The Second War
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII and all it's places and monsters and characters are not mine. I suppose Gale and Seaton are mine. But that is all.
A/N: Important notice today, but that'll come when you're done reading. Don't want to distract you or anything.
Chapter 10: In Which a Sacrifice is Made
> > >
Fujin's face was sticky. She wasn't sure why, but it was annoying her. She tried to wipe her face with her hands, but found that she couldn't. Her eyes flew open, suddenly remembering her circumstances.
After the battle at Caraway's, Laguna had taken her to the Ragnarok and chained her in the holding area under the baleful eyes of the students. Then they started flying, presumably back to Balamb, until they got caught in something. The plane was jolting everywhere, and they could hear gunfire outside. Then came a great final shove, it felt like, and the Ragnarok overturned in the air. It sent things flying through the holding area, and the students at least had the luxury of ducking and shielding themselves. Fujin, on the other hand, had her wrists chained to a pipe and was flung around, crashing into the wall and then back onto the bench again.
It explained why she felt sticky. There was blood running down her face, and she was pretty sure she had broken another one of her ribs. The Ragnarok was still now, although everyone in the holding area was either unconscious or dead. She couldn't tell from where she was.
Wincing, Fujin stood up to peep through a window. It was dark out, and she couldn't make out much of the landscape. So much for that. She sat back down painfully, wondering if Laguna and Selphie were alive. If not, she was probably dead too, because there would be nobody else to unlock the chains.
She needn't have worried, because she soon heard their voices approaching.
"…don't understand how they could all just attack us like that. The Ragnarok!" Laguna sounded incredulous, almost offended.
"The Ragnarok could have handled everything except that last Thrustaevis. That thing was bigger than us!" Selphie said, worried. "I don't know where they came from, or how so many of them just gathered like that."
"I hope the kids are okay…" He said as they turned the corner and arrived in the holding area. Their eyes immediately landed on Fujin, the only upright body in the area besides themselves.
"NOT DEAD YET." Fujin said, a little ironically. She could see that Laguna and Selphie were pretty beaten up as well. Laguna sported a nasty cut down his arm, and it was still bleeding profusely. At least he had the sense to hold it to try to stem the flow, but it wasn't very successful. Selphie's legs were covered in ugly bruises, some raised and yellow. She was stepping gingerly on her left foot, and Fujin guessed she had sprained that ankle.
"You look terrible." Laguna announced, fishing in his pocket. He produced the key to Fujin's chains. "I'm going to let you out, so we can try to patch ourselves up, but don't try running."
"BROKEN RIBS. CAN'T RUN." Fujin said, turning to look at Selphie who was staring at her with dislike.
"I say we leave her, Laguna." Selphie said, not bothering to lower her voice. "I mean, she is with the enemy."
Laguna shook his head. "And right now, there's only the three of us conscious, with who knows what else out there, waiting to eat us. Go find the first aid kit, will you, I keep bleeding all over the place."
Selphie stalked off to the storage room, limping badly, her face pale and stormy.
He unlocked the chains from Fujin's wrists, who immediately wiped her face on her sleeve. A cut on her forehead was the culprit for the blood. Selphie returned a moment later, lugging a large yellow box. She opened it and grabbed bandages, before sitting next to Laguna and dressing his arm. Next she bound her left foot tightly, and stood up to test her weight on it.
"Much better," she announced.
"Fujin's ribs, now." Laguna said, turning pointedly to Selphie. "She can't do it by herself."
Selphie clicked her tongue impatiently. "Why don't you do it, Laguna, I'm going back to the cockpit to try to radio back." She tossed him a large roll of bandages.
Laguna caught it and shrugged at Fujin. "She's not normally like this, you know. The whole war was a terrible blow to her, especially losing Irvine like that, so you can't blame her for the attitude. Lift up your shirt."
Fujin glared at him silently.
He rolled his eyes. "Just roll it up, I'm not going to take photos and sell them to the Girl Next Door, alright?"
She relented and lifted her shirt. Laguna began to tightly wind the bandages around here middle, fastening it with a hook. Fujin stood up gingerly and raised her arms. "BETTER. THANKS." She said.
Laguna accepted that with a nod, and began to check up on the students. Feeling out of place, Fujin went over and began checking for pulses as well. "NONE DEAD HERE." She announced.
"None here either." Laguna said. "Guess we were lucky."
"You wish," Selphie called dryly as she returned and heard him. "Ellone just wired back to us. You're not going to believe what we're supposed to do."
"Hit me." Laguna said wearily, sitting down.
