Chapter Nine: That Sick Feeling
Seifer and Zell sat Squall's car, side by side, in silence. Squall stood outside with a few of the officers, discussing what had happened. Seifer's hands and arms were caked in blood, as were Zell's. Seifer's blow to the head caused bleeding, however it was starting to dry. Seifer hadn't even bothered with cleaning up.
"Seifer…?"
"Zell…?"
"Is this what that sick feeling of abandonment is like?" Zell stared at the stitching on the drivers seat. His voice cracked when he spoke, his nose was runny so he'd sniff every so often.
"…No." Seifer's face was blank. He stared at the seatbelt adjuster. "No, this is worse, Zell."
After spending over an hour staring at nothing but the seatbelt adjuster, not swallowing, not moving, not blinking, he had an epiphany.
"Zell…?"
"Seifer…?"
"Where do they keep the Guardian Forces?"
"Lunatic… Pandora Laboratories…"
"In Esthar...?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
Zell tried not to start sobbing. "Y…es…" He put his hand up to his face, feeling sick. "But… only members of the high council are able to access the main room where they hold them." Zell blinked for a moment. He looked as Seifer as Seifer looked at Zell.
"Squall." They both said aloud. The two got out of the car and shut the doors. Squall turned around and sighed.
"Get back in the car guys." He commanded.
"Where's Quistis?" Seifer asked.
"Standing in the alley." He said.
"Thanks…" Zell and Seifer started walking towards the alley. They found Quistis crying hysterically. Seifer leaned towards Zell. "He's not going to go unless if we—"
"I'll do it." Zell said, brushing back his hair with his fingers and walking forward. "Make sure no one comes around." Seifer nodded. He turned his back to the dark alleyway, watching the officers walk by. He finally heard the bones snap and Zell called to him. They both carried Quistis, talking to her lifeless corpse as if she was too weak to walk. Squall saw them get into the back of his car. They put their seatbelts, Quistis' body next to Zell. Seifer sat in the front. He looked in the glove compartment and found a gun. He pulled it out, concealing it in his shirt.
"Fix her hair and close her eyes." Seifer ordered to Zell. Her hair had gotten into her face. "It makes her look too obvious."
"What if we can't revive them?"
"It'll work. Why do you think I'm still here? Every time I tried killing myself, Raijin would find me and call Phoenix to revive me. It's an interesting process. He'd summon phoenix and he'd revive me even after a week of me being dead."
"Why a week later?" Zell asked.
"I locked myself up in my room, and told him that I was in Timber with Rinoa." He smirked. "See… as long as they don't decompose, they can be revived. But I had drowned myself, so I was preserved…in a sense."
Squall opened the door and got in the car. Zell leaned Quistis over him, putting his arm around her, patting her.
"Quistis?"
"She's going to sit back here. She said she needed to rest." Squall shrugged and started the car. When they drove a ways out from Dollet, Seifer ordered Squall to pull over.
"Get in the backseat." He ordered to Squall, pushing the gun up to his throat.
"What are you doing Seifer?" Squall put his hands up.
"We're going to Esthar. We lost lives today. Three of them. Because of the fucking council, which you support." Zell's tone was dark and cold.
"So get in the backseat with Zell. I'm driving." Seifer spoke dryly. Squall obeyed and got out. He got in the back seat and sat next to Zell and Quistis.
"Quistis?" Squall looked closer at her and realized she was dead. His breathing began to shake. Seifer locked the door before Squall could open it.
"What? Wh-why!" Squall held onto her body tightly, gasping and kissing her head.
"Collateral." Seifer put the car in drive.
"But why Quistis…" His voice grew faint.
"Leonhart, is this a yes?" Seifer asked.
"Whatever…" Squall held onto Quistis tightly.
Gathering the corpses in Timber was the easy part. Seifer and Squall walked in and walked right out with them. Before they were to put them in the trunk, they checked to make sure they were the right bodies. Squall unzipped Selphie's, immediately turning to vomit. To look down at a dead body like he did was unbearable.
Seifer zipped Selphie's bag up and unzipped Emma's. He looked at her face, it had looked so peaceful. He brought his fingers to his lips and kissed them.
"I'll be able to hold you again, very soon." He placed his fingers on her cold dark lips. Squall recovered, looking at Seifer like he was insane.
"You kissed a dead body?" He asked, holding his stomach.
"You puked on the side of a hearse?" Seifer zipped the bag up and lifted Emma's corpse into the trunk. He then grabbed Selphie's and lay her inside as well he walked back up to the car and grabbed Quistis' body and lay her against Selphie's bag."
