Hehe, cool! Bahamut's gonna be a GF to my character! -giggle- Well, here's the next part of the emotional roller coaster. I just like to think of the whole thing as one thrill ride. I even blow myself away as I write this, which is important!
Lyrics used: "Tonight" by Staind! Off the 14 Shades of Grey album of course! Awesome song…awesome lyrical pick for this chapter. It matches to what I write, like poetry!
Chapter 4: Now or Never
Just try to understand. This isn't what I planned.
This ride's out of my hands…
"Seifer, what happened?" Quistis interrogated, anxious to know what on Gala happened to him. "…How did you escape from execution?" The last word that escaped from Tepe's lips had brought a surprised expression on Almasy's face as he felt himself standing up. …Of course, right. From trying to kill that bastard president of Deling, he recalled through memory. He blurted all he knew:
"Well, I don't know! The last thing I remember is Edea referring to me as some stupid little kid." Seifer shook his head in frustration, wishing he knew how he ended up in that throne room with Marianne and Edea. His shoulder muscles began to tense up. "I… I must have blacked out, or something! Like I was asleep, and I 'woke up' looking at Marianne, looking scared as shit with my Hyperion to her throat… And I didn't know what the fuck was going on!" Squall and the others around him reacted in mixed reactions. Disbelief from Zell, because it was likely of Almasy to tell tall tales. Shock from Quistis and Squall. Irvine thought of Marianne, how she must have felt, as his hazel eyes drifted down to look at the floor. That poor little lady… "She also knew my name, and-and I don't know how, or why!" Almasy added, reacting all jittery, shaky. He was freaking out. This statement, and how Seifer was acting, had surprised everyone. "It was right before I could even introduce myself, shit," he explained. "It all just happened so quickly…" He sat down on the same bed as before, head in his hands for a few seconds.
"Then, it's something to ask her about as soon as she comes out of the shower," Zell said, in stating the obvious. Due to Seifer's dismay. "No shit," he spat, followed by an awkward moment of silence between him and everyone else. Quistis broke it. "Let's not approach her directly. She's still shaken up from the wall's collapse…" The next thing she said was about to get a harsh but honest reply in return, her mind wondering about someone else. "I hope Rinoa's alright." "…She's not," Almasy informed her. "She was murdered by two monsters. …The Iguions that tried to kill us." Knowing of this hurt Trepe, badly. She only wanted to find her and apologize for how rudely she acted while "Operation: Assassinate the Sorceress" was still going on. And to her, Seifer looked pretty hurt about it too. To what she has been told, from Heartilly herself, they were very devoted to each other.
The blond man in the dirty, bloodstained trench coat felt like a fool. He shouldn't have done the spur of the moment attack on the president. He should have been there for her more. Hours earlier during the late afternoon, he saw that she was with Squall's team. He felt like he needed someone to blame. It's their fault… No, Squall's! He's the leader of them, right?! They should have been there for her! He spoke his thoughts out loud, directing them those around him. He looked to Squall first, eyes burning with an inner fury. "It's your fault that Rinoa is dead." Leonhart only gave him a scowl in return, his thoughts bottled up. I didn't do anything wrong, you ass. "Now that's just pure bullshit!!" Zell snapped back, rage pouring from him like a waterfall, down on Seifer. Both of his hands clenched into fists, as if he wanted to punch his all time hated bully right in the kisser. "If only I could have known sooner, but it was Instructor," Almasy added furthermore, pointing to Trepe. "Who told me you three ROOKIES were left in her dispatch to liberate Timber!" Realizing this, he felt betrayed, hurt. "My job!!" The aggressive rising of his voice spread out through the room, letting all in his presence know he was pissed off. "We thought she was locked up inside of her father's mansion, to discover she was gone. It's no one's fault, Seifer!" Quistis counter pointed. "Ragging it out on us won't solve anything." "Yeah, and actually THINK before you say shit!" Dincht shouted scornfully, pointing an index finger to the side of his head. The action was to emphasize on the word "think." "Shut the fuck up, Chicken Wuss!!" Seifer retaliated, not wanting to tolerate him at all.
