Chapter Thirty-Four:
A/N: This chapter is rather important to the story, as it is the first one to actually have someone die! But I'm not telling who it is!
Gullwing Yunie: Yes indeed, what do they do? I'm not telling!
Sorceress Eternity: Red eyes, yes. Mako, maybe... As for the dress, that was more of a gag thing. In case you haven't noticed, dresses aren't Tessa's style of clothing.
Chocobo Nunchaku: Yes, Seifer does return in about ten chapters or so. (I've written well into the 50's. And yet I'm making you guys wait for updates. Aren'tI evil?)
Rakunya: Yeah, aside from Enemy Skill Materia, I never found any use for Command Materia. And I am looking forward to reading (and reviewing) your fics.
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"So, that's the Caraway Mansion," Tessa said later that morning. She was on the roof with Tifa and Holt, looking at the large mansion in the distance. Below, hundreds of Rots gathered around the building, seemingly unaware of the living people above them. I was supposed to escort Rinoa Heartilly there.
Holt sat on the ledge, looking older in the sunlight than he had during the dark night before. "You know, we should probably try to signal to them that we're still alive. Every once in awhile I hear gunshots, which means they have weapons over there. Maybe they can save us."
"That won't work," Tessa aloud. "They're just as under siege as we are. But, maybe if we let them know we're alive, we can get rescued when the military returns."
"You think they're just going to pull out of Midgar?" Tifa said with a comical tone to her voice. She pulled the Materia out of her pocket again and turned it over in her hand. Suddenly, she became much more sober. "I mean, we came here to try to lure them out, and nothing ever really works out in my favour."
"Nothing works out for anyone," Tessa said as she turned away from the other two. "I mean, this was supposed to be my big shot, and I'm all that's left. Well, there is Adette, too."
"So, what are we going to do?" Holt asked the two young women. "Our food consists of what was in the gift shop, and that wasn't much. Add in that everyone had cabin fever…"
"Then get over it!" Tessa snapped as began stretching. Earlier, after the sun had risen, Tessa had gone on an exploratory trek through the Residence and found a large pile of Galbadian military uniforms. She had found one belonging to a private named Yang that fit her rather well. Quickly after that, the dress had found its way over the side of the roof and onto the face of a Rot. "Would they rather die?"
"Guys, you need to see this," Tifa said excitedly. Tessa looked over and saw that Tifa was leaning over the side of the roof with her yellow Materia out. "It's the Caraway Mansion. Something is going down."
Tessa sprinted to Tifa's side and squatted, trying to see just what was happening. However, all she saw was the building. "What is it?"
"Is the military back?" Holt asked hopefully. Tessa heard the sound of his shoes on the asphalt as he knelt on Tifa's other side. "Are we saved?"
"No, it's not that," Tifa answered. Her Materia lessened in brightness and she stood up. She looked at Tessa and sighed. "You said something about Rinoa Heartilly?"
"Yeah," Tessa said. "What about her?"
"She's over there now, is all."
Tessa brushed her read hair out of her eyes and pressed her left hand against her temple. A white light flashed and Tessa's pupils completely dilated. Her vision enhanced greatly, as though she were looking through a pair of binoculars and settled on a specific window of the Caraway Mansion.
She saw Rinoa standing in front of a man with black hair that was greyed at the temples. Rinoa looked exhausted and was holding up Zell, who looked ready to pass out. Zell's arm was completely black where he had been bitten, and the infection seemed to have spread throughout the rest of his body, which was covered in open sores and oozing. Tessa recognized the symptoms.
Rinoa, on the other hand, didn't seem to be suffering from any injuries. However, about a dozen armed men in Galbadian uniforms stepped within the view of the window.
"What are they doing?" Tessa heard Tifa say. "This makes no sense."
Tessa didn't respond, even when the men trained their firearms on Rinoa and Zell. The man with the greying hair stepped forward and lifted an antique revolver, aiming it at Rinoa.
"What's so interesting?" Holt asked, the only one not able to see what was going on. "Well?"
Neither Tessa nor Tifa told Holt just what was happening. In the Caraway Mansion the grey-haired man said something to Rinoa, thought Tessa didn't hear what. She saw Rinoa yell back at the man as he cocked his gun. Rinoa lifted her right hand; her left was supporting Zell, and aimed her own gun at the man. Why she still had it, Tessa didn't know.
"Guys?" Holt asked, still unsure of what was happening. "What is it?"
Screaming and trying to hold Zell up, Rinoa didn't see what Tessa did. One of the Galbadian men snuck up behind her and hit her in the back of the head. She dropped Zell and swayed for a few seconds before collapsing.
The grey-haired man walked over and pointed his gun at the floor. Milliseconds later Tessa heard the gunshot and jerked her head away. She closed and backed away from the edge of the roof, vomiting on the tarmac. Tears were openly rolling down her cheeks and vomit clung to her mouth by long strings of drool.
"Are you okay?" Holt asked squeamishly. A hand was tentatively placed on Tessa's shoulder.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and crawled away from her pool of vomit. Holt's hand fell off and hung limply in the air for a few seconds before he drew it up to his chest.
"I'm sorry," Tifa said. The crunch of shoes on the roof signalled that someone was walking, and Tifa bent down in front of Tessa. "Are you okay?"
Tessa looked up and saw a look of genuine concern on Tifa's face. Her long brown hair hung in her face, her eyes were locked on Tessa's, and she was biting her lower lip.
"I don't need pity," Tessa said as she wiped her eyes. "Just leave me alone."
"It's okay, you lost your friends," Tifa said quietly. "It's good to cry."
"Shut up!" Tessa screamed, her face growing red with embarrassment. "They weren't my friends! Adette's not my friend! It's just me, it's all me!"
"What are you talking about?" Holt asked as he squatted at Tessa's side. "You were taking the brunt of those attacks in the sewers when I saved you so that the other girl wouldn't. Why do that if she's not a friend?"
Tessa began breathing heavily and gritted her teeth. "I did it because, for once, I didn't want to be the cause of someone's death. Phelan is probably dead because of me, the SeeD in the cafeteria, Alex…"
"What are you talking about?" Holt repeated, but Tessa didn't say anything else. Rather, she stood up and skulked away.
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"I need a cigarette," Tessa said to one in particular. In fact, no one else was in the office that Liana had shown her earlier. On the floor lay a folded up blanket and a single pillow. "But what the fuck would you know about that?"
The portrait of Seifer Almasy didn't speak back. He just merely continued looking smug and intimidating, his eyes burning into Tessa's.
"So, Mr. Security Guard, you were the leader of this country," Tessa told the painting. "What happened to you? How could you work at Garden after all of the things these people said you did? The ethnic cleansing of Trabia, the assassination of the Magistrate of Dollet, the invasion of Midgar, all of it."
Tessa sat on the desk and looked out the window. Below, the Rots seemed to be growing agitated as they wandered around and bumped into each other. She felt a nicotine craving begin to surge and grabbed a paperweight. She grimaced and threw it at the wall, but missed and shattered the window.
She jumped up and ran to the window, looking out and seeing the Rots scattering away from the place where the paperweight and broken glass had landed. Wondering why they were doing it, Tessa scratched her head.
"There's something you need to know," Liana said as she walked into the room. Tessa turned around, the shattered window behind her. "What happened?"
"My best friend, her name was Liana," Tessa said out of nowhere. "I miss her."
Liana was clearly unsure of what to say. "Well, it's about you other friend, the one you brought with you."
"What about Adette?" Tessa asked with an eye roll.
"She's awake."