"This is the point of no return." Zell said, walking towards the trunk. His voice had become so blank. Like he was hypnotized. Seifer closed it.
"How many hours is it to Esthar from here?"
"About a three day's drive at the most if we take my car. If we drive the speed limit it's about a four day long drive on the highway nonstop…" Squall said quietly.
"That's not enough time…"
"They can be revived. The downside is that it'll take longer for them to restore completely."
"So they should be fine." Zell muttered.
"Yes."
"Great. I'll drive." Seifer said with a fake sense of glee and a smile and got into the car. They drove for hours, taking turns every eight. Seifer stopped at Fisherman's Horizon and grabbed ice bags and plastic and stuck them in the trunk. They unloaded the bodies at the side of the road and filled the back with a large sheet of plastic. They put the bodies inside, all aligned but bent and covered them with ice. They folded the remaining plastic with the rest of it. Preservation was the main key to keeping them in the first stage of deterioration, Seifer would say. They continued to drive.
"My sister is dead!" Lux sat down on Emma's former bed. Morus' face was blank.
"It was your fathers orders." He looked out the window.
"But…WHY!"
"Why do you think we're relocating?" Evers walked in, carrying cases of weapons.
Seifer was first to walk in. He was alone with Squall following behind. There was only one man guarding the tanks to the Guardian Forces that night.
"Sir, I need to see some authorization for you to be back here." He said. He was a smallish man. Looking about thirty. Seifer pulled out the gun and aimed it at the man. Squall pulled out his pass and set it on the counter.
"My name is Squall Leonhart. We've had an accident and need authorization to use the Guardian Force, Phoenix… immediately."
The man looked at them as if they were insane.
"We have three dead bodies outside. We need to revive them—now." Seifer said, keeping his aim on the man.
"You can't." The man shook. "I'm calling Esthar—" Seifer lifted his arm towards the man, who stopped reaching for the phone.
"Sleep." Seifer cast Sleep on the man and watched as he fell back in his chair. Squall jumped back in surprise. Seifer looked over at him and rolled his eyes.
"You've had magic this whole time?"
"Let's not waste time." He turned, stopping as Squall remained still.
"I found a draw point when we were walking here. I could only draw one. It's better that then killing an innocent man doing his job." He walked out the door.
Zell was hunched over the side of the road vomiting when they approached the car. The trunk was open, and the smell was obviously stagnant.
"Those…bodies… fucking…the smell!" He gagged. Seifer walked over and patted his back, making his way to the trunk. Zell weakly stood up. "I couldn't do it!"
"I'll handle it." He said. He reopened the trunk, looking down at the wet bodies. The ice had melted mostly. It was freezing outside in Esthar. But Zell was right. The smell was nearly unbearable. Seifer lifted Quistis and dropped her on the ground.
"Fucker, be careful!" Squall ran towards Quistis' body onto the asphalt.
"They're corpses." Seifer said dryly, lifting Emma's body out of the bag and dropping her just as carelessly. "Zell, come here." He said. Zell slowly walked up towards him, avoiding Emma's body. "Breathe through your mouth." Seifer said to Zell and lifted Selphie out of the bag, placing her in his arms. Zell gagged but still was able to keep his composure. "Squall, help me get this out of your trunk." Seifer lifted the corners of the plastic along with Squall and lifted the enormous bag of water and hurried over to the road. They released half of the bag and watched as the icy brown water spilled out into the streets.
"This is disgusting." Squall coughed.
"The bodies are in better shape than I expected because of this method."
"But still…"
"Lets go." Seifer and Squall walked back to Squall's car. Squall checked the trunk, realizing that the bottom of it was dry. He looked up and saw that he was standing outside alone. He picked up Quistis and ran into the Laboratory.
Zell and Seifer stood with the bodies in their arms, looking at the holding tanks for the Guardian Forces. Seifer walked down the stairs, searching for Phoenix.
"He's going to be by Carbuncle." Squall said, catching up with them.
"This place is huge…" Zell mused. He stopped in front of Ifrit's tank and put a hand up to it. Ifrit lowered his head towards Zell and growled lowly.
Squall stood between Quezacotl and Shiva's tank, quietly whispering his apologies for the cruelty the Guardian Forces had to suffer through. "Phoenix is going to be down in the back with the non-elemental G.F's." He said aloud.
Seifer held Emma's body up against his, his cheek against her cold forehead. He walked to the back and noticed the tank that read "PHOENIX".
"Hey!" Seifer stood in front of Phoenix's tank. He held Emma's cold, wet, body against his, trying to wish her to come back.