Before there was to be anymore quarreling, Selphie Timlitt had come into the room, the beeping sounds from the door cutting the argument to a sudden halt. She was greeted with silence. Dincht crossed his arms over his chest, back turned on Seifer. Selphie inspected the varied looks on their faces. "…What's going on?" she wondered, face stricken with concern. Quistis turned to her, taking a deep breath. "Selphie…" Eye contact had broken when she had said the horrible news. "Rinoa is dead…"
So now I'm forced to be
Something I cannot be
If only I can make you see…
Behind the shower curtains, Marianne had heard Seifer's yelling, including about the bit about her blurting out his name when she should not have. From that to what sounded like Zell and him at each other's throats, she felt a soft gasp escape from her lips. Her heart raced like mad. She would have to tell them the whole truth. And really soon. This is going to get really, REALLY ugly, she silently told herself, feeling utterly afraid. What if they became pissed off, and have a go at her like Zell and Seifer did to each other? No… She didn't want that at all.
Marianne tried to regulate her breathing, but it was becoming so hard to contain this pressure that was heaved upon her shoulders. Too much! Way too much pressure. I can't go out there. I can't! she panicked, shaking despite the warmth of the endlessly pouring shower water on her back. They'll only get suspicious if you don't. Seifer and the others need to shower too, ya know. With that, she tried to force herself to get a grip, taking one deep breath after another.
Click. The sound of the door opening. "Marianne?" That voice… A little high pitched, and not so perky right now. Selphie. Yeah, she'll get everyone to calm down. And Quistis… Timlitt had a brown paper bag in her arms as she cautiously made her entrance. The girl in the yellow dress had heard Marianne's sobs from behind the curtains. "I got you some clean clothes hun," Selphie told her, in a calm, friendly way. She slowly placed the bag down where she was standing, so when Marianne was ready to dry off, she wouldn't have to search the entire bathroom for clean clothes. Only one pair of clothes were inside. Seifer had already received his, just after Quistis told Selphie about poor Rinoa, then hearing Quistis scold him and Dincht about that argument they had just moments ago.
"Are you almost done?" The frightened one sniffled, and managed to squeak out a reply. "…I'll be out in a minute." This alarmed Timlitt, and she thought, Uh oh… She must have overheard Seifer and Zell yell each other's heads off. …Shame on them. "I put the bag down where you can see it, okay?" "Alright… Thanks," a whimpering Marianne responded. Aww, poor Marianne! Timlitt sympathized within herself. She stood there a moment longer to say, "I'll be waiting for you when you get out, okay? …It's alright… Don't be afraid. We're not angry with you… It's just that everyone's as shaken up as you are."
Of course… It's just what I have to reveal… That's what I'm worried about, Marianne silently told Timlitt, who was unaware and couldn't read minds. Like the average human being. "Okay…" was what she told Selphie out loud, noticing her silhouette on the white shower curtain beside her. She watched her go. For a few seconds more, she instantly told herself just before turning the water off, Keep it together. Wait for everything to cool off, or ask them to wait for a few minutes or so for everything to cool off, or else I won't be able to tell them anything…
An annoyed sigh erupted from Bahamut in the heavens, as he watched over the group with Rinoa, God, and Hyne. Quezacotl had gone back to Squall's mind, while Carbuncle went back to Irvine's. "Can't Seifer and Zell just grow up for once?!" Rinoa said, really disliking them at the moment. "That's going to take time," the wise goddess of Gala told her. "Fools," the dragon king growled. "If they quarrel with each other, they'll only receive absolutely nothing from Marianne's knowledge." "Yes, that is indeed so. She would only hide what they need to know within herself, and keep quiet. A very similar defense mechanism whenever her father would yell in anger," calculated God, then directed something to the group of people he saw. "Please be gentle and patient with her…" This only caused Marianne's destined, soon-to-be Guardian Force to emit a low growl. "Relax Bahamut," Hyne said to him. "Selphie and Quistis wouldn't hesitate to force Seifer and Zell to calm down." She sighed and thought, I only hope they don't react cruelly. I doubt about Selphie, but the others…
Well, to the others, it seemed that Marianne was certainly taking her time to get out. Not that anyone was in a real hurry anyway. Especially not Seifer, who was covered in blood, like Marianne used to have been. He was told that he was next, but hey. There was no hurry.
