A Second Chance Chapter 30: Close Encounters of the Deadly Kind, a final fantasy viii fanfic

A/N: As promised, here's the next chapter

And to make up for the length of the previous one, this one's 4 times bigger :-p Biggest one so far…

Just one warning for this chapter, however. I've inserted some Latin again, only this time the one who helped wasn't that much of an expert. So there will most likely be many mistakes (mostly Syntax-wise). But still, I wanted to use them, cause it made the respective part sound cooler If there are any Latin experts among you reading this, I'd really appreciate it if you could e-mail me and help me out with this, so that I can come and correct it.

Enjoy!

Last chapter summary: After the second 'break' into the real world, Quistis and Ellone have their last 'session' together, soon drawing to the end of Elle's 'narration'…

A second chance

By: Sickness in Salvation

Chapter 30: Close Encounters of the Deadly Kind

Squall stirred around in his seat, squinting as the bright, amber light of dawn fell upon his face, awakening him. He shifted his sleepy gaze around him, searching for his peers. He found all three seats next to and across him empty, while he was covered with a long, black trench coat. Slowly, he got up from his seat, stretching as he did so, soothing his tensed up muscles. He made his way towards the cockpit, wanting to ask the pilot whether he'd caught glimpse of the others. Once he stepped inside, he found them all gathered around the radar display screen.

Zell was the first one to turn around from the sound of Squall's footsteps.

- "Hey man…" he said "We're almost there."

- "Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Squall asked, feeling a sting of annoyance.

- "Quisty told us you needed the sleep." Selphie replied, grinning.

- "Right…" Squall said sternly, glaring at Quistis, who merely smiled "So, do we have a lock on her?" he asked the pilot.

- "For over an hour, Commander Leonhart sir." replied the pilot "She just keeps heading southwest."

- "Where to?" Squall asked bewildered "There's nothing towards that direction."

- "Exactly what we've been wondering about…" Quistis said matter-of-factly.

Squall turned his steel blue gaze upon the green light of the panel. Judging by their position, their mark should be the yellow dot moving towards the southwest corner of the global map, following an identical red one. That should be Rinoa's vessel. The two dots were quite close to each other by now and the yellow one kept getting steadily closer to the red one. Until…

- "Hey, she stopped!" Selphie squealed.

- "I don't get it… There's noth-"

The words died on the pilot's mouth the moment he saw what lay before their very eyes.

Right in the middle of nowhere, among innumerable tons of ocean water, a building stood upon an island that had barely more surface than the bottom of the building. Was there even an island beneath it? Or was it just a platform?

Squall moved closer towards the glass surface of the cockpit, squinting. The sun had just begun to rise from the horizon, and the deep amber light fell upon the building, illuminating it little by little. As the aircraft drew closer, Squall could make out the SeeD vessel, now stationed near the facility. The place looked abandoned for years, wild flora cascading all around it, creeping through the cracks on the walls.

Rinoa was nowhere to be seen.

- "Lower us down." said Squall.

Seifer opens his eyes and slowly gets up. He looks around him.

He's lying in the middle of an empty room. A white, empty room with no visible limits.

Just a vast, illuminated area of… nothing.

"Funny… How sometimes memories flash before your very eyes rapidly, steadily… Just like a heartbeat…"

Seifer gets up to his feet.

'Who are you?'

"Don't you know? I'm nothing… I'm everything… I'm everything you want me to be… I'm everything you cherish…"

FLASH

Young little Seifer is running out of the sea towards the beach, droplets of water slithering down his thin form.

He makes his way to Matron, who lies upon a chaise-long, slipping her sunglasses down to her nose. She smiles at him, then reaches down to her bag, retrieving a big, blue towel. Seifer jumps upon her lap, wetting her sun-lotioned skin.

"Oh, Hyne!" she groans as Seifer plops upon her, and laughs "You're getting bigger and bigger every day! I won't be able to carry you around anymore, soon!"

She wraps the towel around Seifer's tanned shoulders, rubbing his wet skin dry. She moves one tip onto his wet blond spikes, rubbing them vigorously, as Seifer squirms and giggles.

'Stop it.'

"Am I your favorite boy?" he asks, grinning.

Edea laughs, caressing his cheek.

"Answer me!" Seifer perseveres, beginning to tickle Edea.

"Seifer, stop it!" Edea chokes out, between gales of laughter.

"Not until you say it!" Seifer retorts, grinning mischievously.

"Alright, alright!"

'I said, stop!'

