The Second War
Disclaimer: You know the drill. Final Fantasy VIII is not mine, it's probably not yours, and I make no money from it.
A/N: Two days for an update! Not too shabby, ain't it? Enjoy!
Chapter 7: In Which Prisoners are Taken
> > >
Fujin briefly checked the time on the clock before returning her attention to Caraway. "FIVE MINUTES." She pronounced.
He nodded shortly. "My men are already informed of their orders. The guard switch will occur after Ellone's forces try their takeover."
"And no worries, sir, we'll watch over you, just like Rinoa wants, ya know?" Rajin added. Caraway ignored him, and continued to look out his front window contemptuously.
Fujin had to fight her rising disdain for this man, and could see why Rinoa had so many problems with him. He was nothing short of rude with them, and the past few days had been very trying for her. To add further insult, Caraway insisted two of his own guards accompany them, as if he didn't trust them to do their job. She couldn't wait to get off this assignment, boredom or not. Rajin was having a better time of it, because of his thick skin. She fiddled with the latch on her pinwheel impatiently.
She was impatient for a fight. She had fought alongside Seifer in the Dollet battle, and besides a few minor skirmishes since then, she had mostly been sent spying or training troops. Fujin glanced sideways at Rajin, and was sure he felt the same way. This war had been stuck at an impasse for too long, and she could feel that this attack could change things.
There was a different feeling in the air, a darker mood than hung as ominously as the dark clouds. Fujin didn't think it was just herself; people seemed to be aware of the palpable tension. As if on cue, it began to rain, and the heavy droplets of rain began to pound on the windows, sounding like bullets. She relished the mood, it was an atmosphere of battle, the very thing she trained for her entire life.
Caraway gave a sudden bark of laughter. "The Ragnarok," he said, sneering. "They've sent the Ragnarok. How subtle." He nodded to his commander, a distinguished looking man with silver hair, who saluted smartly and left the room. "He'll take care of the battle. We'll have to wait here for it to finish, as my daughter wishes."
They watched as the ship hovered for a moment, and Fujin see Selphie in the cockpit furiously working at the controls. A panel on the front of the Ragnarok began to slide back.
Fujin suddenly understood. "MISSLE!" She shouted, and pushed Caraway back just as the room around her exploded. Glass was flying in all direction, and she raised and arm to protect her face just as she felt the sensation of falling. She hit the ground hard and felt a rib crack as part of a wooden shelf landed on her. The upper level of the mansion had collapsed. Getting to her feet and coughing in the debris, she heard Rajin calling out to her.
"HERE! FINE!" She called back to him, the rain whipping at her face. "GET CARAWAY!"
"Gotcha!" She heard Caraway cursing furiously as Rajin was getting him out. "I'll call out Rinoa's reserves!"
The Ragnarok must have landed by now, because she now heard soldiers shouting, and the clash of metal and bullets. Fujin had lost her pinwheel in the collapse, but her hands quickly flew to her side and located her sword. It would have to do for now. She pushed her way past the wooden beams and plaster, ignoring the pain in her side.
Fujin ran forwards, trying to ignore the water squishing in her boots. It seemed like the most heated fight was right on Caraway's front lawn, so she raised her sword and met one of the enemy. She was surprised. They weren't even full fledged SeeDs yet, and were kind of young to be sent on this sort of mission. The drenched boy fought decently, but was no match for her veteran experience. Fujin quickly knocked him unconscious, for she had no desire to kill a student. She wouldn't have been so scrupulous if he was older, however, and he was lucky in that aspect. A girl came barreling towards her with two long knives.
Fujin paused to wipe the rainwater and sweat from her brow before meeting her attack. She held the knives with her sword, and reached out and grabbed the girl's wrist. "FOOLISH." She spat at her, before twisting her wrist, making her drop one of the knives. The girl began to struggle futilely, the panic evident in her eyes.
Fujin froze when she felt cool metal touch the back of her neck.
