Hunter's Eyes II:
A/N: I do apologize about the last few chapters, I realize that they were absolute crap, and this one may not be the best either. Still, chapter 55 will blow all others out of the water. I just love keeping you waiting.
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The white-haired youth shook his head and stared at his feet. It was still beyond his comprehension what all had happened. First the dead rose and killed the living, devouring their victims. Then he and about twenty other survivors had barricaded themselves in the administration building. Not long after that, Antessence showed up. He still wasn't sure how she'd done it. The girl had more lives than a Mage did spells. And soon after that, cabin fever set in.
Squall Leonhart, the Squall Leonhart, had attacked the redhead while she attempted to give him a report on the outcome of her exam. Considering that she had come back alone, Hunter took it to be that it did not go well. However, Squall was stopped and Antessence lived. Momentarily, the offspring of two famous Mages wondered just what had become of the Commander of Balamb Garden. He had been left behind unconscious, unjunctioned, and unarmed, after all. Hunter quickly pushed the thoughts from his mind.
Yes, Antessence had arrived and informed the others that could escape on a vessel she had docked at the Balamb Marina. So began the disastrous escape, only four survivors, excluding Antessence and himself, even made it to the vessel. Unfortunately, one of them, a young man Hunter didn't know, had been bitten. He died before he could, though. Irvine shot him.
On the vessel, waiting for them, was another girl his age. Eventually he figured out that she was a tocaro and he said so to Antessence. Then the woman with grey hair and an eye-patch, Fujin, attacked him. That was when Antessence kissed the tocaro, and it shocked the hell out of Hunter.
The prison area the survivors were being kept in was silent, with the exception of the occasional sob. Hunter knew that his comrades were panicked and frightened but he believed that they, much like he, were probably thinking.
His cell wasn't at all what he had been expecting. Traditionally, they were garbage-filled holes, but these were different. The walls, floor, and ceiling were painted a light blue and, instead of iron bars, the door was stainless steel with a window constructed of two inches of bullet-proof glass. The bed had a mattress and pillow stuffed with soft chocobo feathers, and there was even a working sink and toilet parallel to the bed!
After thinking it over, Hunter came to conclude that everything was the fault of Antessence. Whatever it was that happened at Balamb Garden had conveniently occurred while she was on her exam, and then the rescue from the vessel by Shinra. They had to have been after her for something she did on her exam, there was no one explanation. He knew that his rationalizations weren't logical, but Hunter Vance didn't care. Someone needed to be blamed, and at the moment all of is suspicions were placed solely on her.
"Who's over there?" a woman called, presumably from the cell next to Hunter's. He perked up and ginned. Even though he was in "prison," he could still impress the ladies.
"Why, it is I, Hunter," he said, playing up his accent. The woman speaking was doing so in Galbadian, meaning it was most likely one of his companions from the vessel. Still, he did fashion himself to be a ladies' man in the image of the infamous Irvine Kinneas. He had to give it a shot. "Which lovely lady am I currently conversing with?"
"Mr. Vance," the woman answered back with an authoritative tone, "this is Instructor Trepe. I would appreciate you taking this situation seriously; plan something, some kind of escape."
"This is the Shinra. There is no escape," Hunter replied with a sigh. "We're unarmed and unjunctioned. I'm surprised we can even hear each other through the wall."
"That's right, this is Shinra," Quistis said thoughtfully. At least, that's how it sounded to Hunter. "Then the guards are armed with Materia in addition to weapons. If we can get our hands on some of that..."
"Instructor?" Hunter was thinking about something he had heard his first day at Balamb Garden.
"Yes?"
"Antessence once remarked that you were a Blue Mage." It was a statement, not a question.
"That's correct," Quistis answered with a chuckle. "Why do you ask?"
"Then maybe, if you really are a Blue Mage, you can blast open your door with some magic."
Another chuckle came from Quistis. "I can only do Blue Magic with my limit breaks. What about you, Mr Vance? You are a descendent of a famous family of Mages. Perhaps, you could do something."
Hunter thought hard about a spell he could use, but nothing came to mind. When he wondered about why that was, a flash filled his mind and he tumbled off of his bed and onto the floor, holding his pained head.
"Mr. Vance?"
He didn't answer, just continued to hold his head and bite his lip to keep from crying.
"Mr. Vance!" Quistis shouted, her voice tinged with concern.
"I'm fine," Hunter yelled back, catching his breath. He wondered what had happened. "I don't think we'll be able to escape with my powers, though."
Before Quistis could inquire as to why, a woman's screams interrupted them. "Stop! Let me go! Help! Somebody help me, please!"
A clamour rose from the captives, the loudest being a woman yelling "NO!" at the top of her voice. The guards said nothing, but Hunter heard the click of a gun being cocked. The sobs o the woman faded as she was led away, then cut off with the echoing sound of a steel door being closed.
Then, once again, the captives were silent.
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An alarm going off woke him, pulling Hunter from a dream where he enjoyed the delights of "conversation" with Quistis Trepe. Shortly after that, he heard the stomping of boots as the guards stationed outside the captives' cells ran by.