"We're supposed to stick the kids at Timber, and Garden will send out boats for them. She wants us to take Horizon bridge to Esthar." Selphie said furiously. "And I told her about monsters going crazy, but she wouldn't listen. They're bringing a car for us on the boat."
"Why does she want us to go the Esthar?" Laguna asked curiously.
Selphie looked towards Fujin for a moment, and decided she was in no condition to escape and make it back to Deling. "Apparently, Dr. Odine finished some sort of restraints for the sorceress. They're supposed to be immensely powerful, and only have to be in a certain range of her to take effect. She wants us to pick it up for her."
Laguna looked troubled. "I don't like the sound of that…but I guess I can check up on things while we're there. Did she say anything about Fujin?"
"She's to go with the kids back to Garden for questioning." Selphie said, just satisfied that Fujin would be off their hands.
> > >
The dawn didn't seem to be dawn at all. The sunrise was weak at best, sending a few wisps of light across the otherwise grey sky. The ominous clouds had not left since the storm, but instead remained, a dismal and foreboding presence.
Rinoa shivered and pulled out a cloak from her wardrobe. Her skin prickled, it felt like she was on fire. She felt something in the air raise the hair on the back of her neck. As she fastened the blue cloak around her shoulders, Zone arrived with Gale. He motioned for her to sit in a chair, and she quickly obeyed, darting nervous glances around the room. Rinoa observed her for a moment. She was now dressed in a skirt and jumper, for if she and Seaton continued to remain in their SeeD uniform, the soldiers would have mauled them by now. Gale's dark eyes scanned the room, marking the windows and exits. She felt Rinoa's eyes on her and blushed.
"Sorry," Gale said faintly. "SeeD training, I can't help it sometimes."
Rinoa turned away from the girl. She had the oddest sensation at the top of her head, like she was floating. She looked back at Gale. "That's understandable. Now, I hear that you and Seaton aren't so keen on Ellone anymore."
Gale shrugged. "I never really was. I just wanted to become a SeeD, see, and going to Balamb Garden was the only way to do it, since Trabia and Galbadia Garden shut down. Squall was alright though. He never really yelled at us the way Ellone did. He mostly yelled at her." She suddenly remembered who she was talking to and ducked her head, afraid of Rinoa's reaction.
She remained composed, if not a bit pale. "They've been having problems from before the whole war. I suppose it just magnified." Rinoa clutched the sides of her cloak until her knuckles turned white. She wanted to vomit. Something was wrong. She struggled to stay calm. "I'll be frank about this. I wanted to talk to you because I want you and Seaton to join us."
"Why isn't Seaton here, then?" Gale asked curiously.
"It seems like he has some reservations about deserting Ellone, and he's more difficult to read," Rinoa said, biting her lip to quell the sickness she was feeling. "I'm sure you could convince him. I wanted to talk to you first because I think we can trust you. We'd train you with guardian forces and magic, the way older SeeDs have been trained."
Gale smiled widely. "I'd love that!"
Rinoa nodded and went to stand by the window, leaning against the window sill queasily. She pressed her fingers to her temples, her lips a thin line of pain. "Send for Seifer, will you?" she managed to say. Gale quickly darted out. It was not an attack, she knew, because she wasn't losing control over herself. Her head throbbed painfully and nausea overwhelmed her. She looked outside.
The sky had gone a darker slate gray, and there were flashes of lighting. Rinoa couldn't hear the rumbles of thunder that should have followed. Something was wrong. A cloud of dust had risen and was traveling towards them at a unnatural speed. She looked intently at it and felt faint. It was so close now….
The door banged open and Seifer strode in, his coat flapping and his gunblade tightly in his hand. Gale followed behind him.
"Seifer, look at this." Rinoa said, raising a hand to her mouth, her eyes dull with dread. "I think it's making me sick. I think it has something to do with me."
He moved to stand by her, placing an arm over her shoulder to support her. Seifer's eyes widened in disbelief. "No," he said vehemently. "It's not you. It can't be you. We have to evacuate."
"There was no warning…." Rinoa said faintly. She then steeled herself. "Send a message out over the PA. I want everyone out of here, and have them notify anyone they come across in town. We'll regroup by the Tomb of the Unknown King and decide what to do there." Hastily, she dug through a storage chest in the corner of her room and found her old pinwheel, and also fastened a sword at her waist.
"I don't want to leave you," Seifer said, as the three of them left her room and hurried down the hall to the stairs.
"Go, and be quick." Rinoa said. "Gale will watch over me." As they passed the room they used as an armory, Rinoa quickly stepped in to retrieve Gale's whip and Seaton's sword. She thrust these to Gale. "Give that back to Seaton when we meet up later." She said.