"Did you know that Marianne overheard the arguing?" Selphie said, directing the question to the two blond young men. The angry looks on both of their faces had vanished into thin air. "Aw man…" Zell moaned, feeling the guilt well up inside him. His expression showed that he was truly sorry. Seifer felt the same, and backed away slowly, head lowered, although HATING IT inside himself to admit that Dincht was right about thinking before saying things. After all, he said it very rudely. "Shame. On. Both of you." Selphie scolded them slowly in a dangerously low voice, and then looked away from them, disappointed to hear of them fight around Marianne. This gave everyone else around her the chills. Including a surprised Squall Leonhart, whose thoughts were, …Damn, that's not like Selphie at all…
Marianne didn't like the fact that Selphie got her a tank top to wear, and had hesitated before putting in on. It would have been much better if it were an orange T-shirt instead, but an orange tank top?! What was Selphie trying to do?! Weaken her and make her feel even more vulnerable? She felt as if they wanted to see her in pain, wanting to see the bruises all over her arms and shoulders… Obviously, Timlitt did not know any better, but Marianne had no choice. Thank God the rest of her outer attire were blue jeans, to cover up the bruises on her legs. Selphie did a lucky guess for the rest of her necessities. There were a pair of pink sandals too, with assorted plastic flower decorations on them. Cute, she commented to herself.
She finished drying off, and finally emerged toward the others a minute later. She was still shaking all over a bit. Selphie stood right in front and drawn her into a hug, moving one hand gently up and down her scalp. Her hair was almost dry. Dry enough to not worry about using the hair dryer. Seifer noticed it was still disheveled and frizzy, from the first time he saw Marianne.
Quistis was on one of the beds. "Come on over," she called to Marianne in a soft, welcoming voice. At least the girls were being friendly to her. Zell and Selphie followed. "Aw damn it. I'm so sorry," Dincht apologized, giving her a hug. And the tone of his voice told her that he was indeed really sorry. He felt her shake, which made him very worried about her well being. Seifer, from behind noticed the tank top, and had the same thoughts as Marianne did. He shook his head disapprovingly. Timlitt, unfortunately, didn't catch that. She was too focused on the person in front of her.
Zell sat beside the crying girl. Quistis sat in an Indian style behind her, brushing her hair and being sure to be gentle around the tangles, because her curly hair was pretty thick. Seifer entered the bathroom door to take his shower, just after looking upon Marianne in guilt for one last time. I am such a DICK!! he mentally cursed to himself. I had forgotten all about that poor kid. Marianne, forgive me…
Squall walked to sit on the bed across from the one that Marianne, Quistis, Selphie, and Zell were sitting on, and observed. "You gonna be okay?" Dincht asked Marianne. She looked to him, afraid. She glanced at Squall, who stared back at her blankly. Irvine walked to sit beside him. Telling the truth around HIM, and Seifer, scare me the most… They'll be mad. At least slowly… …This is a freakin' nightmare. She quickly shifted her eyes from Leonhart to Selphie, who was moving her hand up and down Marianne's right shoulder, sitting on the bed on the right, opposite of Zell's sitting position.
Squall had caught the separate fear toward him in her eyes. When she looked at the others, she wasn't as scared. She seems really afraid of me…but why? He felt one of his eyebrows rise when Marianne wasn't looking, but closing her eyes, taking deep breaths as an enforcement to calm down. Ever since he first encountered this trembling stranger, he was able to easily read how she felt. "Squall," called a familiar voice to him, from inside of him. Quezacotl? he answered. "Marianne has something very important to tell all of you, but give her some time to calm down. It's going to be really hard for her to explain what she has to say, so have mercy." his Guardian Force advised. Squall found himself staring at the girl as Quezacotl spoke to him. …Can't you just tell me what it is? Do you know? "It is best in coming from her… Please be gentle," the bird pleaded of him. …Why are you so concerned about Marianne, Quezacotl? No answer. Quezacotl! Again, no answer. Squall mentally sighed in frustration, not getting it, but decided to approach calmly anyway. For Marianne's sake. Not that he wanted to be on her case intentionally. Usually, he disliked meddling in others' affairs, but this situation was way different for him.
