'So what are we to do again?' Reis asked, dabbing the bloody bandage one last time on her quickly-drying wound.
'We are to assassinate Senator Edea from Galbadia within Deling City. We will meet with General Caraway to check further plans for now. It is known that we must use a sniper for the task; she is too powerful as a magic-wielder to be taken out front-on,' Squall recited, tapping his gunblade on his knee, cautiously watched by Quistis and Selphie as the gunblade rose and fell close to their faces.
'Mind to put that sharp thing down, Squall?' Selphie mewled, 'That thing's getting close to my chin!'
'Yes, I agree. Too dangerous to play with that in a car,' Quistis added, seizing the blade and yanking it out of his hands.
'Heads up ladies…and gentleman…we're at Deling City!' the cowboy shouted, the car on the opposite lane beeping its horn and zooming past with a rush of wind.
Deling City could have been a more…advanced mirror to Lionel from Ivalice. Bustling, busy, packed. The very conditions that Reis feared. Sliding lower into her seat, she stared at her blood-covered hands, and then at the bandage. I've lost a lot of blood…damn that Cid…letting me into a mission before I fully recovered…
'What's up, young lady?' the cowboy asked Reis, watching her face intently, 'Scared of the mission? Hell, I laugh in the face of danger,'
Oh, quit your nonsense, big-headed nutter, you're a loser from the moment I saw you…
'So, whereabouts does your father live, Rinoa?'
Rinoa. So that was the client's name. Kind of nice…better than mine, anyway.
'Just up ahead, near that metal arch…yes, and turn into that driveway,' she said, guiding the cowboy with an outstretched finger.
The car stopped with a shudder and a squeak, the engines stopping with a brief grind. Rinoa hopped out lightly, the guard next to the door stepping forward for a moment, appearing to be intent on capturing her…but then stepped back and bowed to her.
Apparently she was still recognised by the guards of the Caraway manor even though she had forsaken it…
'Good evening, is my father here?' she asked one of the guards, the long tail of her blue dress floating slightly in the wind.
'Yes, she is. Come in, mistress Rinoa, and guests,' he replied, in a bored sort of drone.
'This is my house, so don't feel distracted,' she added quickly, before running up the sweeping staircase of the main foyer. It was indeed a grand manor; vast wall-paintings had taken up most of the space inside the house; expensive-looking ceramics lined the walls on pedestals of marble. A vast gold clock hung on the far opposite wall, its pendulum swinging with a soft tick each time it moved.
'Wow…' Reis heard Quistis say, as she moved forward to examine a painting, 'I wonder why she's left this place. If it were me, I'd rather stay here…'
'What a dangerous combination…the father's one of the top military generals of Galbadia, the daughter's a resistance movement leader…' Selphie commented, reading a plaque on the right wall.
'Good evening, misses. My name is General Caraway,' a tough-looking, battle-hardened man spoke, his walking stick landing with a soft clunk on each landing of the staircase.
'I will now explain to you the plan. The senator, Edea, is to present a favorable face to the public today. She has planned a grand ceremony, in which she would parade around the entire city. The city resembles a circle cut in the middle by a road; this is where we will act,'
He looked at all of the women, seeing if they had understood what he was saying so far.
'The sniper and another person would get into the presidential palace at nine o'clock this evening; that time would be the time the gates would open, and as the guards would be busy with the crowd, the sniper and the extra would dash quickly into the palace. Inside is a carousel that would go up as soon as the parade vehicle completes one full circle. I have placed a high-powered sniper rifle in the carousel, which should kill the senator in one well-aimed shot,' he continued, pausing again to check their understanding.
Whatever a 'sniper rifle' is, I don't think it's pleasant…
'This is the most crucial point; the three people in the central monument will drop both ends of the gatehouse; this would trap the senator in the monument, perfect for the sniper to take out. If he fails, the three inside the monument would run out to ensure that the senator is killed. Under any circumstances, DO NOT ATTACK VINZER DELING!' he yelled, causing them all to jump, 'Killing him would only further increase the pressure on Timber, and Timber would never achieve its independence. Only if you kill the senator and turn the crowd against Deling will you achieve anything. The senator is popular, yes. More popular than Deling the over-taxing bastard son-of-a-bitch…'
'So, who will we pick for the teams, Quistis?' Reis asked her in an undertone, 'I definitely want to be in the gatehouse. The reason I know not, but I have a feeling something bad would happen in the palace…'
'Alright. Me, Selphie and you will go into the gatehouse monument, Squall and Irvine the sharpshooter can go into the palace,'
Irvine. So that's the name of that loser flirt.
