Chapter Six

"Don't leave me... please..."

"Wake up! Rinoa wake up!" Squall said, shaking her back to reality. "Wake up!"

She opened a pair of tearful eyes. "She's going to kill us.. she's going to..."

"Who's she?"

"The lady... the lady..." she said, burying her face in her hands. "She's going to kill us.."

Squall wrapped his right arm around her. "It's just a dream, Rinoa." He then looked up the ceiling and sighed. This is getting more and more complicated, and he feared the time of surrender is about to come. He had been thinking last night as was in his bed, wide awake. If sorcery had anything to do with this, and if Rinoa was indeed a sorceress, the solution could only come from her. But, she's as puzzled as he is… how will she solve a problem that she couldn't understand?

A loud explosion from outside broke the flow of thoughts in his head.

"What was that?" Rinoa asked Squall who was already on his feet. He knew there will be another one.

"We have to leave." He said, grabbing Rinoa by the wrist and dragging her off the bed. People inside the Inn were in panic: running here and there, screaming, dragging suitcases and stuffing it with their valuables as quick as they could. Taking the stairs was not an option, it was impossible to go through the throng of people competing over who goes down first.

Another explosion. The Inn was hit, and a wall collapsed.

"Don't let go."

Rinoa looked at him and nodded, her eyes round with terror.

"Don't be scared, we're not gonna die here." He looked around. No other staircase except the one before them, and it's filled with terrified people pushing and arguing. No window in sight, however, there are windows inside their room. So clenching Rinoa's hand he rushed back to their room, opened the window and looked down. The Inn had two floors, and to his assessment, he could crawl his way down the wall, thanks to the stone bricks.

"We'll crawl down this wall, Rinoa. It's or only exit. The wall surface is rough, and there are edges you can hold and step onto."

Another explosion. This time it was a bit far from the Inn.

He turned to her. "Can you do it?"

She nodded.

He got off first, and in seconds he was already outside, looking up. "Rinoa... come on!"

She swallowed hard and carefully got out of the window.

Squall glanced quickly to his side then back to Rinoa. People were running here and there, a handful of which were in red clothes.

Another explosion. Rinoa stopped.

"It's okay, just keep going. I've got you."

Another explosion. It's getting closer to them.

Squall glanced left and saw a red guy running toward them. He looked back at Rinoa who had crawled more than halfway down the rough wall. "Rinoa, jump!"

"What!"

"JUMP!"

"I… I can't!"

"I'll catch you!"

Another explosion. The world was slowly eaten by black oblivion. And then slowly came silence.

He fell to the ground, earth shook and the Inn crumbled. Something had hit him on the head and he was dizzy. He kept fighting the invisible enemy, swaggering as he threw punches here and there. A blow to his side ended the fight. The bell rung, and he lost the round.

I have to catch her..

He couldn't open his eyes.

Why didn't you just jump, dammit!

He should open his eyes. He wanted to. He could. Sharp, blinding light welcomed him, forcing him to close his eyes again but he didn't want to stay in that dark place. Rinoa's counting on him. He's going to bring them back to their time, and until then, he'll never rest.

"Are you alright?"

She seems worried. "Rinoa?"

"I'm sorry, but you are the only survivor I found."

"What!" he tried to get up. "What happened? Why was the village attacked?"

His rescuer was on her way out. "Save all your questions for later. Try to rest."

"No. I need you to answer them now."

The short lady with fair complexion, long, chestnut brown hair and sad green eyes walked toward him and sat down the edge of the bed. "Havana is a peaceful place, loved by peaceful people. We depend upon our fields for food. Our homes are kept warm by fire. The seas and rivers provide us water and fish. Cows give us milk. We live life the way people really should. Sadly, some people want us to embrace a new form of living which we do not fully understand. They want to transform everything into something else. Baron Waldon wanted to change this piece of heaven into a place of his liking... a place far different from what you have seen before."

"Baron?"

"Hardly a royalty. He came out of nowhere and claimed the land to be his. Every inch had been claimed by a man named Bautus and after that, he established a royalty composed of his men... thus, the royalty." she frowned. "Rumor has it that he saved Bautus' life several times and this ensured his place in the royalty, though he was never part of Bautus' inner circle."

Squall frowned as he allowed the facts to sink in. This was never mentioned in any history book, and he had never heard of any Bautus or Waldon or pseudo-monarchy. "And Waldon was behind the attack?"

She nodded.

"I've seen people in red cloaks, are they Waldon's men?"

"His share of Bautus' indoctrinated followers."

Maybe this place had been destroyed in history. Squall thought. But where are Bautus and his men? And where si Rinoa? "Where are we?"

"The outskirts of town. The marketplace had been terribly destroyed by the attack. You're the only one I found. I hate to be the one telling this but aside from you, the ones left are beyond survival."

"No." He tried to stand up. "I'll go there now."

She exhaled. "I told you, you have to rest!"

"I have to find her... if she's dead, I want to see her body."

"I'm not resting until I find her."

She stood up and shrugged as he watched the brown-haired guy leave the room. "I'm not going to stop you, if that's your choice. Just come back afterwards, you still need some rest."

He didn't answer. The brown-haired guy simply closed the door behind him and squinted as he walked beneath the heat of the sun. It took him great effort to reach the marketplace, but upon reaching his destination it seemed that all effort left had been drained to the last drop. Not one structure was left untouched. A handful of people were walking around, lifting manageable chunks of brick and wooden walls, looking for living people to rescue. There are also some who walk the streets in terrible shock, their eyes staring balnkly into shadows of terror that occured days ago. These are survivors, contrary to what she had told him, but he felt that if Rinoa had survived, he would have a hard time looking for her. Heaps of bricks, wood, dead bodies and trees are all over the place. It was hard to imagine that some have survived, but he told himself that Rinoa is among them.

