By Ramsey Anderson
All characters in this fic are property of Squaresoft and were not created by me.
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Chapter 11
I had passed out after being stabbed through the chest, much like when I passed out after Seifer scarred my face. The next conscious moment, I was observing a familiar person land a killing blow to a Blue Dragon; it was Kiros, the man who traveled with Laguna so long ago. My body felt hot and sweaty, like I had been fighting something for some time and I noticed that I was carrying a machine gun, the same weapon that Laguna Loire preferred. I immediately grasped what was going on; it felt all too familiar. Even though I had told Ellone everything I knew about Laguna's past and what he had gone through to save her, she must have needed to use my consciousness to view some point in Laguna's past.
The large creature roared and fell dead after Kiros' blades slashed it across the torso. I heard someone speak from my lips, "Whoa!! Good one, man!! Now that thing won't even get a chance to terrorize our town!! Let's return to base, Asst. Kiros, the commander is waiting."
I was in Laguna's body alright, I didn't talk like that, that was for sure. Laguna turned around and headed towards the small town of Winhill. There weren't too many small towns in the world, so Winhill has easy to recognize; the gorgeous stone architecture and the many flowers scattered about made a staple on my memory. We had been on the outskirts of Winhill when we had fought the Blue Dragon, but why a Blue Dragon was in that region was beyond me.
The evening felt terribly dense and uncomfortable and the skies were overcast, dark and foreboding. Since I hadn't experienced this event before, it was difficult to pinpoint exactly which time period I was in. Alright, Laguna and Kiros are still doing their patrols in Winhill, so I imagine that they haven't been to Esthar yet. I wonder why Ellone has picked this point in time…
There were no monsters on the way through the streets of Winhill, so Laguna and Kiros must have done a good job with their patrols. They finally arrived at the pub, which was known as 'base' to Laguna and Kiros. Laguna and I noticed that a few tables and chairs were knocked over and we heard someone weeping upstairs. Laguna ran up the stairs, Kiros following closely behind, to observe Raine, the owner of the pub, crying on the couch. She looked up and I saw a large red mark on her face, but I couldn't tell if it was due to her crying or from something else.
Raine ran up to Laguna and shouted, "They took Ellone!!"
I expected Laguna to respond immediately, but he paused. I could feel his face stuck in a form of denial and confusion. He finally sputtered out, "Wh..what are you talking about…Who? Who took Ellone? Where? How? What happened!?"
Raine tried her best to stop crying to tell Laguna, "Just a few minutes ago, a short, strange-looking man and three huge men showed up and said something about how they needed to conduct some important experiments on Ellone. Then they just took her, with Ellone yelling and screaming. I tried to stop them, but they hit me and ran off…They must've been waiting for you and Kiros to leave…" Raine then resumed crying.
I felt Laguna's rage and sadness radiate from him, his fists clenched tight, his face red, teeth barred. He asked Raine intensely, "Where did they go?"
"I saw them run to the East side of town, towards the ocean."
Laguna bolted down the stairs, taking three steps at a time. His foot missed one of the steps and he fell to the base of the stairs. I could feel his face slamming against the wooden floor, only for him to pick himself up right away and race out of the pub, swinging the door wide open and sprinting out of town. I hadn't felt such adrenaline coursing through me since the time I ran from the spider robot on the Dollet mission. After a minute or two of running toward the shore, I could feel Laguna's stamina dropping, yet he ran as fast as he could in a vain attempt to get Ellone back.