The other Guardian forces, but Irvine's had also warned their life partners in their own time. "…Is there something you want to tell us?" Squall asked Marianne in concern, to be sure. "…Yes," she whispered in reply. In a scared whisper. Now, Leonhart was really worried, but on the inside. She was scared in whatever had to be said, and something told him that it was serious. Feelings within his emotion protected heart had broken through by force. Dread. Anxiety. Anger.
Zell rested a hand on her left shoulder, since he was sitting to her left. "Take your time," Selphie offered on the opposite side. "Whatever it may be, there's no hurry hun." Marianne nodded, and closed her eyes, just focusing on her breathing for just one minute. How the hell am I going to say all this to them? …I don't believe there is any positive approach to this at all. I have to tell them the hard, cold truth, but I can't be real gentle about it… She inhaled for another moment, as she felt them stare at her, as her eyes remained closed. Scared shitless she was. Oh God… Okay… Just tell them the way that you know how… And take your time… Yeah… Marianne was trying to comfort herself in thought, but she couldn't push away the tension. The worries of being abandoned or worse.
Tonight…I'm alive
I've watched you all grow up and so have I…
Inside, this isn't really what I had in mind…
Deep in his gut, Zell could tell that whatever it was she had to say, it was something bad. Really bad. He clamped his jaws shut tightly as a sign in being nervous. Marianne's hesitation was making everyone nervous. Quistis had stopped brushing her hair to pay full attention to this. Noticing that she was having a hard time in trying to start, she decided to be of service. "Can you first tell us of how you know Seifer's name? …When he hadn't introduced himself to you?" Squall felt himself lean forward in where he sat, as Quistis moved to sit on his left, Irvine on his right. Leonhart was fully attentive on what she had to say. I can answer that simple question… No problem, Marianne assured herself, then slowly opened her mouth to begin to answer Trepe's question…
"…I not only know Seifer's name, but all of yours…" Well, it was a start. She knew they would be surprised to hear of it, and see the shocked facial expressions. Struggling to be brave, she pointed with her shaking index finger at each of them, starting with the long haired blonde female, with her hairbrush in her lap. "Quistis Trepe." Marianne strongly forced herself to not look at her reaction, and to just finish what she started. She did it counter clockwise, pointing to Zell next. "Zell Dincht." Zell's eyes went wide, and his mouth went slightly ajar as she pointed to Selphie next. "Selphie Tilmitt." "Oh my Hyne…" the girl in yellow said in mere shock as Marianne moved her finger to Irvine. "Irvine… I know your last name starts with a K…" "Kinneas…?" the kind Galbadian said, surprised that he even helped her pronounce his last name. She nodded silently in reaction. Squall felt and knew what was coming as that same finger pointed to him. Marianne's lips quivered in slight hesitation, and looked at his reaction. On the outside as a whole, he looked pissed, but his eyes told her that there was great shock. Regaining her voice, she called her most favorite "character's" name. "Squall Leonhart… And the guy in the bathroom is Seifer Almasy." "H…How?" Zell managed to ask, really surprised in reaction. Marianne knew this would happen, and pushed herself onward. There's no turning back now. It's now or never.
"This next part gets…complicated," Marianne told them, and the best she knew how. She blinked, and just breathed for a moment. "I'll just go ahead and warn you guys ahead of time…" Another inhale and exhale. "In what I tell you, please, don't…point any fingers. I'm innocent and… I never knew this world existed until tonight." The only answer she had gotten were the shocked facial expressions. She paused again as she had seen Squall's eyes narrow in suspicion. It's really bad, isn't it? On what you have to tell us? "Remember, have mercy, and be patient. You can see that this is very difficult for her to explain…" Quezacotl reminded him.
Marianne bit her lower lip, and forced herself to say what was needed to say… Take it slow if you need to. Selphie and Quistis will probably understand at least.
