Fuujin and Raijin have left. Seifer, romantic that he is, hopes for poetic justice andis determinedto die at the hands of the one he vowed to protect. But he's not going down without a fight...

Thanks for the reviews, everyone. Enjoy!

Part 15 – Take my breath away

Now alone in the face of his destiny, Seifer observed the three SeeD before him. They didn't speak or even take out their weapons. They just stood there and looked at him, waiting for him to make the next move.

So he did. After returning Hyperion to its sheath for the moment, he jumped from the elevated bridge down to the floor. Yes, he was ready. Straightening himself to his full height, he approached them.

Squall, more serious than ever before, met him with an inquisitive but guarded look in his eyes.

"Are you going to continue with this knight thing?"

Seifer let out a short, humourless laugh. "The knight has retired," he answered truthfully. "I guess you could call me a young revolutionary."

The young SeeD shook his head and sighed irritably. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, sounding both exasperated and concerned.

Seifer carefully ignored the emotion he had detected in his rival's voice, dismissing it as imagined. Instead he let his fire magic fill his being as he closed the distance between them until they were just out of each others' reach. The flames in his body and mind gave him the confidence he lacked himself, and even pushed Ultimecia to the very brink of his consciousness.

"I always gotta be doing something big!" he shot back, striking a pose that said 'come and get me' with the determination of a man who has nothing to lose."I don't want to stop. I'm gonna keep running! I've come this far..." Instinctively, his hand reached for Hyperion and drew the black blade out in salute to his adversaries. "I'm gonna make it to the end, to the goal," he yelled. "And there's no way I'm sharing it with you!"

With a dramatic swipe of his blade, he strode forward. 'You're ready,' he screamed in the confinement of his own mind. 'Go kill her. Do what you're supposed to do! Finish it! Finish me!'

His opponents drew their weapons in reply to his challenge. With a sense of satisfaction, Seifer glanced at Squall's gunblade. The weapon radiated a blue light which illuminated its wielder and reflected on the heavy metal pendant Squall wore around his neck. Exactly the way he remembered it…

The SeeD took their battle positions with practised ease, but as soon as they were ready to attack, the light in the room dropped dramatically. The atmosphere grew unnaturally heavy as a rift in the dimensional continuum ripped open, signalling the arrival of a Guardian Force.

Eyes trained on the rift, Seifer watched the Guardian Force Odin, seated on a white stallion, stride onto the battlefield with an air of arrogance that matched his own. Arrogance well deserved, for Odin's ability of killing even the strongest opponents with one blow was well known.

There was a moment of recognition between the two warriors before Odin drew his sword and charged. In return, Seifer met the threat head on, elated and burning with every ounce of magic he possessed. Never taking his eyes off the horseman, he stood still and upright, Hyperion extended without wavering. He had made his resolve. One, and only one had the right to kill him! And that one wasn't Odin…

The clash was tremendous. Blades cut through the air but never met. Then, as quickly as it had begun, the battle was over. On the other side of the small battlefield, Odin slumped, horse and all, to the ground, unmistakably dead.

Seifer, still unscathed, watched in disdain as the remains of the Guardian Force disappeared and Odin's blade vanished in the dimensional rift, which closed immediately after it. Then he returned his attention to the SeeD, who were left gaping. Even Squall looked uncharacteristically surprised.

"Odin…?"

"Ha, I won't go down that easy!" Seifer boasted, green eyes narrowing. "Show me what you've got, Squall! Let me add another scar for ya!"

From the first few hesitant attacks, he could tell they were surprised to find out how strong he really was. Before now, he had always hidden that reserve of power that was inherent to his magic, sparing Squall and his comrades a battle they couldn't possibly win. But now things were different. His little brother had grown greatly in skill and strength, enough for him to win a no-holds-barred fight.

And if this was to be his last battle, he wanted to enjoy every second of it!

He let Hyperion lash hungrily at the SeeD, who retaliated swiftly and forcefully. Rinoa's pinwheel blade left a gash in his arm and Zell's blows bruised him badly enough. He countered by casting spell after spell at them. Every attack seemed to pull him up to a new power level. It was intoxicating, but he didn't give in to it too readily. He wouldn't go all out against anyone but Squall, who had contributed precious little to the fight so far.

The silent warrior stood perfectly still, a faint yellowish glow around him from a spell Rinoa had cast on him earlier. Then, suddenly, his eyes snapped open, radiating a fierce determination. Seifer instinctively braced himself for the coming onslaught.

Squall charged and attacked. Blow after blow landed on Seifer's body, and there was very little he could have done to counter, even if he had wanted to. But he just let them come, taking the damage his rival dealt him. It was no more than just, and no less than he expected.

But when the final blow was dealt, it didn't bring him to his knees. He licked his lips. 'Not good enough, Squall. Not nearly good enough.' If that was supposed to be Squall's special move, then it was time to show them what real strength was.

Invisible flames snaked on the inside of his eyes and pressed hard towards his finger tips. A fresh surge of power levitated him a few feet off the ground. Cutting the air twice with Hyperion caused a fire cross to form on the floor. Waist-high flames licked the three SeeD, who could do nothing to protect themselves against the searing heat, or against the burn when the fire exploded with a tremendous blow that sent them staggering.

Spent but not yet exhausted by his show of force, Seifer assumed his usual battle stance again. He noticed how Squall and his friends struggled to keep standing after the explosion, and decided against using the attack a second time. He wanted to push Squall into killing him, not murder him first.

