Disclaimer: I own only four characters and one place! Does that tell you all anything! (Please don't sue me! I'm poor enough as it is…)
Chapter Twenty-Six
"Drat! Drat! Drat!" Quistis muttered. Squall and Seifer had tried several attempts to break the door down, but it wouldn't budge.
"It's locked from the outside," Seifer declared. He had inspected every inch of it and it was completely and utterly useless.
"What? You don't normally have a door leading outside that locks from the outside, do you?" Quistis affirmed. "Isn't that logic a little backwards?" She looked at Squall and Rinoa for help but they weren't paying attention.
"Well, what other option is there?" Seifer demanded of her.
"It could have a spell on it of some kind," Squall suggested. He tapped at the door with his forefinger. "The only thing is that if it did, there's no way to tell what type of spell it is that we need to counter it with. I imagine that Ultimecia knows a great more about magic than we do. There's still much that Garden and the rest of the world has to learn about magic."
"Well, hey! We've got a sorceress here! Maybe she can help. You know, cast some of that voo-dooy magic on the door! A little push, a little pull. You catch my drift, right?" Seifer looked at Rinoa who shrugged.
"Last thing we need is for her to blow the whole damn door off into oblivion," Squall scoffed. He inspected the door more closely again.
Rinoa looked at him, shocked. "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded. He turned to look up at her. His hair partially hid his stormy eyes.
"Face it, Rinoa. You don't exactly know just how strong you are. Edea hasn't shown you just what you can do. I wasn't intending to insult you." He turned his attention back to their exit.
"…And we can't afford to have the noise. Can't afford to get caught, right?" Rinoa asked him. He nodded.
Rinoa crossed her arms over her chest as everyone watched what was possibly their only means of escape. Another setback, would their toil ever end? She looked back at Squall. He was staring down the hall at something. He turned around.
"I have an idea. Seifer, come with me. You two stay here and don't move. We'll be right back," he commanded. They walked back down the hall from which they all came and out of sight.
"What do you think that they're going to do?" Rinoa asked. Quistis shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. Probably something outrageously well-planned," she replied. Soon there were footsteps again. Squall and Seifer returned, both carrying torches.
"Stand back," Squall said as they stepped in front of the door. They put their dry torches to the dry wood. It immediately began to burn as black smoke was filling the hall. It suddenly became harder and harder to breath.
"Get down on the floor!" Seifer yelled. Soon, the door was burnt to ashes, but the smoke still remained. They had to get out of there or they all would sufficate. However, they could see moonlight shining in.
"Let's go!" Quistis shouted with excitement. They ran out into the clear, full-mooned night. Behind Ultimecia's castle, there was a chain of mountains; from their point, they looked creepy. What a way to top all this off.
"So, where exactly are we?" Quistis asked Seifer, turning to him. "How far are we fron Esthar?"
"Actually, just over these mountains, the Great Plains of Esthar lay to the north. We're not that far," Seifer answered, looking back at the mess that they had made. He was just a little worried that they had made too much noise.
"If that's the case, then let's head to the mountains. We have a better chance of escaping without Ultimecia finding us," Squall said, urging them forward. In front of them, at the beginning of the mountains, there was a great area of forests. Dark, uninviting trees carved the landscape with the tall, looming mountains overhead. Who knew just what kind of evil, disgusting, menacing monsters lurked in those forests. Well, they didn't really have much choice and headed off that direction with what felt like permenant lumps in their throats. Halfway there, Seifer grabbed Squall's arm.
"Hey, Squall? What if we left a trail leading in a different direction to lead someone off the scent in case we're being followed? 'Cause I think we might have drawn a bit of attention to ourselves with all that noise with the exit." He looked away sheepishly.
"That's probably not necessary. There's no way they'll find us in these mountains. Plus, it's not like she has us on any kind of tracking devices," Squall replied with some thick sarcasm that made Quistis roll her eyes.
"You never know, Squall. Witches can be pretty sneaky," Rinoa pointed out with a half giggle.
Squall and Seifer both turned around to face her. That was most definitely not something that would normally come out of her mouth.
