Well, my first two reviewers, glad to have ya on board.
pinklove: It'll get more interesting.
JadeAlmasy: Have you finished Children of Destiny yet? It's 50 chapters long!
It picks up a little more in this chapter. Here, I introduce Adel, Raine, and an unborn Squall.
CHAPTER 2: SINKING THE PILLAR
Raine Leonhart Loire was staring out the window just like she had done every day for the past eight months. That was how long it has been since her adopted daughter, Ellone, was kidnapped by Esthar Soldiers. That was how long it has been since her husband, Laguna Loire, had left home in an effort to try and rescue her. The only Idea she had of Laguna's well being is her subscription to Timber Maniacs Magazine. He was writing articles and sending them in for money. However, she had no idea about Ellone. What kind of monstrous things was Sorceress Adel doing to her? What hurt her even worse was that there was nothing she could do about it. She was stuck in bed, for Raine was about to enter her ninth month of pregnancy. She was pregnant with Laguna's child, a baby boy. She knew the gender of her unborn baby thanks to a doctor who made house calls. There was no hospital in Winhill, just one doctor. That was all they needed, Winhill had a population of only 48. It would have been an even 50 if Laguna and Ellone were still here. With no hospital, Raine would be giving birth to her son in this very bed. She had already decided on a name for this blessing; Squall Leonhart Loire. This was the last week of July, and Squall was expected to appear in mid to late August. The thought of going through childbirth without her husband had scared her. That's why she stared out the window every day, hoping he would come home.
However, all she could see was the sky. Being with child, her midsection had expanded quite a bit, making it difficult to walk without help and confining her to her bed. She was thankful for her childhood friend, Elise, who had come to take care of her in her time of need. The sun was preparing to go down, and Raine had grown sleepy, she gave it a few hours before she would be out for the night. As the sun prepared to set, she heard the front door downstairs open, and then close. She heard a conversation between three people, one was her friend, Elise, who seemed very exited, but she couldn't place the other two. One sounded young, possible one of Elise's three children. The other was a man who asked if this was the home of Raine Loire. She paid no attention until she heard small footsteps climbing the stairs. As she heard the steps stop, she looked over to see who was in her bedroom. The little girl she saw almost made her jump out of her skin!
"Oh hyne…" Raine whispered with her hand over her mouth. "Ellone?" The small child walked over to Raine, letting realization kick in, before giving Raine a big hug.
"Ellone, how- What are you-" Raine fumbled with her words. "How did you get here?"
"Uncle Laguna saved me!" Ellone squeaked. "He came all the way to Esthar and saved me!"
"Laguna?" Raine said, "You saw him?"
"Yep!" Ellone said again. It was then that Ellone saw the giant bulge on Raine's midsection. "Raine, what happened to your tummy?"
"There's a baby in there." Raine said. "You're going to be a big sister."
"Wow!" Ellone said. "Is it a girl or a boy?"
"It's a baby boy." Raine said.
"Aww, I wanted it to be a girl." Ellone said. "But I guess I can play with a boy."
"He's kicking." Raine said as she lifted her shirt up. "Do you want to feel?" Ellone nodded as Raine took her hand and put it on her stomach. After a few seconds, Ellone felt something bump against her palm.
"Someone's saying hello to you." Raine said as Ellone smiled.
"What's his name gonna be?" Ellone asked.
"His name will be Squall." Raine said as Ellone removed her hand. As the mother-to-be pulled her shirt back down, she had to change the subject. She had to know about Laguna.
"Ellone, where IS Laguna?" She asked. Her heart sank when she saw Ellone look down to the floor.
"He's still in Esthar." Ellone said. "He said he had to overthrow the bad lady Adel."
"…No." Raine whispered as she began to weep.
"Don't cry Raine." Ellone said hugging her again. "He's gonna come back, he has to. He promised he would."
"Where is the child?" The twelve-foot tall Sorceress demanded.
"Please, Adel, Milady, don't be upzet." Odine pleaded.