"These tanks are unbearably small…" Seifer shook his head. "Guardian Forces shouldn't be treated as pets."
He screeched and flapped his wings, only to have caused his feathers to fly about. They never touched the ground. They burst into flames before they were close. Phoenix used his claws to scratch at the thick glass.
"The code is ph03n1x."
Squall said. Zell walked back to punch in the numbers he stopped and turned around.
"Wait… Phoenix's password is Phoenix?" Squall nodded.
"Whatever…Seifer, go stand on that platform over there. We're going to junction Phoenix to you." Zell directed.
Seifer put Emma down on the ground and stood at the platform in the back of the room. It glowed a bright blue when he stepped on it.
"Junction Upload Completed." Came a voice from the ceiling. "Beginning Junction to Host Now." Seifer could feel the rush of heat as he watched Phoenix fly through the now missing glass-plated wall and fly into Seifer's chest. His body glowed a twinge of red, then quickly settled back to his normal color.
"Seifer! Summon Phoenix!" Zell cried to him. Seifer lifted his arm and closed his eyes. He could feel the tingling sensation when he began to summon. "I call on you Phoenix…" He whispered, pulling out a long red feather from his pocket. "With this Pinion, bring them back…" He felt the cold blue electricity come from his feet as Phoenix heard his plea. The outline of the firebird appeared before Seifer.
"Yes…it's working…" Squall murmured.
As Phoenix observed the bodies that were dead he took in a breath of air. He stretched out his wings, which hit the other sides of the tanks. He flapped his wings and soared up to the ceiling, breathing a red and blue smoke down on the three lifeless women. He let out a cry, and turned around, flying back into Seifer's body, knocking him down. He got up, scrambling towards the bodies. When the smoke had dissipated, it left Quistis, Emma, and Selphie's bodies with a purple glow.
"The skin…Seifer…look at their skin…" Zell's eyes were wide. The bodies' once white skin was now back to its full color, they could hear the bones in Quistis' neck mend.
When the glow had faded, the bodies still remained motionless. They waited. Seifer crouched over the bodies.
"Keep waiting."
They waited for an hour. Zell and Squall looked up at Seifer, who stared at the bodies.
"Keep waiting."
"But…how?" Seifer's heart sank. Zell walked past the bodies and pushed Seifer up against Bahamut's tank.
"YOU SAID THEY'D LIVE!" He screamed, punching Seifer in the jaw. "YOU LIED TO US!" He smashed Seifer's head into the tank. Bahamut turned and roared at Zell, his wings flapping fiercely. Zell winced as his ears popped from the piercing cry.
Squall rushed up and pulled Zell back. Squall looked at Seifer, who had spit blood out on the metal grid that was the floor.
"Keep waiting." Seifer spat out. Squall let go of Zell and walked towards the empty tank that had once held Phoenix. Zell grabbed onto Seifer's collar and head butt him. Seifer's nose began to trickle blood. He started remembering when he had last been hit like that.
"Hi." Came a voice from behind Seifer's naked body. Seifer said nothing, only trying to finish his shower and make his way back into the cell he was assigned to.
"You new? I sees you came in here today on the bus. They call me Rok, here." Seifer did not speak. He continued to rinse. "You've got a nice ass, boy." Seifer rinsed off and wrapped a towel around his waist tightly. He walked towards the exit of the showers, trying to go through the door, but Rok blocked him.
Rok looked down at Seifer's groin. "You think you're a big boy?"
"Get the fuck out of my way." Rok forcefully pushed Seifer into a locker with a bang. When Rok approached the half naked blonde, he kneed Seifer in the crotch.
"Come on, you big boy. Let's see how good you feel." Rok punched Seifer in the stomach. Seifer put up his hands to block. Rok threw more punches, busting Seifer's lip. Finally, Seifer punched Rok in the face, knocking him into a staggering stance. Rok stood up, rushing back as Seifer did, pummeling each other.
"Hey! Fight!" Seifer heard someone scream. The small crowd that had gathered screamed insanely as Seifer and Rok went at it in the circle of light. Seifer's head pounded and he was furious. The crowd of cellmates cheered wildly. Centrans speaking their tongue, Grandid's speaking theirs. The onlookers kneeled to stay with the fight, cheering ever louder, banging on the walls and floors with whatever they could find.
"ALLRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!" They heard a guard scream.
Rok and Seifer staggered out of the bathroom last. Both dripping blood and covered with bruises, Rok being in worse shape.
"You're all right with me, man." He shook Seifer's hand.
Seifer relaxed the hand and Rok dropped to the ground like a sack, enervated from the beating he took.