Laguna reached the ocean and stopped on the beach, a faraway boat sailing away from him. Laguna drew his machine gun and fired relentlessly in the boat's direction, even though we both knew that the bullets wouldn't hit at such a long range. He eventually ran out of bullets, dropped his weapon and fell to his knees, completely drained of hope and energy. I literally felt Laguna's sadness as tears rolled down his cheeks, felt his fingers tingling, his mouth dry, his eyes burning…
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"Zell and I were in the gate control room when the Galbadian soldiers rushed in and arrested us. They outnumbered us, so we didn't resist, ya know? Anyways, I don't know when or how or why, but I must've passed out somewhere in there. But I had the most intense dream, I swear it was like I was…someone else. Like, I was in their body, but I couldn't control their movement or anything, like I was just watching. But the person I 'was' was killing this dragon thing with some cool arm-blade thingies. Then me and this guy, this really really handsome guy, Laguna was his name, started walking towards this small town. I dunno, but it was so real, like I felt his footsteps, and I felt his mouth moving when he talked. I think his name was Kiros, and he was Laguna's assistant or something. Poor Laguna though, his daughter or someone was kidnapped. Then I woke up here."
I had explained the strange dream the best I could, even though no words could describe how real it was. I had some dreams where I thought they were pretty extreme, but this one had been different. Rinoa, Quistis, and Zell had listened intently to what I had to say, but Zell seemed to be interested the most, paying attention with fascination in his eyes.
"Wow Selphie, that's really weird. Zell woke up at the same time you did, you know? Come to think of it, when did you pass out, Zell?" Rinoa mentioned.
Zell had a look of disbelief in his face when he answered, "I remember…Selphie passed out right before I did. I suddenly got real sleepy and then I had this…intense dream. But I was this heavyset janitor guy who couldn't talk. I could feel something strange in his throat, like his vocal cords were missing. Like Selphie's dream, I could feel what he felt, like when he was sweating from working real hard. You know, he actually worked in a place like this prison…"
A lot of strange things had happened lately, like all of us being arrested and me waking up in prison after having a majorly vivid dream. Now Zell had had a dream a lot like mine. None of us could figure out any explanations to our experience, so we just sorta stayed quiet. I was worried about some things though. Like Trabia, and how there was a possible missile strike planning to hit it. I tried not to think about that, though. I was concerned for Rinoa, as she had just found out that Seifer had turned bad. She seemed lost in thought, and I figured that I should've left her alone. I was worried about Squall, too; nobody knew where he was or what he was up to, so I said, "I wonder where Squall is right now…"
Quistis looked up and away, "I sure hope he's okay…" I could definitely sense some kind of emotion other than wonder in her voice. It sounded more like…major worry and sadness.
I had to ask Quistis, so I crawled up close to her and asked, "Do you have feelings for Squall? You've been pretty quiet ever since he left, and I see that your fingernails have shortened…you nervous or something?"
Quistis trusted me, I could tell that much, so she sighed and whispered back, "I don't know what I feel. I mean, he used to be so different, then one day, he's really nice to me and we start talking. But I just don't know what's on his mind, you know, if he likes me or not."
"Well…" I was interrupted by the prison door opening.
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I was hoping that I wouldn't wake up, but I did. The all too familiar cramped prison cell welcomed me when I opened my eyes. I felt my chest for the horrible stab wound that should've been there, but there were no signs of damage at all. Being in the 'dream world' healed me of all wounds, as before when Edea had put an ice lance through my chest.
I slammed my fist into the metal floor, "Damn!!"
I don't get it…why can't I change the future? I know what will happen, when it happens, and how to stop it, but every time I try, I fail. I couldn't prevent the launch, I was stabbed through the chest, and now I'm going to be tortured by Seifer…Why do I even try? Nothing I do matters…events will run their course and I will be forced to watch it happen, powerless to stop anything…
Ellone must have wanted to know something about Laguna's past that I didn't tell her on the boat. I hadn't even experienced the moment in Laguna's life that I had just seen. I found it strange and coincidental that she had picked the moment that I was in desperate need to bring me into the dream world. If she had chosen some other time, I might not have lived.
The door opened to Seifer, a smirk on his face at the prospect of me being under his mercy, which I knew he would show little of. "Squall, you're pitiful."