I no longer relate, to this world of hate
That's forced upon my plate…
Within this moment of silence, there were second thoughts. Seifer's still in the shower… Would I be able to recall anything when he joins us? From the unbearable pain that ebbed on Marianne's head, and how she was feeling right now, the answer came instantly. No… She inhaled deeply, and told them, "Maybe we should wait for Seifer to come out… I got the feeling I can only…explain this once." "Very understandable," Shiva said from within Zell's mind, though only he heard it. Dincht looked to her as she sniffled. Marianne's nose was starting to run a little bit from crying so much. Quistis got up, as Squall watched her get her purse. She quickly came back, handing Marianne a small package. "Tissues," Quistis said simply. "Thank you…" she said in a whisper, feeling her voice shrink.
Zell had an urge to speak a question he had in his mind for a minute or so. He gave a chance for Marianne to clear up the nasal congestion first. After the package was slightly torn open and placed in her lap, Marianne used both hands to bring a tissue up to her nose, and blew. Not as hard as she could, but a little bit. She picked out another one, because the tissues in the package were pocket sized. Dincht pulled out the waste basket from underneath the drawer, located up against the wall in between the two beds the group sat on. Marianne dropped the used tissue into the basket.
"Um, Marianne?" Dincht began, as he saw her look upon him. "How bad is this? What you have to share with us, I mean." A slight pause came from the scared young woman, just after blowing her nose a second time, a little harder. Endless tears came from those pretty blue green eyes. Zell observed her features in before answering. It seemed that the clueless, but friendly young man, was feeding off her fear. Her lips quivered and slightly opened to inhale. "Oh my God, in shock…bad… Somewhere along there…" This answer affected everyone. They were already shocked to know that she knew their names before the chance to introduce themselves. And the fact that she told them she was from another world, believing her.
Selphie, trying to always see the positive side of things, said to her, "If it's something really, really bad and you don't want to share with us, you don't have to-" "No," Marianne interrupted, not wanting her to finish the statement. She knew what Selphie was doing. Offering her a way out of this difficult situation. That she didn't have to tell them the truth. "It'll only get ugly in the long run. I have to, in order to help you…help me… You'll only demand to know if you find out for yourselves…" Marianne felt her voice slightly grow smaller and smaller as she spoke that statement. The tears kept coming endlessly down her cheeks.
Irvine was unusually quiet. It was like he was unable to be of comfort to Marianne, inwardly afraid for her. I wonder what she has to tell us… I just hope I don't have to shoot her. I wouldn't want to. Squall watched as she trembled every now and then. "I've never been so scared in my entire…life…" Marianne whimpered, through that God awful headache. It hurt so much, but the over rush of adrenaline seemed to numb it a bit. This woke Zell up from the mental petrify spell that Marianne had seemed to inflict upon him. Along with Selphie, he wrapped a comforting arm around her.
Quistis couldn't manage to bring herself to focus. It was hard for her to sit still even, clasping both hands around her hairbrush to try and relieve the stress. She didn't do anything wrong! I don't understand… "Then just wait," Diablos advised from inside her mind. "And you are right, she didn't do anything wrong. It's not her. It's something to do with her world, but she's the one who has to tell all of you. Not me." Quistis looked to Marianne, alarmed of what Diablos had told her. Her home world?
Squall could see this girl was very vulnerable. It was clear that even though she had to tell them something, she didn't want to at all. He wanted answers. Like Quistis, he strongly believed that she didn't do anything wrong. Quezacotl, she isn't…somehow bad, is she? "No, she's not a bad person. Have you not paid attention to what she said? She's innocent." the Thunder GF said in somewhat comfort. Then, why is she going to have a hard time in explaining why she even knows us? "Because she knows it's something that you wouldn't like to hear, especially."
That pretty much hit the nail right there. He felt his eyebrows narrow slightly. From all the clues he had gotten from Quezacotl and Marianne altogether, whatever was to be explained was not going to be pretty, and his patience had begun to wear thin. Hurry up in there Seifer. Let's just get it over with…
Seifer had finally started to dry off, after a few short minutes. He couldn't hear anyone talking from within the room. Maybe some muffled voices from the others, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. Nothing loud. No yelling, that's for sure. Eager to know what's going on, he quickly finished drying off and got changed into the clothes Selphie had bought for him. He thought it was nice of the "messenger girl" to do such a thing. His attire was a white T-shirt, and black jeans. Surely, Timlitt was in a hurry, even think clearly in shopping because of the tank top he had seen on Marianne, who looked like she was a little uncomfortable with wearing it. What? Was there a clearance sale there in Deling's clothing department? Jeez, at least you could have been a little more considerate to how she feels!