His last trick had the desired effect, though. Squall got a tighter hold on his blade and attacked again. Seifer didn't parry, but it was poor aim that prevented the younger man from running him through where he stood. Instead, the blue gunblade only cut his side, leaving a deep gash nonetheless.

Then the air went heavy again. He looked up in alarm. None of the SeeD had summoned a Guardian Force, and Odin was dead. What the hell was going on?

The dimensional rift reoperd in the same place as before, and a strange figure, an exotically clad swordsman with more arms than usual, appeared. The warrior focussed on Seifer, but from his stance, it was clear he wasn't going to attack.

"You've given me the fourth one…," he said in a low, drawling voice.

Battered and completely taken off guard by the turn of events, Seifer found himself unable to fight off Ultimecia's consciousness as she reinstate her presence in his mind. 'That is Gilgamesh, the legendary warrior who wanders time and space,' she told him, almost reverently.

The sorceress' respect was not returned, Seifer could tell. No sooner had she spoken, or pale eyes suddenly lit up hotly behind the red cape that covered the swordsman's face.

"Huh? Was it you?" the low voice snapped. "Then dodge my sword!"

Without warning, Gilgamesh attacked. Four arms wielded four swords with expert precision, creating a deadly vortex of mashing blades. Seifer just stared at it, wide-eyed and too stupefied to move. Then it hit him. The force of the attack sent him flying several feet before making him crash onto the floor. Everything went black at the impact.

When he came to, either an eternity or just a few seconds later, he lay face down on the floor. His body hurt and he tasted blood in his mouth, but he was still alive. Angered, he pushed himself up on his elbows to see his surroundings.

The SeeD were still there, although they had broken their battle formation. The fight was over, but they made no move for a follow up. Rinoa even gazed at him with infuriatingly compassionate eyes.

"Seifer…" she sighed, clasping her hands.

But he ignored her and stared up at his rival. Squall's face was almost expressionless, but in his eyes so many emotions raged that it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Still, he held his blade casually in one hand. No fingers clenched around the handle, no hands trembling with hatred, and for all the emotions they showed, there was no murderous look in those grey eyes.

'He's not going to do it, boy…' Ultimecia taunted, voicing his own thoughts.

Outraged, Seifer jumped to his feet, the pain that tore through his body at the suddenly movements only fuelling his fury further.

"Not yet! It's not over yet, Squall!" he screamed. If all he had done wasn't enough to guarantee Squall's blade in his heart, then there was still one last thing that would. Before anyone expected it, he grabbed hold of Rinoa and ran out to the hallway, using what strength he had left to drag the girl along to the next level of Lunatic Pandora's crystalline core.

He didn't give her one quarter to move in any direction but the one he was taking her in. Rinoa shrieked her lungs out for her boyfriend, but Seifer made no effort to shut her up. He didn't have to, because when she saw where he was dragging her to and understood what he had planned for her, she stopped yelling and started crying.

"Seifer, no! Don't!" she pleaded, trying to wring her arm our of his iron grip as he pulled her towards Adel's cryo-seal. "Haven't you done enough? I know you're not like this!"

She was right, he wasn't. But desperate times ask for desperate measures, and he was desperate.

"I can't go back now! I can't go anywhere," he hissed despite himself, hoping it didn't sound like the confession it was.

Adel hung in her seal, ominous yet inanimate. Seifer waited, holding Rinoa in front of him. One second, two seconds, three seconds… Then he heard the sound of running footsteps approach the chamber. Four seconds, five seconds, six seconds… Rinoa writhed in his arms, but he still didn't let go. Seven seconds, eight…

The SeeD, now five men strong, came charging in. At that moment, while still holding the struggling girl with on hand, Seifer pressed the release button of the cryo-seal with the other. "The Sorceresses as one," he announced. "That's Ultimecia's wish!"

Adel's eyes lit up red, and her large body began to move, slowly but surely. The seal broke away bit by bit as she freed herself from her icy cage. Then, just before she had completely released herself, Seifer shoved Rinoa towards the groping claws. He watched as the monstrous sorceress assimilated the girl into her own body. It was a sickening sight, but it didn't move him. All he could think of, all he could hope for, was Squall's retribution for what he had just done.

But Squall rushed past him to help his girlfriend, blatantly ignoring his rival. Even the others didn't even look at him as they prepared yet again for combat.

Disillusioned, exhausted and ready to give up, Seifer let himself sag to the floor. He was bleeding from numerous wounds and a pain in his chest made breathing difficult. Probably broken ribs. He hadn't even noticed until now how badly injured he really was.

Through heavy-lidded eyes he saw the SeeD battling Adel while trying to spare Rinoa. He found himself hoping they would succeed. Despite disliking the girl, he didn't hate her. He wasn't proud of what he had done to her, but he hadn't had a choice but to resort to such extreme measures.

Hadn't had a choice… He had used that excuse far too often to justify what he what he did, instead of stopping to consider other solutions. A single tear travelled his cheek. In his determination he had made so many mistakes. Far too many for him to atone for in a lifetime…

A cheer of joy ripped him from his self-pity. He wanted see what it was about, but he didn't have the strength to lift his head, nor the will to try. There was lots of talking going on, but he didn't listen. It didn't matter anymore. Even if Squall didn't kill him now, there was always Hyperion.

And then, without a sound or warning, the world caved in on itself.

Sounds like the end, does it? It's not. One more chapter and an epilogue are still in the pipeline. I'm off to a sunny island for the holidays, but I'll try to update before my flight leaves (don't take that as a promise, though >. ). In the mean time, please R&R! Your opinion is valued!