As the guards strapped me into the torture device built into the wall, I imagined what I would say to Seifer this time. Maybe I should tell him the true meaning of SeeD, then maybe he'll let me go…who am I kidding…I'm done denying my abilities, I can't change anything…he's going to torture me, and I'm going to feel pain…
"You know Squall, you should be congratulating me. I've become sorceress Edea's knight. That's right, I've achieved my dream! What do you think of that!?" I remained silent, staring at his smug face. "Hmph, how very brave of you to infiltrate a missile base by yourself, Squall. I must say that I'm impressed at how far you got. What do you think you are, some kind of one-man army? Too bad, though, all the calculations have been corrected and the launch is right back on schedule.
The launch was back on schedule, he said. In case I had even a shred of hope that my operation would have made the missiles miss their target, Seifer assured me that there was no hope of Trabia being spared. I stared at him, my hatred flowing even more than my fear. It's all Seifer's fault…if he hadn't attacked the president…
I gave Seifer the coldest stare, wanting nothing else in the world than to break free and strangle the life out of him. He knew how angry I was so he smirked, knowing that he had gotten to me. Seifer approached me and slid his gunblade across my face, saying, "You really despise me, don't you…?" He walked over to the voltage switch and remarked, "I assure you, the feeling is mutual."
I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, knowing what horrible pain I was about to endure. When the electricity hit my body, all of my muscles tensed up as a reflex, hardening to the point where I felt that I would burst. The countless volts located every inch of my body as I yelled at the top of my lungs, as if doing so would make the pain go away. The switch didn't go off when I expected, Seifer held it in place for an eternity, a huge grin on his face as he watched me suffer. I felt myself beginning to black out when Seifer shut off the machine, making sure to keep me awake for his inquisition.
After the electricity stopped, my muscles attempted to relax, but the lingering volts caused them to tense up time and time again, my body twitching uncontrollably. My right eyelid remained closed, no matter how much will I mustered to open it. My breaths only came out in quick blows, wheezing when I inhaled oxygen. My insides felt like molten lava while my skin had the sensation like that of a sheet of ice. I hadn't felt such pain before; this was the peak of all physical pain that I had ever endured. I had no doubt in my mind that Seifer was doing what he did because I had beat him in our 'training' the other day. He was definitely one to hold a grudge.
Seifer walked up to my spasming body, showing no remorse for the inhumane act he had just performed. "My my my, Squall, you look tired. I hope for your sake that you have enough energy to answer a few questions. Now, I gather that you invaded the missile base because of your delusions of stopping our missile strike on Balamb Garden, correct?"
I couldn't even raise my head high enough to look at him, much less answer his questions. He waited for my answer impatiently and walked over to the voltage switch. I quickly managed to mutter, "Yessss…"
"Very good, next question: What is the true purpose of SeeD? Edea demands to know."
I had thought about what I would say in case this situation arose, so I was prepared, "…SeeD's true purpose…is to locate and extract…the most powerful Guardian Forces and magic from around…the world…"
Seifer paused, thinking about what I had just given him. "To find and extract the most powerful GFs and the strongest magic in the world? I figured it would take longer to crack you, but all you give me is this crap about GFs and magic? Is that the best you could come up with?"
I had figured that a rhetorical question until he walked over to the switch and put his hand on it. "It's not…a lie…that's what Cid told me…and the rest of us when we became…SeeDs…"
Seifer didn't care about the truth, he wanted to have more fun with me, but he knew that he had to report the information to Edea. "I don't believe you, so I'll be back to continue our little game. Until then," he yelled at the guard as he walked away, "Find out everything you can from this pathetic wretch."
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Zell had bravely left us to retrieve our weapons from somewhere in the massive prison. Selphie and I could do nothing else but wait for him to return, so Selphie continued our conversation we had started earlier, "So tell me, how has Squall changed? You say that he suddenly changed into a better person, right? I don't know him all that well, ya know. What was he like before?"
"He used to be so introverted, he would never talk to anyone unless he had to. Whenever I tried to start up a conversation, he would have none of it. I don't think he had any friends at Balamb Garden, he mainly just kept to himself. But then one day, he starts being friendly to people and began talking to me. Then I started to think that maybe he likes me, you know?"
"What makes you say that? Do you think he was flirting with you or what?"