"Are you directing that towards Ultimecia or are you including yourself?" Seifer asked and received a jab in the stomach by Squall's elbow.
Rinoa only chuckled. She left it at that, left them with their puzzled looks and roaming thoughts and continued walking to the woods.
Staring at her back absolutely confused, the others just followed her. Things were getting weird.
They walked in the woods for some time without saying so much as a word to each other. Squall kept a watchful eye around him and on Rinoa. Seifer walked with Quistis but kept quiet. He felt that maybe, just maybe, he had finally done something good to help Garden. He smiled to himself. Quistis looked over at him in time to see his smile. She felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
"Hey, Seifer? Do happen to know what happened to the Ragnarok? We had parked it at the Sorceress' Memorial, but we ran into some difficulty, and I'm not sure if it's still there," Quistis asked of him.
"It's still there," he replied.
"How do you know?" Squall prodded him. Seifer shrugged off his question. They would never understand.
"Yes, how?" Quistis asked, siding with Squall on this one. Seifer didn't say anything and kept walking, but, unfortunately for him, when Squall wanted some answers, he wanted some answers that very moment. He grabbed Seifer's shoulder and spun him around. Seifer stared sheepishly at the ground.
"You were the one in charge of guarding us, weren't you? Back at Ultimecia's castle," Rinoa stepped foreward. Squall held an arm out to block her from getting any closer to the other man. Seifer avoided their eyes but nodded. Squall shook his head in frustration, anger, and disbelief.
"What?" he asked. "Why did you help us if you were following Ultimecia's orders? Is this some sort of trick?" Squall made a move to reach for his gunblade.
"Whoa! Relax! I already told you! I'm tired of being Ultimecia's little pet puppet that does all the dirty work that she takes all the credit for and makes me feel worthless. No, it's not a trick. I really want to help. Please, trust me. My word is the only thing I have to offer right now." Seifer turned his back on them and looked up at the night sky, feeling the light breeze. Quistis placed a hand on his shoulder, suddenly feeling a bit of guilt for attacking him like that. Squall, himself, stepped forward to say something but didn't. Seifer shook off Quistis' hand, he didn't need anyone's comfort. He turned around and attempted to change the subject.
"Now what's the plan?" he asked, staring at a bush behind Squall that looked as if two hundred Mesmerizes had trampled all over it a few thousand times.
Squall made a mental to note to remember to use Seifer as a human punching bag later when he had the time. He sighed in aggrivation that made Seifer flinch unnoticeably.
"Squall, it would be safer on our part to travel by night. That way, we should have less of a chance of being tracked or caught," Quistis suggested. "Seifer? What is the probablity that we will be tracked?" She turned to the nervous blond whos well-known ego had seemed to shrink big time.
"Probably pretty great. Especially if you guys know stuff that you're not supposed to know. And with me here, that's even worse. I am a threat to her now." He looked at them briefly before averting his attention elsewhere again.
"So, she'll have someone or something try to track us? So we're running against time and something dangerous?" Squall asked, crossing his arms over his chest and it was quite obvious that he was quite upset.
"Uh, well, kind of." Seifer shrugged.
"Just what are we talking about here? What could she possibly send after us? Surely not Omega Weapon," Quistis reasoned. She looked almost scared.
"No. That's probably the only good news there is," he answered, scratching at the back on his neck.
"Then I take there is an immense amount bad news to follow?" Squall glared at him. Seifer didn't enjoy being under his hot gaze, it made him uneasy. This was the man who beat him four, no, five times in battle.
"A bit."
"And just how much is a bit?" Squall demanded.
Rinoa looked at Squall, almost alarmed in the abrupt change in his attitude. He was on the verge of anger. He had been so mild a few minutes ago and now he was... far from mild.
"Uh, well, you see...um...well...uh...it's..." Seifer struggled to answer them. In order to tell just what would be sent, he would have to tell them the truth. All of it. And that just wasn't something he was prepared to do just yet. It was a long, complicated story and whether they would believe him was a very slim factor. Especially Squall. He'd probably think that he was BS-ing them.
