Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything related to FFVIII, all I own is the plot.

- Chapter fifteen: Raging Magic -

Her eyes opened wide. She had aimed for Edea, wanting to hurt her, wanting to see her end up like that tree.

Edea did not blink. She did not know what was going on, she was lost in her incantation.

But as the power escaped from Fujin's hand, Seifer had known what to do. Without caring what it might do to him, he threw himself in front of Edea. He would not let Fujin kill the only mother he had ever known.

"No!" Quistis screamed.

She watched in horror as the wind forcefully cut its way through Seifer's body. She winced at seeing his flesh being torn.

"No! Stop it!"

Selphie jumped up and began to cast a wall spell. Quistis stared up at Fujin for a minute straight. Both women stared each other in the eyes, both confused.

Suddenly the doors burst open and soldiers came running through. Their weapons gleamed dangerously. Zell and Squall jumped up to protect Edea and Ellone, but they knew they were unable to help the girls from their position.

Quistis looked at the mess around her, her hand reached slowly into her lap and then she pulled out her gun. She pointed it at the ceiling and pulled the trigger.

Immediately the room was filled with tremors and loud, painful high-pitched noises as a shockwave bullet exploded in the air.

The glass in the windows shattered. Quistis closed her eyes, praying that her friends had managed to dive under the seats in time. Selphie scrambled up and shouted more spells, aiming at those who had survived the shockwave.

Quistis stared around. The guests were hiding under their seats if they hadn't been hit by her blue magic bullet. She looked at Edea, but Edea did not see her. Her eyes were still closed and she hadn't been touched by her attack. She was so deeply entranced that it suddenly hit Quistis how vulnerable Edea was.

She looked at Squall. He was breathing heavily, his body scarred by the blast.

"Quistis!"

She turned around.

Selphie pointed at the altar. Her face was pale. Quistis knew why. She didn't want to turn to the altar. She didn't want to see, but she had to know if he was still alive.

Everything around her seemed to pass in slow-motion, every sound was muffled.

She finally turned around and saw Fujin towering over Seifer's body on the ground. Fujin stared at Seifer, her face pale.

"Seifer?" she asked. "Seifer, answer me."

Quistis stepped forward, dazed by all the fighting around her. She did not see Zell launching himself at the soldiers. All she saw was Seifer, laying at Fujin's feet.

Fujin touched his face, whispering soft words. Soft blue sparks leapt from her fingers to his face. They ran across his body, leaking into the cuts that covered him and disappeared.

"Seifer?" Quistis whispered his name.

Suddenly Fujin looked up. Her eyes narrowed.

"You." She hissed. "He did this because of you! You couldn't just leave him alone, could you. First you had to try and steal him away from me, telling him he loved you. I had to pry him away from you for his own good. But you just couldn't leave him alone! He was mine and you wanted him for yourself!"

Quistis stepped back. She saw the fire in Fujin's eyes. It burned so fiercely that it scared Quistis, it paralysed her. She couldn't move even though she begged her feet to walk back.

"Everything comes down to you. If you hadn't come here, then he wouldn't have changed. He wouldn't have done this. He is mine! He's my knight! He wants to fight by my side!"

"I-" Quistis' words got stuck in her throat.

Fujin's words seemed true, somehow. Would Seifer have thrown himself in front of Fujin's spell if she hadn't come to Dollet? He would have married her peacefully.

"I…"

They looked up as a groan escaped Seifer's mouth. He opened his eyes, looking at the ceiling. Fujin smirked.

"He'll survive. He will fight at my side, he is my knight and he always will be."

She raised her hand and pointed her palm at Quistis' heart.

"I can't have you around to mess up his mind when he is my knight. You have to go."

Quistis wanted to scream. She wanted to run.

A sudden explosion to her left side threw her to the ground.

"Thundaga!" Selphie's spell struck the man who had aimed for Quistis. How much longer until the incantation was finished? Her magic stocks had dropped dramatically, soon she would only have her weakest spells left. And those wouldn't be able to keep Quistis safe.