"Not really…I just kinda thought…" I trailed off, not wanting to tell Selphie that I had a crush on Squall before he was a nice guy.
"Oh, you liked him before he changed, didn't you? That's it, isn't it?"
Selphie was good, she had extracted some information without me even giving her any clues. I hadn't really talked to anyone about my feelings for Squall before, so it was kind of a relief to finally share with someone. "Well…yeah, I kinda did. I thought that maybe if he could trust someone, then he would open up. I was holding on to hope that I could be that person that he could finally confide in. But then…when he changed, I guess I thought that he finally trusted me. Do you think he does?"
"Well, he kinda seems like he trusts all of us. Now, I don't know him as well as you do, so I really can't say, but..." Selphie paused, the silence unnerving. "…Actually, Squall seemed to be trying to talk to Rinoa more than you. I'm not saying anything's going on there, but that's just what I think."
It hadn't even occurred to me that Squall could like somebody else. Maybe I was just blinding myself from the truth so that it wouldn't hurt so much, but I wasn't about to give up on Squall. "I don't know, but I think I should tell him how I feel. If I don't, then I'll never know if he feels the same way.
"There ya go! That's the ticket! Just make sure that YOU know how you feel before you go telling him, okay?"
"Right."
The next time I see Squall, whenever that may be, I'll tell him. I'll tell him that I like him more than a friend and that I think maybe we should try dating or something, then see where it goes…oh, what if he shares my feelings…I just hope he's alright…
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My conscience was burning as Irvine and I drove from the desert prison back to Deling City. That man had ordered Irvine to pardon me out of prison, but not any of my friends. I thought about my two options: crawl back to Deling City where that man would never let me out of his sights ever again or go back to the desert prison and break Quistis, Zell, and Selphie out. It was a tough decision, but I managed to come up with an answer in about ten seconds. Anything was better than going back home.
"Irvine, go back to the desert prison!" I ordered.
"No, it's your father's order. I'm taking you back to Deling City."
I had figured this would happen, Irvine obeying orders like some kind of drone. I had hoped it wouldn't come down to it, but I had to go back, so I began doing whatever I could to convince Irvine. I began scratching at him, attempting to take the wheel, but Irvine remained strong.
"Ouch! Are you crazy?" He responded to my feeble attacks.
"We have to go back and help everybody!"
I guess Irvine finally had enough, so he stopped the car and said, "They'll be fine. I'm sure they can get outta there when the time comes."
"But they need our help! And I really really don't wanna go back to Deling City! Come on, I don't care if I have to force you back!" I began hitting him on the arm as hard as I could, which I think was pretty hard since I was angry. I was still mad at Irvine for casting a sleep spell on me in Deling City when I could've helped him and Quistis fight Seifer.
"Ow...Ow...OUCH! Okay, okay... I'll go, I'll go!" Irvine cried out as he finally gave in to my torture and turned the car around.
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Seifer and the guard had left me alone over an hour after a long session of shock torture. I had nothing else to tell them, but they relentlessly interrogated me anyways. They had fatally wounded me with their electrotherapy, death sure to come if I didn't receive medical attention or a cure spell soon.
As I hung there, my body shivered uncontrollably due to the freezing metal pressing against my bare back. What scared me the most, however, was when I stopped feeling the shivering and the cold. I couldn't gather enough energy to open my eyelids, but I couldn't sleep. All I could do while I waited for death was think.
Okay, everyone will come and save me, so don't worry. Any moment now, that door will open, and Quistis, Zell, and Selphie will come get me out of here…but Quistis, Zell, and Selphie don't know that I'm here…but there's still Rinoa and Irvine. Right now they should be turning back to come and rescue me. Though, what if Rinoa takes what I told her to heart? I told her to stay out of trouble and to not do anything dangerous that could threaten her life…nobody is coming to rescue me…………Why did this have to happen? Why do I have to go through this whole hellish adventure all over again? One time was enough, but here I am, hanging in a torture machine, about to die…I should be with Rinoa right now, a Rinoa that shares my love…we should be celebrating the defeat of Ultimecia and be holding each other, watching shooting stars streak across the sky…but here I am, hanging in a torture machine, about to die…
Tears formed in my eyes and rolled down my cheeks at the prospect of never seeing Rinoa again. It was too much to bear, I couldn't hold back. I couldn't remember the last time I had wept, but I had plenty to weep for then.