Hunter stood up and sprinted the three feet to the door of his cell, so that he could look out the window. Two guards opened the large steel door that led out of the incarceration-area, only to be met with gunfire. Hunter pressed his face to the glass, but he couldn't discern who was fighting with the guards.
"Intruder alert," a mechanical voice began to drone. The voice sounded bored, as though it were giving instructions on the application of physics to poetry. "Intruder alert."
He saw the last guard grab his chest with one hand, the other still holding onto a pistol. The dying man's fingers pulled the trigger as fell, spasming, and one of the bullets struck the window in front of Hunter. The white-haired youth cried out and fell back in fear. The glass didn't shatter, though, and he remembered that it was bullet-proof. He stood and examined the glass: it had cracked and a bullet was lodged in it, but the window held.
"Help us!" he yelled as he pounded on the door trying to get the attention of whomever it was that had killed the guards. Seconds later, a whirring noise sounded and the door to Hunter's cell opened. That was when the young man found himself face to face one of Shinra's (other) famous experiments: Vincent Valentine.
"You must leave," Vincent said, a sucking noise accompanying his speech. It wasn't hard to figure out why, though, since his mouth was wired shut. Then the former Turk looked oddly at Hunter, as though he knew him.
"Thank you, Vincent," Quistis said as she calmly stepped out of her own cell. "It has been awhile since the Arklay Conventions, no?"
"Ah, Miss Trepe, what brings you here?" Vincent asked with a bow. He was wearing a tattered red cape that fell over his face as he bowed.
"I could ask you the same question," Quistis responded. "As it stands, I'm not entirely sure myself."
"I am here with Yuffie to see if Shinra has any information on the whereabouts of Tifa and Barret. Cid has been missing as well."
"Where is Yuffie?" Quistis asked as the other prisoners emptied into the hallway.
Vincent attempted a smile, but it only made him appear more grotesque. "The young lady is right here. Yuffie?"
Silently, a girl a couple of years younger than Hunter dropped to the floor from somewhere above. She had long black hair tied held out of her face by a white headband. Confused, Hunter looked up and saw that there was a long series of pipes on the ceiling. While he was looking elsewhere, Yuffie spoke. "Do these wimps have any Materia?"
"That's the thing," Quistis explained. "We have no weapons or GFs, which means no way to escape."
"Do you have anyone with experience in firearms?" Vincent asked. Hunter looked around, still trying to understand what was happening. The only other people in the hallway were Irvine and Fujin, but nobody else had noticed.
"Two, actually," Quistis answered. "Irvine Kinneas and Adette Berna."
Irvine tipped his hat in agreement, and then the others realized that Tessa and Adette were gone.
"WHERE?" Fujin shouted, wondering what had become of her friend.
"They... they are gone," Hunter said, looking around. "Do you think that they could have been who the guards drug away earlier?"
"You say the Shinra took some of your people?" Vincent asked. He reached into his cape and produced a handgun. The subject of countless experiments tossed it to Irvine, who looked it over. "Tifa gave me that shortly after we met. It's called a Peacemaker and she said that she picked it up in a town by Midgar called Kalm. Make good use of it."
"Will do," Irvine said as he nodded.
"ADETTE!" Fujin shouted, getting the attention of everyone once more.
"Don't forget Antessence," Hunter added, forgetting that moments earlier he had been blaming his entire predicament on her.
Vincent turned to Yuffie, causing his cape to flutter behind him. "I want you to escort these four out of here. I will complete this mission on my own."
"NO!" Fujin shouted angrily.
"The lady's right," Irvine said as he twirled his new handgun. "We can't just leave our others behind. Fujin and I will go with you, and Yuffie can get Quistis and the boy out."
"I am Hunter Vance, not 'the boy'," Hunter said indignantly.
"Of the Corel Vances?" Yuffie said with wide eyes. "Geez, no wonder they don't need Materia."
"Why should you stay?" Quistis asked Irvine as she poked him in the chest with a finger. He put an arm around her waist before dipping her and planting a kiss on her lips.
"You know I could never leave a lady behind." Irvine winked. "Now you two get out of here."
Vincent reached once more into his cape and produced two small stones. One was yellow, the other green. "I am aware of your Blue Mage status, Miss Trepe. My former association with Shinra has taught me that Mages can use Materia to enhance their magical capabilities. Perhaps this Enemy Skill Materia will do the same."
"Thank you," Quistis said as she took the stones. "What is the green one?"
"It is Restore Materia, grown to the Regen level," Vincent said. "I wish you two well. If we are going, then it should be now before we are caught and incarcerated ourselves. Farewell, Miss Trepe."
"Goodbye, Vincent," Quistis said as she broke away from Irvine and hugged Vincent. Then she turned to Hunter and handed him the Restore Materia. "I know it's against the Mage bylaws, but so is being a SeeD. I won't tell if you won't."
How odd, Hunter thought as he followed the others out the door, his fingers closed around the Materia in his hand. They came to another hallway, and the two groups split up: one on a rescue mission, and the other attempting escape. Hunter just hoped that he would get out in one piece.
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A/N: See, FFVII heroes. I told you. But this chapter kind of stunk, didn't it? I guess it's just harder to write from a perspective other than Tessa's. Well, at least the next chapter is from hers, so it should be better. (Even if I don't have the best track record lately.)