She looked at Zell for help, but he was in the middle of a fight, trying to keep three soldiers away from Ellone.

"Thundaga! Blizzaga! Blizzaga!" she cried.

Zell nodded at her thankfully. Selphie turned around again. Everything was going wrong.

"Quistis! Get away!" she yelled, preparing to launch an attack at Fujin.

But Quistis didn't move. As Selphie came closer, dodging several bullets coming her way, she saw that Quistis was looking up at Fujin fearfully from her spot on the ground.

Unaware of what was happening around them, the two women stared at each other. Bright green sparks fluttered at the palm of Fujin's hand.

"Blizzaga!" Selphie cried.

But the spell didn't hit Fujin. It evaporated before it got near her, as if an invisible shield absorbed it.

"Squall!" she shrieked desperately.

Squall nodded and ran over to her. "Go to Edea."

"But-"

"NOW!"

Selphie obeyed, clenching her weapon tightly in her hands.

A groan behind him made Squall turn back to the showdown. Seifer moved his hand. He rolled over on his stomach and crawled to his knees.

"What happened…" his voice was weak.

"Seifer!" Squall yelled, trying to raise his voice over the fighting.

Only when a large chunk of plaster landed next to him did Seifer seem to realise what was going on. He looked at Fujin and Quistis. He wanted to shout, but his voice failed him.

He jumped up, ready to charge towards them.

"Seifer!"

He looked up.

Squall had called his name.

"Catch!"

He caught the sword Squall had tossed him and felt his strength return to him. His Hyperion had yet to fail him in battle.

He watched as Squall pulled a small sword from his belt and charged the battlefield once more.

"Get up." Fujin hissed. "Get up and look at me. I want to see your eyes when you die."

Quistis got to her feet slowly and raised her eyes to meet Fujin's. Suddenly she gasped. Fujin turned her head slightly and a smirk appeared on her face as she saw Seifer striding towards them

"See? He comes to join me." She said smugly. "And now you'll die."

"Stop!" Seifer rushed forward and grabbed her hand.

Fujin looked at him surprised. "What are you doing?"

She felt her hand grow hot and the magic leapt from her hand to his, burning. He winced and opened his hand as a reflex. Fujin's smirk disappeared.

"You belong with me. You are mine."

He spat on the ground.

"No, Fujin. I belong with Quistis. And you don't scare me anymore." He grabbed his Gunblade and pointed it at her. "And I will kill you if I must."

"Seifer, move aside. I don't want to hurt you." Fujin said, stressing all the words.

She tried to keep the magic waiting, but it slowly began to ignore her.

She sounded as if she was talking with difficulty.

"I…can't…please move…" her voice turned tight and forceful as she felt the power run free through her body against her will.

She wanted it to stop, but it didn't listen to her anymore. She could feel it gathering. It would hurt Seifer, it did not care who it hurt.Her eyes went from anger to fright.

"Please…MOVE…SEIFER…"

Her body glowed and she felt her feet lift from the ground. Seifer didn't understand what was happening.

"Fujin, stop it!"

"I…CAN'T." she whispered.

But it was too late. As her muscles grew tired, she knew the magic now controlled her. Her hand felt hot, her skin burned.

Seifer moved closer slightly. Then, roaring loudly, he charged. He ran forward, bringing his Hyperion down on her head.

But instead of cutting through her, it bounced off an invisible wall. The blade shattered and suddenly a ball of white light shot forward and hit him in the chest.

It went right through him. He felt his body being pierced. Blood ran all over his body.

Quistis screamed. She shrieked as she saw his body hit the ground. This time no magic could help him, could it.

She looked at Fujin, but she could no loner recognise her. Her face was blank, but another stream of energy gathered up at her hands. The balls escaped, flying away to destroy everything around them as new ones already formed at her hands again.

Fujin cried, but no tears came. The magic was too powerful. It ran through her with such aggression that it hurt her. She was vaguely aware of the destruction around her but she couldn't stop it anymore.