Her arms and feet were so heavy she could barely move them. And the cold, hard stone gave her no comfort. Every inch of her body ached, and tears stung her skin as she wept. Squall, where are you? Flashes of the explosion and how the wall collapsed came to her, slowly restoring her drained strength. She tried to pull herself up, and it was then the chains around her wrists and ankles materialized. Walls surrounder her, she couldn't hear a thing, and her muscles were rock heavy. Every movement required considerable effort.

Where am I? How did I get here?

She swept her eyes across the box-like compartment and found one small, rectangular window. Little light comes through. Air was thin and stale. Rinoa felt enclosed in a coffin, and this will eventually serve as her resting place unless she gets out. But how? She couldn't see any door or hole to crawl into. The window was too small. And she was securely shackled, movements are limited - if not impossible.

Rinoa closed her eyes and tried to recall everything that happened after the explosion. She could still remember releasing her grip but Squall didn't catch her. She fell to the ground, then caught a glimpse of Squall wrestling someone in red. She was desperately struggling to move when something hard fell over her. And then... she could barely recall anything after that. Next thing she knew, she just woke up in this concrete box, her body aching, her wrists and ankles in chains. Who could've locked her here? What happened? What could she have possibly done to end up shackled and locked in this cell. She was trapped beneath those chunks of bricks that fell over her, and possibly unconscious until several minutes ago. And then she wakes up in here without Squall by her side.

Squall...

Could he be held prisoner in a box like this? Maybe... maybe he's in a different cell. Right. Maybe he's out there. And who knows, maybe he's in a cell right next to mine. Her spirits soared as she thought more of the possibility. Filling up her lungs with air, she began calling his name... first in a faint whisper then gradually getting louder.

"Squall! Where are you!.."

"It's Rinoa, I'm in here! Squall, answer me!"

Nothing. Tears of helplessness increased as the thought of dying in this cold prison occured to her. And she remembered, it was her idea to go back though time. She knew it was wrong, but did it nevertheless. Dying here could be the price of her actions.

The door hinges squeaked as he opened the door. He could see her setting the table as the sweet aroma of cooked food reminded him of his hunger.

"Oh, you're back."

He closed the door behind him and walked slowly toward the dining table. She was busy pouring soup over a large, wooden bowl. "I thought you're not coming back."

"I doubt it." he said, watching her cut the bread with a weird knife. "I still need answers from you."

She looked up and frowned. "Answers?"

"You told me there were no survivors."

She turned around, hid the knife inside a cabinet and took her seat. "I was aftraid you won't come back."

"So what if I don't?"

"Then your story ends. Your girl dies with hunger and rots in the dungeon and the future changes. It doesn't have to change, you see, everything happens for a reason. Any change, no matter how small, could make a very big difference." she explained, gesturing for him to sit down and eat. He ignored her.

"Why didn't you tell me that?"

"I don't know, I just felt that I shouldn't."

He slammed his palms on the wooden table. "Don't you play with me you gypsy!"

"I'm not playing with you. Actually I'm here to help. If you're not interested, you may leave. Remember, I saved your life. If not for me you would have died there. I came to rescue you and your girl and bring you two back to your time." she said with a streak of anger in her voice. "Now, if you will eat, eat now."

He sat down but took no interest in eating. "Why are we here? Who brought us here?"

"Your girl did. Why? Because she was too weak to overcome her grief and was using her emotions ahead of her mind, quite an easy target for Sorceress Raja."

"Sorceress... what does she want!"

She shrugged. "Revenge, my boy. She has the capacity to see the future, and you're the one who ended the reign of her kind."

"Of your kind." he corrected in a silky voice.

"I'm not like them."

"But you practice sorcery, nevertheless. How did you learn about us?"

She took a large bite of bread."You said so yourself, I practice sorcery. Therefore, I am a sorceress. I can find out anything about everything."

"What makes you think Sorceress Raja won't figure us out sooner or later."

"She will, but we're prepared." There was a wily twinkle in her eyes as she spoke.

"We."

"Yes, we. All we have to do is find her."

He frowned. "I don't trust you."

"I know. But I'm the only help you can get."

Squall sighed. "Why are you helping us?"

"I don't think you should know why."

He shook his head. This is too risky, he told himself. What if she's working with sorceress Raja. It's a possibility, they're both sorceresses. And she knows too much. Her timing is too good. He frowned at the piece of bread in his hand. What if this is a trap. At this time I amconfused, and vulnerable, like Rinoa was when I died. What if she's Raja herself... with a diferent face... in a different set of clothing. He recalled how the villagers had warned him about this gypsy. They were convincing him to stay somewhere else, but were to hesitant to really tell him how dangerous this gypsy was. Yes, she gave the answers to his questions but how accurate could those be? This is a trap. But a trap he was willing to step into... because he had no other choice.

Quite an easy target... he thought to himself. "I need to find Rinoa."

"I wasn't able to find your girl. Someone must have found her first. I don't think she's dead, else we have found her dead."

"The villagers haven't found her either."

The gypsy looked up and their eyes met. Someone else has her.

Squall stood up. "We need to find her. Now."

fW: The end is near! hahaha. just hang in there, several more chapters to go! I can't wait!