Seifer stops ticking her, and looks at his Matron eagerly. She rakes her fingers through his damp hair and smiles at him.

"You're my favorite little boy." she says.

"I'm not a little boy!" Seifer snaps, offended.

"OK, OK… You're my favorite little man." Edea corrects herself, grinning "Better?"

Seifer beams at her and hugs her from the waist, resting his scrawny little form upon her, closing his eyes. Edea wraps the towels tighter around him and holds him in her embrace, sighing, closing her eyes as well.

'STOP!'

"You don't like that vision, Seifer? Isn't that what you crave for? Hmmm… What about this?"

FLASH

Seifer is walking down the streets of Balamb City, hand-in-hand with a girl.

Her hair is long and black, her eyes a misty shade of blue.

'Don't… Stop…'

"It's so nice to be able to get away from classes every now and then…" Angelina says, sighing "This week has been a complete hell for me… Ungh! Don't you just hate Instructor Aki?!"

"I've got no problem with her…" Seifer replies, shrugging "But I get the faintest feeling she's got a problem with me…" he adds, grinning.

"Don't they all?" Angelina says mockingly, grinning.

Seifer narrows his eyes at her, smirking. He lets go of her hand.

"Think we're funny, don't we?" he asks, pretending to be mad, still grinning though.

"You know it's true." Angelina retorts, sticking her tongue out at him.

'Please stop…'

Seifer grabs her from the waist, carrying her towards the railing before them, overlooking the harbor. Angelina shrieks like a cat thrown in water, in between hystericals. Seifer places her back-first onto the railing and holds her from the wrists, threatening to let go.

"Take it back or you're a goner." he says, smirking at her.

"Seifer, no!" Angelina yells, torn between amusement and terror "Pull me back up!"

"Not until you take it back…"

"Seifer!"

"Say it!"

"OK, I'm sorry! I take it back!" Angelina screams.

Satisfied, Seifer pulls her back up onto her feet, chuckling. Clutching her racing heart, Angelina tries to catch her breath. She throws a glare at Seifer, who is now laughing like mad.

"You jerk!" she hisses, lunging forward at him "I hate you!"

She begins to punch Seifer on the chest with all her might, while he goes on laughing uncontrollably. This only infuriates Angelina ever more, who begins to punch ever harder. Seifer locks her into his embrace, still chuckling.

"Let me go!" Angelina yells, trying to break free.

"Ah, shaddap…" Seifer says mockingly, leaning down to her.

He muffles her cries with a kiss, tightening his grip on her. Angelina gradually begins to punch him less forcefully, until she gives up. Seifer pulls back grinning.

"Jerk…" Angelina mumbles, pouting.

'CUT IT OUT!'

"Don't like this either? Thought so… Let's keep looking then, shall we?"

FLASH

Rinoa is lying on her bed, underneath Seifer's weight, giggling uncontrollably. Seifer is on top of her, kissing her neck, slithering his hands all over her body.

"I'm not sure about this…" she mumbles.

Seifer ceases all other activities and looks up at her.

"Why, what's wrong?" he asks her.

"My dad could be home any minute…" she says, stroking his cheek with a crooked finger.

"Didn't you say he'd be home by 7 the earliest?" Seifer asks. Rinoa nods "It's still 5:30." Seifer adds "We've got plenty of time…"

He nuzzles his head back to the crook of her neck, biting her gently. Rinoa lets out a groan of pain and laughs again, wrapping her arms around his neck.

'End it. NOW.'

Seifer is back at the white room. He's looking around him, livid, trying to spot the source of the voice.

"Still not successful? Dear me… I guess we'll have to search more thoroughly… Let's see… Ahh… But of course…"

Seifer hears a pair of fingers snap and a blurry figure appears in the distance. The sound of shoes clattering against the floor is heard as the figure approaches him.

Slowly, it becomes more and more visible. A tall blonde is walking, towards him, clad in peach, azure eyes, full lips.

'No.'

The figure of Quistis stops in front of him, standing still, expressionless.

'No!'

He looks away.

"Not fond of her in this form? What about this?"

FLASH

Little Seifer is pulling one of the short, blonde pigtails of young Quistis, who shrieks and tries to hit him back.

"Or this?"

FLASH

Seifer is slouched into his seat, in the very back row of the classroom. Quistis finishes up writing on the board and turns around.

"And this is the material you'll be tested upon next week." she says, adjusting her glasses "Study well. This is going to be a tough exam."

A brunette throws her hand upon the air.

"Yes, Miss Scholes?" Quistis says.