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Zell, Selphie, and I fought our way up the countless floors of the towering prison. We had tried escaping through the bottom of the prison, but we learned the hard way that the place was buried halfway underground. Our only option was the top, and it was hell having to traverse the numerous floors, battling security robots and guards all the way. When we eventually reached the top, we were approached by two doors, one at the top of a small stairway, and the other straight ahead on our level. Even though the exit was logically up the stairs, I felt some kind of urge, an unexplainable feeling told me to go through the door ahead of us.
Our weapons drawn, we entered the room, ready for anything. That's what I had thought until I saw Squall hanging in a torture machine on the wall. After the initial shock, I shouted, "Squall!!" and hurried over to him.
After Squall hadn't responded, I tapped him with my fingers repeatedly, yelling, "Squall! Squall? Wake up! Come on…" When he hadn't moved or reacted to my efforts, my body froze. I couldn't think, I couldn't move, I just stared at Squall's unmoving body.
I heard Zell shouting to us, "Hey, I think I found the release switch!"
The restraints that were holding Squall to the machine opened and Squall fell. I instinctively caught him in my arms and ease him to the floor, face up. He's just knocked out, just knocked out. Hold on, Squall. I casted a revive spell on his cold body, but nothing happened. All four of us stayed still, not knowing what to think. None of us wanted to consider the horrible possibility, so I tried again. After nothing happened, my heart sank to my knees. I put my hand to my mouth and felt tears forming in my eyes. All of my senses numbed; I couldn't do anything but look at Squall's lifeless body.
Oh my god…no…I can't…thi…this can't be happening…you can't be…I…I loved you…I never even…and now you'll never find out…I'll never be able to hear your voice again…
Selphie must've been tapping me on the shoulder and talking to me for some time, but I couldn't hear her. I heard only one thing that she said, "…Squall could still be alive." I looked up at Selphie with tear-filled eyes, "There may be an anti-magic field in here. Let's take him outside, okay?"
I nodded quickly and picked myself up. I grabbed Squall under his arms as Zell picked him up by his legs. All I could think about was, "It makes sense. Of course there's an anti-magic field in the torture room. That's it, that's all it was." We made our way to the door at the top of the stairs and to the light outside. Before we could do anything, we were stopped by Rinoa and Irvine, who seemed to be going in to the prison.
"Whoa, what are you guys…Oh my god, Squall?! Is he alright?!" Rinoa exclaimed.
I ignored Rinoa and set Squall down on the floor. Everyone surrounded Squall as I silently prayed and casted a revive spell. Relief couldn't nearly describe the feeling that came to me when I saw Squall open his eyes. I wanted nothing more than to hug him, but I stopped myself, thinking that he might be hurt from the torture he had suffered.
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When I opened my eyes and saw Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Rinoa, and Irvine all around me, I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time. I saw Quistis wiping away her tears and everyone else showing obvious relief that I was alright. I couldn't believe that I had lived, I had accepted the fact that was going to die there in that room yet somehow, my friends had saved me. I had been through a lot lately, but seeing everyone happy because I was alive made me feel like I was among friends, truly blessed.
After some time, I got up with the help of Zell and Irvine and made it to the elevator that led to the bottom exit of the desert prison. I wanted nothing more than to hug Rinoa, to know what I had lived for, but I knew that it would seem inappropriate to her, so I retrained myself. On the way down, I told everyone my story, from the moment I left them to the torture room. They all listened intently, disbelief in their faces as I told them about how I managed to infiltrate a military base by myself.
When we reached the bottom, we entered a small two-car garage at the base of the structure. Selphie, Irvine, and I piled into one Galbadian vehicle while I told the others to follow us. My mission was far from complete; I had to save Balamb Garden.