'Got it?' Caraway said, staring at them all with one cold, dark eye, 'There will only be one shot fired. No more. No less. No failure. Let's see…you have fifteen minutes to reach your allocated positions, go now! And hurry!'
'Rinoa—where's Rinoa? Selphie? Reis?' Quistis asked them, searching frantically for Rinoa on the spot.
'Probably off somewhere in her house, Quistis, don't worry about her,'
The parade was indeed going to be grand.
Moving around in the crowded city was bad enough; but when the parade was about to start…it was hell. There was nearly not enough space to move a foot in front of the presidential palace, but thankfully the archway monument was quite open, unguarded, without people underneath.
'So, we're to wait here until the senator comes underneath?' Reis asked Quistis, her face hidden in the shadows as she climbed up a ladder, wincing on every second step.
'Yes, that's the plan. Now, where are the gatehouse controls…? Ah, these seem to be it,' Quistis mumbled, fiddling with a complex board-thing with a lever in the middle.
'I wonder how long that would be…' Reis sighed, slumping down against the cold bare wall.
'Not long, it's about to start,'
The wrought iron gates of the presidential palace remained closed, but the crowd gathered outside cheered as the dark-suited form of Vinzer Deling stepped out onto the podium on the second floor of his residence. Behind him was (Reis assumed so) the senator, cloaked entirely in black reminiscent of darkest night, trimmed with dark silver. Her hair was bound tightly in a bun, her skin…so pale, nearly pure white like the snow.
She resembles a vampire…
'Is that the senator?' Reis asked Quistis, pointing out of the gatehouse window at the black-robed woman.
'Yes, it is,'
Senator…I will get even with you for what you have done to me at Balamb Garden…You will feel pain tenfold of what I have suffered…
'People of Galbadia…Fools, half-witted children,' she heard the senator say on the loudspeaker. I wonder why they're not angry with her, it's as though they're under a spell.
'Today we will celebrate…my ascension to chancellor of the Galbadian Republic. To a grand era of prosperity…of peace…of stability. I will promise you all nothing but wealth and land, peace and trade. No more wars! We shall make peace with Esthar to our east, and the world shall know happiness,'
Her words were greeted with enthusiastic applause, a blast of shrill voices and whistles as the senator was cheered on. Putting up a hand for silence, the senator shouted to the crowd.
'Sisters and brothers of Galbadia…let us begin the ceremony…with an offering of blood and soul,' the senator said, turning to Deling.
'I don't believe this,' Reis said, staring at the senator hold Deling by the throat, dangling him over the edge of his residence balcony, threatening to let go at any moment, the president scrabbling helplessly at her hands. It reminded her of her own sins…when she threw Rufus the Shinra president out of the window…If it looked this horrible on another person…
I don't want to think about what I looked like when I did that…it's…just too painful to think about.
Letting the president go, the senator floated down with her magic, settling herself onto the seat on the parade vehicle, her guard kicking aside the crushed body. That shock of red hair…the silver jacket and that narrow gun-blade…looked strangely familiar.
Seifer. It was Seifer. So that was what he meant by the true queen of the world; Senator Edea of Galbadia. She was not intent on peace. She was bent on world conquest.
And I have to stop her.
'Reis, what are you doing?' Quistis said sharply to her, grabbing her arm as soon as she had laid a hand on the rusty iron ladder, 'Don't go out there. It is most likely that even the smallest disruption would cause this mission to fail,'
'I need to settle a score with those two,' Reis hissed back, 'They have injured and insulted me in Balamb Garden. Tonight, they will die,'
'Settle down, Reis. You will get your chance to do that later,'
'Make sure that I do,' Reis muttered, sitting back down.
'Oh, they're opening the gates…'
The vehicle began to move, showering the crowd with coloured flames, dancers and musicians either side singing a strange song…a song that oddly sounded eerie and disquieting.
Fithos…Lusec…Wecos…Vinosec…
The dancers began to move their graceful forms in complex movements, dancing to the beat of the drums, the blares of the trumpets and the string instruments. Onward the vehicle moved, inching its way through the eastern segment of the main street.