"How much will this count for our final grade, Miss Trepe?" the girl asks.

"Fifty percent." Quistis replies "So you can all understand how important this exam is. I expect all of you to be here, as this test can't be taken again. I will accept no excuses." Quistis says austerely "Unless you're down with grave illness, you will attend this exam. And in that case, I expect a note from Dr. Kadowaki."

Another hand shoots up in the air. Quistis looks through her glasses, sighing.

"Yes, Mr. Almasy?" she asks.

"What do you mean by 'grave illness'?" the blond asks.

"Anything life-threatening will do, Mr. Almasy." Quistis replies.

"So… Exhaustion's out of the question?" Seifer asks, beginning to grin mischievously.

"Exhaustion?" Quistis asks, arching a fair eyebrow "I don't suppose you'll be exhausting yourself over training or studying, will you Mr. Almasy?"

"I was actually thinking of extreme sexual exhaustion…" Seifer replies, smirking wider than ever.

The class roars with laughter, but Quistis remains calm. She's even smiling. When the laughter dies down eventually, Seifer is still smirking at her. Quistis turns serious.

"Not an excuse, Mr. Almasy." she finally replies "You can always write with your other hand."

She turns back to face the board, as the class erupts into laughter once again, around a wide-eyed, crimson Seifer.

"Hmm… No, that can't be it… Maybe it's this form…"

FLASH

Quistis is standing out in the balcony next to him, the night breeze blowing her hair away.

" So… How's teaching going?" Seifer asks her.

"Really well… I like working with children more…"

"Yeah… You don't run the risk of coming across another little shit like me that way, huh?" Seifer asks jokingly. Quistis chuckles.

"Oh Seifer…" she says, looking at him "You weren't as bad as you think you were…"

"Really?" Seifer asks, leaning closer to her. Quistis looks deep into his eyes.

"Really…" she whispers.

"No, no… I don't think we've quite got it yet… But I'm sure I won't be mistaken now…"

FLASH

Quistis is lying within his embrace, her bare shoulders visible underneath the thin covers. Seifer is caressing her hair gently, and kisses her on the forehead.

She wraps her arms round his neck and kisses him deeply.

'That's not a memory…'

Seifer slides his palms down to her bare waist, as she moves on top of him, still kissing him.

'It's not real…'

Quistis pulls away from him and smirks. She opens her mouth to speak.

"But this is what you crave for, isn't it?"

The Seifer beneath her shifts uncomfortably, staring at her bewildered. Her voice…

"Isn't this what you want, Seifer? What you truly wish for?"

'You're NOT real!'

He tries to push her away from him, but she won't budge. She rests her palms on each side of him, staring at him intently, smirking.

"I can be… I can be more real than any of those illusions you just saw. So what do you want, Seifer?"

Quistis's blonde hair instantly turns jet-black and elongates, the tips touching his bare arms. The blue irises in her eyes turn amber and her porcelain skin becomes more tanned. Edea speaks.

"What do you want, Seifer?"

Edea's black hair become slightly shorter and her amber eyes turn misty blue. The naked body above him becomes even more tanned. Angelina opens her mouth.

"Yes, Seifer… What do you want?"

Angelina's hair becomes even shorter, with pointier edges. Deep brown spreads within her eyes and her skin becomes paler and paler. Rinoa speaks next.

"What do you want?"

Rinoa's hair elongate and become more fair by each passing second. Her eyes turn blue, her lips fuller. Quistis again.

"What do you want, Seifer?"

'Get away from me!'

Seifer squirms beneath Quistis and shoves her away, moving towards the wall behind the bed. He stares at Quistis wide-eyed, frightened. His breathing has become fast and heavy.

Quistis slowly gets up to her feet. The smirk is no longer plastered upon her face. She is yet again expressionless.

"So many memories…"

This time, the voice doesn't come out of Quistis's lips.

"Weird, isn't it? How you just keep abandoning the ones that pass through your life…"

'Shut up…'

"First it's your loving Matron… Who fell into the nasty clutches of another Sorceress, all innocence drained from her…"

'I said. Shut up.'

"Then there's the girl you never really cared about until recently… That one ended up six feet under…"

'Shut up!'

"And now we've got the girl for whom you care… But not in 'that' way anymore, right? I do believe that's the second one to face the fate stored for your… mother."

'SHUT UP!'

"There's just one left, isn't there? Her."

Seifer turns his gaze at Quistis. She is looking back blankly at him, beginning to step backwards.

"You never learn, do you? You left her all alone as well…"

'No! Stop it!'