A few men pushed through the crowd. When Seifer saw them he turned and flipped the bloody washcloth over his shoulder and rested his hands on the concrete walls. His head down, exhausted and heavy.
"What is your name?" One man asked.
"...Seifer." He said promptly.
The two men looked at each other and smiled.
"Cool."
Seifer walked out of the stalls, feeling safe. He passed a guard on his way to his block.
"Havin a good first day, prick?" He asked. Seifer turned to him and smiled.
"Yeah, actually... I am."
Seifer coughed harshly and gagged when he sniffed the blood back up his nose. Zell grabbed him again. He stopped when he heard a heaving gasp.
Quistis was first to take a breath. She reached up towards the ceiling, gasping. "Sq…S-q…Squuuuaaaaalllll!" Squall turned, gasping. He rushed towards her, falling to his knees and picking her up in his arms.
"Oh! Quistis! It worked!" Squall cried, holding onto her tightly.
When Selphie moved slightly, Zell threw himself down on the ground and held her tightly. She opened her eyes, which had returned to the normal glowing green. She gasped, taking in a big gulp of the stale air that lingered in the room.
Seifer leaned down towards Emma, waiting. He lifted her torso into his arms, waiting for her to open her eyes.
"Come on…"
She remained still, her skin fading at times, but slowly soaking in the color. Seifer feared the worst, realizing that she wouldn't wake up.
"Come back to me…for me. Oh… mon beau l'un…my beautiful…" Seifer buried his face into her neck, holding back the sick feeling that came over him.
"Seifer?" Selphie's voice was quiet, tired.
"Just leave." She heard him snap at her, his voice cracking.
"Should we summon Phoenix aga—"
"GET OUT OF HERE!" He screamed, causing his voice to echo through the entire room. Guardian Forces made their own sound, reverberating the walls and cells. Everything shook. Everyone but Seifer was silent. He continued to scream with the Guardians, making almost a harmonizing pitch.
After a few brief moments, which had seemed to take an eternity to Seifer, Emma's eyes shot open; the color had filled her eyes once again. She screamed loudly, making a hitching gasp, coughing, clawing at the air in front of her. She sat up, immediately rolling over and hacking. Clots of blood came out in large portions. She gagged and continued coughing. When she finally cleared her throat, she took a full breath of air and looked at him with alarmed eyes.
"Where am I?" She said looking around. She noticed her body. Dried bloodstains had covered her wet front side. Her chest felt sore, sick. "W-what is that smell!" She gave him a sour look.
"Melted ice water with blood and what-have-you." He said, rubbing her back. Her hair was dried and crinkly.
Her nose wrinkled and she sighed, falling back on the metal grid.
"Who's idea was this?" Emma heard Selphie ask weakly. Emma didn't turn around, she kept her gaze on Seifer's eyes.
"Let's get out of here."
Seifer walked past the tanks with Emma slowly, suddenly stopping when felt Emma leave his arms. He spun around, looking at the tank next to Gilgamesh.
"Serpentipes." He said her name delicately. Emma had pressed herself against the glass, her head down. Zell walked towards the tank with Selphie.
"That's a G.F.?" Selphie asked.
"Yes." Emma whispered.
"The stolen G.F." Zell muttered.
"Serpentipes…I'm so sorry."
"It looks…" Quistis whispered
"Just like her." Squall finished.
Serpentipes had the form of a human body, like Shiva or Siren. However she had long flowing black hair, which fell behind her back. Her skin mixed green and pale flesh.
"Poison?" Selphie said aloud.
"Yes… a status effect. Incurable poison." Emma said. She watched as the snakes that clung to Serpentipes strike and hiss at the group behind her. She sashayed up towards Emma, placing her hand on the glass. Emma did the same.
"Squall…" Emma trailed off.
"We can't. We came here and got what we needed. Let's go."
"But—"
"Emma, we've broken the law!" Zell exclaimed. "We put Phoenix back, and we need to leave before someone comes in here!"
"Charmeur…" Serpentipes spoke through the glass. "We will see each other again."
"How can you be so certain?" She asked, a tear falling to the grid beneath her feet.
"Ils ne peuvent pas nous garder dans ici pour à jamais."
Seifer walked up behind Emma and pulled her along. "Come on." He whispered.
As they walked out they noticed the guard in his chair. He was still sleeping in his chair.
Emma woke to find herself somewhere that looked something similar to a bomb shelter. Concrete floor, concrete walls. Above her was one bare light bulb that hung by a wire from the ceiling. . She could see shadows of trays and tables, but the only thing that was she could keep her focus on was the light bulb.