Fithos…Lusec…Wecos…Vinosec!
Still the carousel had not ascended its way to the top of the residence. The crowd began to move after the vehicle, their whistling and cheering still audible from the distance.
Fithos…Lusec! Wecos…Vinosec!
All movement seemed to pick up speed as the strange song hit its climax. Dancers spun around on their heels and leaped high, amid the raucous noise of the citizens. The drummers seemed to pick up speed, beating their drums louder, faster, the adrenalin running high.
Excitate vos e somno,
Liberi mei, cunae sunt non,
Excitate vos e somno,
Liberi fatali somnus est non!
It seemed almost magical…almost spell-like…Reis thought, tapping her foot in time to the disapproving look on Quistis' face.
Surgite!
How long would this parade take to cross the town? Frankly, I'm bored…
Invenite!
Exhilirating…and boring…at the same time. I feel sleepy. But I want to stay up.
Veni hortum veritatis!
I'm beginning to remember an ancient language that my mother told me…
Horti verna veritatis!
I remember now! A language called…oh, I forgot. This song…it's talking about seeking the truth?
'Wake up! Reis! They're nearly under the gatehouse!' Quistis yelled sharply over the loud chanting of the crowd and the singers.
'What! Already!' Reis yelled back, standing up agitatedly.
'They moved faster when you didn't look, and the carousel is also up. Get ready, we will begin soon,'
The vehicle passed under the golden arch, the people being barred back by guards due to some throwing of stones. All the better, no interference by the innocents…
'NOW!' Quistis grunted, pushing all her weight onto the lever. Creaking, groaning…before crashing down with a cloud of dust and a loud clang, the portcullis of the gates dropping either side of the parade vehicle. The dancers and band scattered, screaming in terror, while the senator and her guard simply stood there, amused.
Meanwhile…
'WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU CAN'T DO IT!' Squall shouted at Irvine, his face exhibiting utmost rage, 'WE'RE COUNTING ON YOU AND YOU JUST BACK OFF?'
'I'm sorry…it's just not in me to shoot the senator. I'm a show off. Just a plain show off,'
'Look, we didn't come all the way here to fail, you understand? Those women in the gatehouse—Quistis and Reis—They're going to be killed if we…no, YOU, don't attempt something. Now grab that sniper rifle and shoot. If you fail, I won't get angry. I promise. If you succeed, all the better. Just one shot. Please try it,'
'Alright, one shot it is,' Irvine answered back, standing up and crouching on the edge of the carousel, aiming the long rifle with a steady hand. A split second of utter, complete silence—a moment of fate's weight on one's hand—a single period of pulling the trigger of doom—followed by an ominous blast and a speeding bullet streaking towards the senator's head.
Edea did not stay put. Holding out her hand, she created a greenish, spherical barrier around herself, the bullet slowing down as it struck the surface, before stopping to a halt in front of her hooked nose. Frowning angrily, she motioned the guards on either side of the main street towards the presidential palace.
'Ah, Instructor Reis. Welcome to Galbadia,' Seifer said, greeting Reis with a fake display of hospitality.
'I will hear none of your words, Seifer. You are past redemption,' Reis growled, fingering her katana, staring at Seifer with her cold ultramarine eyes. He will die today.
'I'm very sorry to hear those words, instructor. I was willing to spare your life if you would follow me as a slave. But enough talk! En garde!'
Seifer's inexperienced slash came down towards Reis with great strength, but easily dodged by Reis, who glowered at Seifer for a split second from the corner of her eye before slashing his arm three times rapidly.
'That—is for the dishonourable wound on my leg you have inflicted at Balamb,' Reis yelled at Seifer, who was looking on with fear, eyes wide open and paling at the sight of the instructor's deadly rage, 'And you will soon perish by my blade. Destroy weapons with fury! Hellcry Punch!'
Seifer howled in pain as his gunblade shattered in his hand…his only natural hand remaining, that is. The other had been replaced by a steel blade; gleaming in the semi-darkness. The severed hand fell to the floor, landing with an unpleasant thud and oozing blood, the pallor of the hand adding to the disgusting appearance.
'How do you like that, now, huh? Like to cause pain?' Reis sneered, spitting on Seifer's bowed head, 'I will give you more pain. Seal evil in eternal stone! Break!'