Suddenly a loud shriek of pain pierced the hall, causing everyone to look at her. Everyone was silent. Even the chanting had stopped.

Selphie turned around just in time to catch Edea. Sweat drops of exhaustion adorned her brow. They watched as Fujin's body was lost in an explosion of light. The heat that radiated from her was burning their skin.

A final wave of energy gathered, enveloping her. She felt her body being torn from the inside and she knew she was going to die. Suddenly the energy disappeared.

Her body fell to the ground as the magic was torn from her body,

Quistis looked at the blinding white ball that hovered in the air in front of her. The pendant on her brow burned fiercely and she fell to her knees.

She knew that her body would not be able to survive this kind of aggravated magic. It would tear her in two like it had done with Fujin.

In the back she could hear Edea chanting again, but she didn't understand why. Nothing could help her now.

Suddenly the magic rushed forward and shot inside her body. She screamed as she felt it tear at her insides. It ran through her body and she desperately tried to calm it.

All of a sudden she felt a part of the energy escape through her mouth, riding her shriek of pain. It hovered in the air for a moment and then disappeared. But where it went, she couldn't see. Her eyes went heavy and she felt herself fall to the ground as the world around her went dark.

Ah, finishing this chapter did give me satisfaction. There are only two more to go and I'll try to post them as soon as possible, at least before I go on holiday. Because after that, I don't know how long it will take me before I have internet in my own room and that means I'll be cut off from internet for a wee while. But with my internet connection at home, I can't promise anything.

Sorry this update took a while too, but I was at my room a lot of the time, building closets and painting a lot and I also patched things up with my boyfriend and the time I had in between those things internet mostly failed to work, so…I'm sure I'm forgiven for my lateness.

JadeAlmasy: Thanks :) And I'll definitely hurry up, seeing as how I'm going on holiday the 21st. Glad you like it still

Matron Raenee: aww your girlfriend broke up with you? How sad! I fixed things with my boyfriend, luckily, so I'm rather happy at the moment. Dogs are cute, yeah, but I0m more of a cat person. It's much easier to cuddle a cat and I've always had at least one at home. But dogs are fun too.

Firess Ifrit Devil: A cast over your finger? Isn't that really unhandy in daily use? Oh well, as long as your finger heals properly it's okay for a while. Glad you liked the tension. Hope you liked the tension in this chappy too. There's more of it to come :P

PRODIGIOUS TECHIE: Yeah, I don't really like Squall with Rinoa, but I don't like him with anyone else really either. I don't have any preferences. I guess he and Rinoa belong together, her mum being her dad's old lover and all…Seifer's still in love with Quistis, but Fujin's magic got a little confusing for him. It made him forget about Quistis for a second or two like the bracelet had done before in Bittersweet Goodbyes.

Kitty Malone: Yeah, I will answer all questions in the chapters that follow, at least I hope I do. I'd hate to leave you guys with questions. I felt like being a little teasing and post the chapter ending with a cliffy last time. I didn't really do that this time, but trust me, next time will be horrible nn.

Dark Angels: Yup, I'm young and still have a very big life ahead of me (knock on wood) but things between me and him are okay again. So we'll see where that all goes from here. I hope the wait was humane enough for you, otherwise I would have been a mean little girl :P

LadyKadaj: Hey, a new reader, welcome! Glad you read so much of this story, even though you didn't like ff8 that much. Can I ask you if you just read this or if you read the first part (Bittersweet Goodbyes) too, just curious :) I'm glad you like the story a lot and I hope you'll be there for the last few chapters as well.

Well, bye guys! I'm going to type another chapter of my next Harry Potter fiction now. (For Old Times' Sake) Typing makes me feel relaxed. And I spent all day getting stuff for my room ready. Building closets, putting bedcovers on the bed, installing proper lighting…you get the picture. Good news; I can move in pretty soon. We're truing to get the room ready by next week, so that I can move in after my holiday (Five days in London :P)

So see you at the next chapter

Love, Raven55