There were some red briefs, just in case the ones he wore before were dirty, but that wasn't the case. He decided to keep them anyway, just for the hell of having a clean pair to wear for later. Then he quickly combed most of his hair back, not bothering to put on a comb battle with the rebellious bangs that would never obey him.
When he opened the door and walked out, he shortly found the group to his left, on two of the beds near the door that lead out into the hallways. He saw them looking back at him. Looking upon Marianne, her breathing intensified a notch. "What's going on?" Almasy wanted to know. Somehow he was locked into Marianne's frightened gaze at him. "…You might want to sit down on this one, Seifer." she squeaked. What the fuck…? came the first thought as the others seemed to be looking upon him. At first, Almasy figured everyone else had been hostile towards her. If so, why? "What the hell is goin' on here?!" His brows narrowed as Marianne felt like she just wanted to curl up and die. She'd rather be dead or do something else than having to do this.
"Seifer, just do as she says," Quistis said calmly. Seifer looked from Trepe, back to Marianne, in disbelief. "Marianne's got something really important to tell us," Selphie said. "It seems pretty serious, so pay attention. She says that she can explain this once." Marianne nodded silently in agreement. Squall let out a soft groan in annoyance. Sit down, and shut up, he silently told him through another hawk stare, directed at Seifer. Marianne asked Zell politely if he could scoot over some, and he made no hesitation to do so. When there enough room on the bed where Marianne, Zell, and Selphie were sitting on, Seifer sat down with them.
When everyone else were quiet and attentive, Marianne was nervous and scared as hell. Just get it over with… Her body was telling her mind that it was tired, and wanted rest. Her headache made that crystal clear. She fought that off for now. It was best to get it over with NOW. Worry about rest later. There wouldn't be as much tension anymore coming from me. She was sure that the others were getting tired too. …What time was it anyway? "Hey, doesn't anyone have a watch on or something?" she managed to say through her tears. "I do," Quistis calmly replied, and rolled up one of her sleeves to reveal a gold wrist watch. "One fifteen." Whoa, really late… And I went to bed at what, eleven? Marianne calculated within herself. Time seemed to go at the same time here as it was back at her hometown.
Okay, focus… Almasy leaned forward to focus on Marianne as she closed her eyes, and slowly opened her mouth to speak. "My world, and this one, have a connection…" Well, it was nice, and gentle, but not quite clear to start. She opened her eyes, and seen the mass confusion on the first person she saw. Squall, who was sitting almost exactly across from her. Then a short pause followed. "Connection?" Squall heard himself say out loud. "What kind of connection?" He was coaxing her to go on. "My world…a company in my world…created this one…" A shaky breath escaped from Marianne's lips as she forced herself to explain to them on what she knew. "There's a country on Earth that's really far to the east of mine, and…they…" She slowly stopped within the main explanation, and just asked, "Do the words 'video game', no, 'virtual reality,' ring any bells?"
From observation, the others mentally noted how unstable her voice was. And Squall especially had taken notice of Marianne's question. She was struggling within her speech, and had finished the question she asked rather quickly. He could feel the extreme nervousness, and fear, come from her. "Yeah…like virtual reality simulations?" Dincht asked, trying to be of help. That's a relief… Marianne thought as she felt a little of the weight on her shoulders slightly vanish.
"Yeah, something like that," Marianne responded, not making eye contact with him. "That country, by the name of Japan… they…" Just…say it… Marianne told herself. "This world, all of you, were designed by a company by…the name of a company. Squaresoft…"
I tend to disagree
I hope it's not just me
Alone, if only I could make you see…
Finishing Statement from the Author: "Oh! Those darn, evil cliffhangers," is what you're probably thinking right now, lol. I know, you all just hate having to wait a week for chapters 5 and 6 to come. Well, you'll have to deal with it. Soon, I should have chapters 7 and 8 all written and proofread and I'll want to continue to put up two chapters at a time. Okie?