His remaining arm was encased in stone, shattering to reveal a stiff, concrete construct where the flesh and steel was before. Crumpling down to the ground with the weight of the stone, Seifer could only look on in fear at the enraged instructor. Even Edea seemed to laugh at his plight; anger and hopelessness gripped his heart, causing him to plead for mercy.
'Please…I beg you…spare me…don't kill me,' Seifer cried, bowing his head and letting tears fall as he spoke.
'You dirty bastard. You expect me to give you mercy? NEVER!' Reis shouted, advancing on the hapless man.
Grasping him by the throat, Reis drew out her dagger.
'See this?' she whispered, in a most dangerous tone, 'See the point of this? I will carve my name into your flesh, as many times as it would take to make you learn of what pain I had to endure,'
The man screamed as Reis slashed her initials into the man's skin, tearing the flesh below. Blood seeped down the wounds, and grew to a steady flow as Reis repeatedly went over the macabre writing.
'Reis! You needn't go that far!' Quistis yelled, alarmed at the woman's acts, 'That's enough Reis, he had been part of the Balamb Garden for a long time, if not since childhood. He's part of us!'
'Part of us…? Tch, this piece of filth deserves no better than a quick execution,' Reis spat, glaring at the weeping man, 'Enough of this. Doom of a planet upon one's soul…Crush Punch!'
A piercing scream split the night as Seifer was crushed to inexistence, the splintered remains of his skeleton scattered within the archway, pieces of his flesh lying some distance away from where he was. He had been pulverized by Reis' powerful magical attack; there was no going back for him. Smiling cruelly, Reis kicked aside the remains of Seifer, careful to put as much mud upon it as possible with her shoes.
'You're next, senator Edea,' Reis hissed, 'You're going to feel ten times as much pain as I felt when you had burnt me half to death,'
'Speak all you want, young fool,' the senator replied, her voice icy, 'I will still defeat you,'
'Let's see about that. Destroy weapons with fury! Hellcry Punch!'
The senator erected another magic barrier with an easy sweep of her hand, deflecting the wave of energy at the wall, of which a large chunk crumbled to powder as the energy smashed into the hard stone.
'Now it's my turn. Nature's wrath, come and go in flames! Firaga!'
A blast of searing heat emanated from the senator's pallid hands, rushing towards Reis at terrifying speed. Ducking, Reis narrowly dodged the possibly-fatal spell, which burnt a hole in the monumental portcullis. Never before have I faced a powerful mage of the likes of her…She surpasses all that I have seen…
'You! Stop right there!' a group of six soldiers shouted, trooping towards the trapped vehicle on which they were fighting on. Reis merely stared at them coldly.
'Doom of a planet on your souls…Crush punch!' she hollered, sweeping her katana at all of the terrified guards. Immediately they disintegrated into masses of flesh and fragments of bone, the same fate of Seifer befalling them. Turning towards the senator, she drew a second blade.
'No more will I attack nicely. One cannot exist without a soul! Death!'
The green sphere of protective energy surrounding Edea dissipated under the extreme force of Reis' death spell. Edea, though unharmed, appeared livid, furious that her defences had been destroyed.
'Destroy all in force! Ultima!'
Time and space itself seemed to distort as Reis was thrown against the wall of the monument by a blast of energy, which ripped the vehicle apart to shreds of metal and burning fragments of material. Slamming hard into the stone, Reis tasted a bit of her own blood; bitter, warm, and intoxicating.
'You're good…but no more! I will kill you—now!'
A silver dagger sailed through the air, shrieking towards the pale neck of the senator. Jumping out of the way, the senator cried as the knife pierced her right shoulder. Furious, the magic-wielder summoned a number of icy javelins.
'I have hardly ever fought someone this talented—but it all ends now,' she panted, motioning the floating ice bolts towards Reis. They streaked forward, a bluish-white blur, Reis attempting to block them with her two katanas-
It was no use. Her body was mercilessly studded by frozen bolts, nailed against the wall. The familiar bitter liquid she tasted again, thick, copious, and the warm crimson she felt running down her side and legs. Darkness began to cloud her mind as she fell gradually into unconsciousness, hearing only the senator's deranged laughter at her demise.
A/N
I wrote this chapter to illustrate Reis' transition to the dark side. You will see what I mean later. Damn, still more hits and few reviewers. Maybe I should add R&R to the description…