They reached the stairwell. "Be careful," Seifer said, giving Gale a hard look. "You make sure Rinoa's alright, or I'll have your head. I'll see you two soon." He disappeared up the stairs.
"Hurry," Rinoa said to Gale, running down the stairs. "We have to move quickly."
"What is it?" Gale panted, trying to keep up.
"I'm not sure…it looked like an army of monsters headed this way. There must have been thousands of them, it looked like a solid wall. I don't know how they could have swarmed like that…we can't take them on." Rinoa said as they reached the main floor. She shuddered. "They're not normal, either. They're giants of their species, and all grey and black…"
The PA suddenly came to life with Seifer's voice, loud and confident, but Rinoa detected the undercurrent of alarm in his voice. "Everyone is to evacuate the city immediately. I repeat, we must evacuate the city. Take your weapons and leave. We are under sudden attack by an unknown monster force. Leave immediately and make for the Tomb of the Unknown King. Inform any civilians of the evacuation on the way out."
Gale seized Rinoa's wrist and dragged her out of the hotel. "Let's go!" They darted into the street and down the shopping lane. She suddenly shrieked and she fell onto the street. A shadowy hand had grabbed her by the ankle and was dragging Gale towards the sewer.
"It's a Creep!" Rinoa shouted, drawing her sword and hacking at the black ghostly hand. It hissed violently but let Gale go, leaving painful red welts were it grabbed her. Rinoa pulled her to her feet and they continued to run. "I knew the sewers were infested, but I always thought they would stay below ground…this is bad."
They reached the entrance of the city. Rinoa shot a glance at Gale. "Once we're outside, we've left the protection of the city walls, and monsters can attack us freely. It won't be just the one."
"But…how are we supposed to fight?" Gale asked, nervously wondering if it was better to stay in the city.
"Magic, of course."
> > >
Edea and Cid stood side by side on their beach, watching the increasingly large waves form and break upon the shore. The gray sky cast an eerie glow upon the water, turning it dark and muddy looking.
"Do you think it was the right decision?" Cid ventured.
She clasped his hand. "I don't know, darling." Edea's sheet of dark hair fell across her face as she bowed her head. "I wish I did."
They took a step back together to avoid getting wet, just as great wave crashed upon the beach. Cid reached out and tucked Edea's hair behind her ears gently. "We had to act."
"I know, I just hope they won't be angry with me." She turned her face back, away from the beach, past her house, towards the direction of Centra. "I never thought it would happen again in my lifetime, you know. I always thought that after Ultimecia, everything would be alright. "
Involuntarily, Cid felt a shiver run down his back. "It's not Rinoa's doing, is it?"
Edea shot him a stern glance. "Of course not. Not intentionally, and not knowingly. She's doing the best she can under the circumstances."
"But it is Rinoa, even if it's unintentional?"
Her face fell, and her eyes darkened. "I'm not sure, but this is what I think is happening. The Lunatic Pandora was supposed to control the lunar cry, but now that it's gone, there is no focal point…except herself."
"What?" Cid exclaimed, horrorstruck. "Why?"
"The crystal pillar in the Lunatic Pandora was supposed to be powerfully magical, and now that it's gone, Rinoa is the next best thing…which I guess is Ellone's basis for her ban on magic." Edea said quietly. "But Rinoa's not powerful enough to centralize the lunar cry, and that's why it's happening everywhere now..."
"But you've just sent - "
"I know, but there were reasons for it. The monsters that normally fall from the moon are manageable, but do you remember that monstrous Grand Mantis you ran into yesterday?"
Cid nodded jerkily. "Never seen anything like that in my life."
"Either they are reacting badly to the absence of the crystal pillar, or the crystal pillar used to control the size and power of the monsters." Edea said. "I don't know which it is."
"It's about the same thing in the end." Cid said bluntly. "What are we going to do?"
Edea managed to smile, despite the tears growing in her eyes. "Wait and see what happens. It's all we can do now."
> > >
To be continued…
Now, a nice reviewer of mine, Sunday1, has suggested Ipost longer chapters. I'm perfectly amicable to the idea, I just need a general response from you guys to see what you prefer. As it is, I promise to get the next chapter up within a week, but it usually doesn't take more than 3-4 days. Longer chapters will mean longer times between chapters. The timeframe I'll promise you is still 'within a week', but really, this time, it may be the full 7 days. (Right now, each chapter is about 5 MS Word pages, a longer chapter will be 7-8. I don't want massive chapters happening, it'll probably just bore you.)
So drop me a review, tell me which you would prefer, and I'll go with the majority decision. Thanks for reading!