"Well, that's hardly a fair fight. Let her go."
Resentfully, she eased her grip, and the girl quickly stooped down to pick up the knife. Fujin turned around slowly to find the barrel of a machine gun pointed at her. It's owner smiled wanly at her, water dripping from his face and hair. "LAGUNA." She acknowledged, inclining her head with contempt.
Laguna addressed the girl first. "Squad B? The order to retreat has been called. Something's gone bad. Back to the Ragnarok, quickly, and tell anyone you see on the way back." He turned back to Fujin. "Well, I could shoot you right now."
"SNEAK." Fujin said, her eye narrowing, as if she was daring him to pull the trigger.
"Today's your lucky day. We're going to take you with us, because we can't find Caraway." Laguna said. "Arms in the air, okay, and get on the Ragnarok."
Triumph shone in her eyes. If they had no clue where Caraway was, she had done her job properly, and Seifer was sure to be pleased. That was all that mattered. Almost demurely, she placed her arms in the air and boarded the Ragnarok.
> > >
At the edge of the property, there was a girl with long black hair dressed in the trainee uniform. She was soaked to the bone, and water slid through her hair and dripped onto the grass. She was holding her whip to herself, trying to ignore the blood that was soaking into her hand. She had already injured two Galbadian soldiers, taking their skin off completely where she hit them. It was utter chaos. Dust was still rising from the ruined mansion, and the overwhelming noise from the fight was disorienting her. It didn't help she could barely see through the heavy rain. She jumped when someone grabbed her arm.
"Seaton!" It was one of the members from her squad, who was transferred in at the last moment because the regular member had fallen ill. His hazel eyes glowed with excitement, but his cropped dark hair was covered in dust. He was shivering from the rain. "Is there news?"
"Not yet, Gale." He said, wiping his short sword on the grass. "How many have you taken down so far?"
"Just two, but I didn't kill them." She admitted, embarrassed. Gale knew that Ellone's policy was to kill dissenters, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it.
Seaton was scanning the area alertly, squinting because of the rain. "Let's go this way," he said, pointing towards the mansion itself. "Maybe we'll find Caraway, and we'll be heroes. Just think about it!"
Gale nodded. Her parents had sent her to Garden with high hopes that she would make a great military career for herself, but so far, she hadn't done anything spectacular to bring attention to herself. Finding Caraway would surely change that. She followed Seaton, carefully picking her way through the bricks and broken pillars.
She found herself walking into him. "Why did you stop?" she complained, rubbing her forehead. She peered around him. "Shit," she whispered. There was a whole legion of armed soldiers, and judging from their uniforms, they served the sorceress. Standing at the front was a dark, rather heavy set man brandishing a staff. Gale began to back away slowly.
"Stay where you are, and we won't kill you, ya know?" The man commanded. He shook some water from his hair. Gale froze at once. Seaton hadn't moved since she bumped into him. He turned to the rest of the men. "I'm thinking Rinoa would like to meet these two." He nodded to two of them, who came forward with ropes. They took their weapons and bound them by the wrist and ankles. "Take them back to headquarters, and tell Seifer or Irvine, they'll know what to do."
Gale trembled. From what she was taught, Seifer and Irvine were Rinoa's greatest and most powerful advocates, who never failed to win her a fight. No way did she want see them, so conspicuously dressed in Ellone's SeeD uniform.
She turned helplessly towards Seaton, who was being shoved into the back of a van. He shrugged at her passively, so she put on an impassive face as well. Inwardly, she prayed the rest of the battle was going well and her absence would be discovered soon.
> > >
It was not raining in Fisherman's horizon, but it was cloudy enough to make Quistis believe there would be rain soon. She had heard reports that Ellone had initiated an attack on Caraway's mansion, that, by all accounts, failed miserably.
She wanted everything to end. She knew that if the world turned against Rinoa, she would have been happy to just live in a secluded area of the world with Squall. It was a pity Squall had turned against her, for now Rinoa wanted vengeance. All Ellone did was complicate things.