"You had one task." Adel hissed. "And you FAILED! Where is that child?"
"She vas Kidnapped!" Odine said, cowering in a corner in his laboratory.
"Who did it?" Adel bellowed. "Whose the wretched bastard who just signed his own death warrant!"
"Imposters, milady." Davis lied. "Several of them dressed as soldiers. Came in as if they owned the place and took her right from under our noses. Possibly Galbadians."
"You'd better not be lying to me." Adel hissed. "I will have both of your heads in jars on my desk if you are lying!"
"Milady please, calm yourself." Davis said, cowering. "With your permission, we shall send out our very best to scan the globe in search of the child." Adel grabbed Davis by his collar and lifted him up to her level. Adel's eyes were filled with anger; Davis' eyes were filled with fear.
"See that you do, I want her here immediately!" Adel said as she dropped Davis. Soon after, she left the room.
"There," Kiros said after one last twist of the wrench. "Repairs are complete."
"My job's done." Laguna said as he closed a hatch on the control panel. "How are you doing Ward?" Ward gave a thumbs-up to his friend before dusting his hands off.
"So now what do we do?" Kiros asked.
"First we'll take it for a test flight." Laguna said. "We have to make sure it'll go exactly where we want it to."
"Then what?" Kiros asked.
"We wait for the call from Zeke and Odine when Adel's Tomb is completed." Laguna said. "After that, we kick this plan into action." Soon, Laguna's phone was ringing.
"This may be it." Laguna said as he answered the phone. "Hello…Davis! What's up…uh-huh…oh really…I see…How'd she take it?…That bad, huh?…You'd better give Zeke a call and let him know…You did that?…How are they doing…OK, I'll let 'em know." Laguna then hung up the phone.
"Let me guess, bad news?" Kiros asked.
"Anything but good." Laguna said as the three of them stepped onto the elevator. "The bad news is that Adel knows Ellone is gone. The good news is that Adel's tomb should be completed within the hour."
"So we can kick this off soon, huh?" Kiros said.
"Possibly before it gets dark." Laguna said. "If not, then tomorrow morning. In the meantime, let's see if Lunatic Pandora can fly." Laguna walked over to two others working the control panel. "You guy's ready?"
"Yes sir." One of them replied.
"OK then, take it up." Laguna said. Soon, Lunatic Pandora rose into the air.
"Ten feet to the north." Laguna said. Lunatic Pandora then moved away from them by about 10 feet.
"Twenty feet to the east." Lunatic Pandora moved to the right approximately 20 feet.
"We got it." Laguna said. Soon, his phone Rang again.
"Hello?" Laguna said. "Zeke, great timing. Lunatic Pandora's ready to fly…How's Adel's tomb coming?…Great! What about the Ellone hologram?…Awesome! Call up Davis and Odine and have them meet us there. Lunatic Pandora's about to sink!" Laguna then hung up.
"OK boys. You know what to do." Laguna said.
"Where do you want it?"
"About thirty miles off the coast of Timber." Laguna said. "Do we have video?"
"Yes Sir." One of them said.
"Great, I wanna see this thing sink!" Laguna said. "Make it fly!" Within Seconds, Lunatic Pandora was moving to the west at a high speed. After about an hour, Lunatic Pandora stopped…then dropped! After about ten minutes, the three mile-high structure disappeared beneath the waves.
"Let's go." Laguna said. "Let's get to that facility. I wanna see Adel's tomb before we take her down."
"Think she knows about this?" Kiros asked.
"Lunatic Pandora is a mile wide in both directions and three miles high." Laguna said. "It'd be hard to miss."
"Now where the hell is that thing going?" Adel said as she looked out the window at the Esthar Presidential Palace. She saw Lunatic Pandora fly out over the ocean and into the distance, disappearing over the horizon.
"Someone is going to pay dearly for all of this." Adel growled. "Mark my words, whoever is behind all of this is going to die a horrible, horrible death!"