta was a little disappointed, but tried to hide it.
"You aren't very good at hiding your disappointment." She looked up and saw Squall smiling at her.
"Not as good as you, you mean." She smiled back now.
"But of course. I am the best."
"You'd like to think so."
"You know of someone better?"
"I know a great many people. Don't you think I'd know someone who could beat your unwillingness to show any feelings? But then, it must be easy for you, since you don't have any."
"I have feelings, but I try to spare you from my wrath. I must say that I find it hard not to rip your head off sometimes."
"I'm sure you do." They had reached the hotel at this point, and Squall checked them into their rooms. "Goodnight Squall."
"Night." They went to sleep, and Litta did not wake until morning. She was thankful she had not had any more disturbing dreams. Squall was obviously still asleep, so she decided not to wake him. Squall woke up later that morning. They checked out of the hotel and headed towards Balamb again. They walked for a couple of hours, and Litta started feeling a little hungry.
"Squall, are we going to eat anytime soon?"
"Are you hungry?"
"A little." Squall didn't answer for a minute. She was afraid she'd upset him when he replied.
"There's nothing around here, and we're about half way to Balamb." He paused.
"We can wait until we reach Balamb. It doesn't matter really." Squall nodded and they continued on. I wonder what he's thinking. He never says anything unless he's asked. Does he hate people or something? Maybe-
"Litta, don't make any noise." She looked in the direction Squall was staring and stopped breathing. Sephiroth was directly ahead of them, seemingly looking for something. He's looking for me, she thought. Squall slowly started edging them into the trees so they couldn't be seen.
They crouched there for a while, not moving, not talking. Sephiroth eventually moved off, and Squall went out to make sure he was gone. He came back, but Litta could read nothing from his face.
"It's safe, he's gone. I think we should keep moving though, in case he comes back." Litta nodded. All she knew was that she didn't want to be around Sephiroth again. They walked quickly, silently, and arrived at Balamb just after dark.
"Where are we going to stay?" Litta wondered if they would stay with Zell or in another hotel.
"I want to talk to Zell, but I'm afraid to leave you by yourself." Litta couldn't tell if he was joking or serious.
"I can handle myself," she told him.
"I don't know where Sephiroth is, which is my only concern." So he was being serious.
"I don't think he's here in Balamb. If he already came through he probably won't come back. At least not for a while." Like I needed to tell myself that. Not really what I needed to hear.
"You're probably right," Squall said. "I'll leave you here and go talk to Zell. Please stay around here so I can find you later." She nodded and he ran off.
She wandered around a little, making sure to stay in the general area where Squall had told her to stay. There were people walking around, and stores selling different items. She looked at a few things, but found nothing that really interested her.
As she made her way back, she spotted someone running towards her. She couldn't quite make out who it was until it was too late. A bag was thrust over her head, and a strong smell engulfed her senses. It was too strong, and she fell unconscious before she realized she was being carried away from the city.