"Hello?" Emma whimpered. She was restrained, her body was partially naked, with a linen towel draped over the front.
She could hear voices from the other side of the room, low, whispers. They were men.
"She won't." She heard a man say. She watched the men walk and stand in front of her. One nods to another and turns on the light. There were three men, two with masks, and a woman. The woman was under a mask as well. They all moved out of a way, allowing a man in a medical coat walk into a position directly under the light bulb. His face was partially in shadow. He smoked a cigar.
"This baby was a mistake…right?" He asked. His voice was familiar to Emma's ears. She couldn't recognize it, however.
"Let me go." Emma said, quivering. "I am keeping this baby."
"This is Seifer Almasy's first born, yes?" Emma looked around the room, shaking. Next to her were surgeon tools and medical equipment. She feared for her child.
"Answer me." He was very calm. His onlookers looked impatient. He asked again.
"Is this Seifer Almasy's first born?" He waited. Emma said nothing. He sighed and looked over at the man next to him and nodded. The masked stranger pulled out a revolver and handed it to the doctor. The doctor took it and pressed it up to Emma's swollen stomach. She cried out.
"NO!" She sobbed.
"Well look at this." The woman said, her voice delicate, innocent. Contradicting to the situation. "The once ever powerful killer, now a sobbing mess."
"Is this Seifer Almasy's first born?" The doctor said, cocking the gun. He took a puff from his cigar and blew it in her face.
"YES!" Emma screamed. She followed with a heaving sigh when he took the gun from her belly. Everyone in the room was silent with the exception from the doctor.
"Good. Well then, lets get started." He motioned for another man to walk to the end of the room. They did so, and turned on the overhead lights. Emma shut her eyes tightly. The sudden light blinded her.
The woman walked up towards Emma, lifting her mask only to reveal a petite nose and small lips. She leaned down to Emma's face and smiled. "This is for your own good." She kissed Emma's forehead and stood up. Emma began hyperventilating, choking on her sobs. "Eventually, you'll thank me for this."
Emma woke up, lying against Seifer. The car was full with no legroom. The windows were completely down, with the sunroof open. A cool breeze caressed Emma's face. She closed her eyes, relieved to be able to see another morning. She looked ahead of her, seeing Squall with his arm around Quistis, driving. A freshly lit cigarette rested between his fingers in the hand he was driving with. Next to her were Zell and Selphie. Selphie held Zell as he slept. She looked over at Emma and smiled.
"He hasn't slept in nearly a week." She whispered. "Sorry if he's snoring too loud…"
"Don't worry. He's fine." Emma smiled back and looked up at Seifer, who had his head tilted and his mouth slightly open, breathing heavily. She noticed the bruises on his face and the dried blood that had surrounded his nose. She observed the small cut he had from the butt of the gun from Dollet. He had a black eye also.
"He just fell asleep." Selphie whispered. "So be careful waking him."
"What happened to his eye?" Emma asked, using her fingers to trace underneath her own eye.
"Zell."
Emma turned back to Seifer when his grip tightened on her shoulder. Emma smiled and reached for the hand that held a halfway burned cigarette. She grabbed the cigarette and took a few drags from it. Quistis turned around and looked at Emma. Emma offered it to her. Quistis shook her head.
"How are you?" She asked.
"I'm ok…you?" Emma took another drag.
"I feel ok. Stiff a little bit, but fine. Squall's going to stop in F.H. and get a hotel for a few hours so we can all clean up. We can't go back to Garden looking like this."
"How else are we going to explain how we came back from the dead?" Selphie wondered.
As Selphie and Quistis talked,Emma looked outside, seeing nothing but ocean. She saw a few ships around, but nothing else. "What time is it?" She asked. Her hair crinkled every time she moved.
"It's about eight-twenty." Squall said. "We'll be in F.H. in about forty five minutes. I think I can see it…" Squall trailed off, yawning. "But we'll be there in forty-five minutes, I think. But we can't stay. We need to get to Dr. Kadowaki before we start going back to old routines."
"Old routines…" Emma nodded and flicked the cigarette out the window. She snuggled against Seifer, feeling him grip onto her tighter.
Short after that, Emma heard Selphie let out a whimper. She turned to look over to see her head down, wincing.
"Selphie?" Selphie turned, her hair hardened from the dried blood and water. It was straight and matted down. She smiled faintly.
"I'm ok… just hungry I think."
"How's my godchild?" Squall asked, looking in the mirror. His voice was monotone, but still held concern.
"Just fine…" She smiled, patting her stomach. "She's doing just fine…"