Squall. Try as she might, she could not put aside her lingering feelings for the man. Quistis once told Rinoa that she had gotten over him, but she had been lying through her teeth to save face. She would still want Squall if he lived on the ends of the earth with Rinoa.
It made her ache thinking about him. Her silent student, his studied coldness had always appealed to her. Oh, she still wanted him now, and now was the best time to get him.
But she wouldn't. She had vowed to become a pacifist, and going to Squall would be the same as openly declaring her support for Ellone. To some residents of Fisherman's Horizon, she made no sense. Quistis harbored resentment towards Rinoa for winning over Squall, but would not act on it. She could have been powerful politically if she chose sides long ago, but she decided to embrace peace instead. She would only act against Rinoa personally, not politically.
Quistis was startled out of her thoughts by someone knocking on her door. Briefly, she looked at herself in the mirror. Since she came to live here, she had not bothered putting her hair up, and as a result, her new look softened the often stern look on her face. She opened the door and had to step back to grab the edge of a bookshelf in astonishment.
"Why the hell are you here?"
Ellone stepped into Quistis's apartment and shut the door behind her before lowering the hood on her black cloak. Her dark hair and grown much longer since Quistis last saw her, and it reminded her eerily of Edea's hair. "Just for a visit."
"How did you know I was here?" Quistis demanded.
"If I'm really curious, I can find anything out," Ellone replied haughtily, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"Well, you can get back to Balamb. I'm not choosing sides." Quistis said loudly, narrowing her eyes behind her glasses.
"I'm not asking you to."
"Well then, what do you want?" Quistis asked warily. She moved away from her bookshelf to sit on her chair, not bothering to ask Ellone to sit down. She knew the danger of her current position. There was nothing to stop Ellone from killing her right now, and the only people powerful enough to speak out against her was Rinoa's group. She wasn't going to choose sides, so she had to tread carefully.
"I'm not going to mince words with you." Ellone stated, sitting down in Quistis's only other chair and smoothing her cloak over her knees. "Squall's been…off…lately. I think he needs companionship to make him forget that bitch."
"I said I wasn't choosing sides." Quistis said flatly. "I think moving in with you guys would indicate I am."
"No one has to know. No one knows I came here. I took a Garden helicopter and flew here myself. If you come back with me, no one will know. No one on my side would breathe a word, I can promise you that. Just put Squall in a better mood." Ellone replied, sitting back and crossing her legs casually.
"How am I supposed to do that?" She asked sarcastically. "Last I remember, he was an asshole to me as much as anybody else."
"Do whatever you like. Seduce him, for fuck's sake, I don't care." Ellone said callously.
"Why are you suddenly so concerned about him?" Quistis asked suspiciously, raising her eyebrows.
Ellone studied her for a moment. "I'll tell you, but if I hear this gets out to anyone else, I swear it, I will slit your throat."
Quistis shrugged. "Fine by me."
"We've been arguing more than usual lately, and I don't need him to kick me out of Garden. I have to be based somewhere, alright? But I can't be accommodated anywhere else. So I need you to make him happy."
"Why me?"
Ellone rolled her eyes. "Everyone knows you were hot for him. You still are. Anyway, he remembers you from before, so he's more likely to trust you than any other chick I'd much rather send in."
Quistis snorted. "There has to be more to this. What else do you want me to do besides look after Squall's emotional health?"
Ellone's dark eyes became hard. "Report back to me of course. What he's up to. I have to know somehow, since he's not telling me."
"What's in it for me?"
"Squall, of course." Ellone said, widening her eyes, feigning surprise. "I thought you would have gathered that by now. Revenge on the bitch, too. Isn't that enough?" To her immense pleasure, Quistis nodded briefly, a strange light in her eyes.
"It is."
> > >
To be continued…
A/N: Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter, it was most heartening to see people who like this enough to review. Again, the next chapter should be expected within a week. Thanks for reading, and double thanks for reviewing.