"What is it? Seifer," Quistis touched his shoulder. She had gone back to the 'caring Instructor' mode again. "You can tell us."
Rinoa saw the worry in the young man's eyes. She knew what he was struggling with. She knew what was going on. She, too, had been struggling with how to bring this to the attention of her comrades. It could be looked down upon if they knew that she had important information and didn't say anything about it to them. Squall would most definitely be a little angered.
Seifer looked at just about everything around them but Squall and Quistis. He needed to tell them, that was a necessity. The only problem was that he wasn't sure just how to do it. It was something he needed to explain carefully, slowly, and reasonably. And those were not things he was in the least bit good at. He liked to explain things quickly just to get them over with. Heck, he just liked to not explain things at all. It made his job easier. Let people figure it out on their own. You don't always have somebody letting you know what's going on in real life all the time, do you?
He caught Rinoa's eyes and he saw that there, in her eyes, there was something there. She knew. She knew the truth. The only question was, how did she find out? He figured that by the half guilty look there that she also hadn't told the others. That made things both twice as hard and twice as easy. But come to think of it, that made things twice the same.
He turned back Squall and Quistis. The look the brunette was giving could most definitely kill if looks had that power. His eyes were narrowed at the other gunbladist in what seemed as almost pure loathing. If anyone could hate Seifer like fire hates ice, it was Squall.
Quistis, on the other hand, was just staring at Seifer expecting an answer from him. Expecting an answer he couldn't give to her. He suddenly felt a tinge of pain.
Rinoa wanted to do something for Seifer. She wanted to get him out of that hole he had gotten himself into. She cared about him, but had no feelings whatsoever in her heart for him. She loved Squall, not Seifer. Seifer had tried to kill her, and he would have suceeded if it hadn't been for Squall and the others. Squall had come after her and saved her from that horrid junctioning. Wait...
Seifer had tried to kill her.
Why should she help him? Then again, he wasn't exactly himself when that happened. He was chasing false fantasies that Ultimecia had fed him. He had dreams, yes, but the ones Ultimecia had promised him would have only resulted in his own destruction. There had been no truth there, no real ground.
Seifer pleaded with her silently for help. He didn't like asking people for help. It just wasn't his style. But what exactly was his style now? He had changed so much since the whole Ultimecia affair that he wasn't exactly sure just who he was anymore. Still, she was the only other person who knew. There was one other person, but they were in Esthar and would not give him any help here.
Rinoa nodded. She hadn't meant to, but did. Squall's head snapped in her direction. The gave her the same narrow-eyed evil-eyed look. He never used that on her, but he was not happy. He hated not being informed on dangerous situations that involved the lives of others. He was in charge. He was responsible for the live's of his party memebers. He had a right to know just what was going on.
"What?" he asked her harshly. She cringed at his tone, but he showed no sympathy. "What is it that you two are hiding?"
"We're not hiding anything!" Seifer exclaimed quickly, causing Squall to look at him again in another brutal manner.
Rinoa sighed. "Seifer you can't really say that." The blonde shrugged and frowned.
"Is there somehing that you two know that we don't?" Quistis asked. She sported a bit of confusion.
"Yes, unless somehow you also know, but I don't see how you could have done it." Rinoa answered with a tired gaze. It wasn't physical exghaustion. It was all mental.
"Rinoa," Seifer turned to her. "I think it would be better if I explained it. That would be the wisest thing."
"Explained what?" Squall and Quistis both asked in unison.
"I'm getting to that!" he exclaimed, almost irritated. "But it might be better if we found a place to rest or something 'cause this is going to take a while."
"Fine. But make it snappy," Squall barked. Seifer nodded and led them further into the mountains.
It took some time but they were finally able to find a small cave a short distance down the base of the mountains. It was your typical cave. You know, stalagtites, stalagmites, wet, and cold. They didn't bother with a fire or anything just yet. Squall wanted an explaination and Seifer wanted to give it to him before he got unruly and fed him to the nearest Marlboro.
"I'm warning you now," Seifer said once they got somewhat settled. They sat in a circle on the cold ground. It went Seifer, Quistis, Squall, and then Rinoa on the other side of Seifer. He needed her there in case he came across some things that would be complicated, which he would probably come upon. He didn't know just how much she knew, but he had a feeling that it was quite a bit. "This is going to take a while."
"It's almost dawn anyway, and if we're only going to travel by night, we have plenty of time," Quistis informed him.
"Start talking," Squall commanded. His attitude was making this even harder for Seifer. If he would just chill out and let him explain, this would go faster and easier. The last thing that was needed was Squall ordering him to do this fast. He wanted them to understand and believe him.
"Okay," he sighed. "This is going to be hard to start. But I guess I should begin with what happened after you guys defeated Ultimecia."
"Wait! If we defeated her, then how did she come back? She passed her powers on to Edea. How can she return if she's no longer a sorceress?" Quistis asked. She shook her head.
"That's what I'm getting at if you two would just let me explain! You want answers, right? Well then! Let me talk and don't interrupt or this will take even longer!" Seifer snapped. Just then, he was almost like his old self.
"Don't make this harder than it already is going to be, Seifer. Just keep going," Rinoa said calmly and quietly. She didn't look at anyone, just stared at her boot as she played with the loose strings.
"Do you want to know about what's most likely going to follow us or the Ultimecia situation?" Seifer asked them.
"Which one is an immediate danger to us?" Squall countered.
"Our follower," came the reply.
"Then that's what we should be focusing on right now. The other part can come later." Squall's jaw was tightened as he struggled to keep from lashing out on Seifer.
"Okay. What we're dealing with is not exactly a who, it's more of a what," Seifer began. "You guys fought Omega, didn't you?" Nods came from the other three. "Well, Omega has nothing on this. What she will most likely send to find us and destroy us, is a horrible, experiment that went wrong in the right way. Magic and science went into this one. It has an immunity to everything. Even physical attacks. The only thing that could probably hurt it is itself."
"Just what is this thing?" Quistis asked nervously, "And what does it do?"
"How can something be stronger than Omega Weapon? Omega was the strongest of all monsters," Squall argued.
"Not anymore. Ultimecia was responsible for the creation of Omega. This time, that wasn't the case," Seifer replied.
"What is it, and how soon until we find any traces that it's near?" Squall questioned again.
"As soon as you all are reported missing. This thing won't have a hard time finding our tracks. We should be able to figure out ahead of time that it's close."
"What is it Seifer? What are we up against? What horrible monster?" Quistis demanded. It was more out of fear that she wanted to know, but curiousity wasn't too far behind in this race.
"The Ruby Widow."
A/N: Hey guys! Listen, I am trying to come up with ideas for chapter titles but it just doesn't feel right for this story. I'm sorry. I hope that's okay lady-rinoa. I'll do what I can though. Anyway, I just want to say that Seifer is probably a bit out of character to you guys, but you'll see why soon enough. Chapter Thirty Eight to be exact. No, wait. Scratch that. I'm adding a few chapters that I didn't originally have, so it will probably be around Chapter Forty something. Probably forty one or two. And remember how i said that you all haven't seen the last of Omega Weapon? Well, a heads up so nobody is confused: This is NOT Omega Weapon. I have other plans for that beastly thing.-evil laugh- Yeah. Ruby Widow is my own creation that you all will learn more about in the next chapter. And I hope that some of you are catching on with the whole Ultimecia thing. That would make me very happy. Very happy indeed. But I think I need to brush up on my foreshadowing skills.lol. I'll leave it at that. Later Days guys. (Or weeks at the rate I'm going.)
E/N: Sorry I took so long to edit. -embarassed blush- I'll skip the
excuses, at least I got it done! (And thanks for scribbling it all over
my hand Katelyn, nice reminder.) I like the "twice the same"
line, I was like "...Say what? Oh jeez..." Very cute, Kady-did. And
Quistis is mushy like a soggy sponge, F.Y.I. But hey, I guess I get
mushy with Ryan too. ;)