Seifer shuts his eyes and covers his ears.

"Now all you have to do… is wait. Wait and see what happens to this one…"

'NOOO!'

Seifer's eyes shoot open, looking at the figure of Quistis slowly backtracking towards a shadow in the distance. He tries to get up, but to no avail. His limbs won't obey him.

And Quistis's bare form just keeps disappearing more and more into the darkness.

'Quistis, NO!!!'

"She's mine now!"

A loud, sharp shriek is heard from the darkness, covered by the shrill, laughing voice from above.

'QUISTIS!!!!!!!!!!'

- "QUISTIS!!!!!!!!!"

Seifer jolted up from bed, drenched in sweat, grabbing the first thing that came before his way; Irvine's shirt.

- "Hey man! Snap out of it!" Irvine yelled at him. He grabbed him from the arms, shaking him "It was just a dream!"

Seifer was panting, eyes wide open, grip still firm on Irvine's clothes. The cowboy was staring at him bewildered, frightened. Seifer's breathing slowly began to return to normal, as his fists unclenched and released Irvine's shirt. Still somewhat panting, he shut his eyes, rubbing his face with his palms.

- "You, OK?" asked Irvine, resting a palm on Seifer's shoulder "Sounded like one hell of a nightmare…"

- "I'm fine…" Seifer croaked out, raking a hand through his damp hair.

- "Wanna talk about it?" Irvine asked.

- "No." Seifer replied firmly, pursing his lips.

- "Relax, dude…" Irvine reassured him "Quistis is gonna be fine. They all will."

Seifer turned and looked at Irvine, narrowing his eyes at him.

- "How do you-?" he began.

- "Know the dream was about her?" Irvine finished for him, chuckling "You only woke up screaming her name, you know…"

The blond turned away from him, pursing his lips, blushing slightly.

- "How d'you get in here, anyway?" Seifer asked, changing the subject.

- "Still had that spare keycard Dr. Kadowaki gave us when you were hurt." Irvine replied, digging into his pocket, retrieving it "So that we could check upon you."

- "Gimme that." Seifer snapped, snatching the card from Irvine's grasp, shoving it onto the nightstand.

- "OK, OK…" Irvine said, raising both palms up in the air "Chill. Just came here to see if anything had happened to you. You were late."

- "Late for what?" Seifer asked, rubbing the back of his hair lazily.

Irvine arched an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

- "Oh, right…" Seifer said, slapping his forehead "How late was I?"

- "About fifteen minutes…" Irvine replied "Anyway, it's all cool. I'll just go and wait for you in the Cafeteria. Take a shower and everything. Looks like you need it."

Irvine shot Seifer a wink and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Right on cue, Seifer fell hard back-first onto the mattress, covering his face in both palms. He sighed deeply.

'Hyne… Let Quistis be alright… Otherwise I'll never forgive myself…'

The SeeD aircraft slowly descended to the ground of the isolated island, allowing its passengers to disembark. Squall was the first one to step outside. The propellers of the aircraft blew the long, black trench coat the young Commander was wearing. His steel blue eyes scanned the area. He gave the pilot a firm nod, informing him to turn off the engines and stay put. The rest of his small team followed suit, looking around them in curiosity.

Zell seemed to be particularly intrigued by their surroundings, screwing his facial features into a weird frown.

- "Hey… I think I know where we are…" he muttered, still looking around him, utterly bewildered.

- "Where?" Selphie asked, arching an eyebrow.

- "The DeepSeaResearchCenter." Zell replied.

- "I've heard about this place…" Quistis mumbled "Yes, yes… They were supposed to perform all kinds of experiments here…"

- "Know-it-all-Zell to the rescue…" Zell said grinning, striding over at Squall "Wanna know more about this place?"

Squall threw Zell an irritated glare. He didn't have the time or the patience to hear a lecture about this place, but he had to admit that his curiosity was slowly getting the better of him…

- "OK, fine…" he said "What's this place?"

- "Like Quistis said," Zell began, a smug expression on his face "It's a research center, where lots of experiments on GFs were made. The scientists here made research on GFs, trying to improve their abilities, understand their nature…They even tried to create new ones."

- "And did they succeed?" Selphie asked eagerly.

- "No-one knows for sure. But for some reason, they abandoned all research one day and disappeared, just like that." Zell replied "Never heard from 'em again."

- "What would Rinoa want in a place like that?" asked Selphie.

- "I think the question is," Quistis corrected her "What would Ultimecia want in a place like this."

- "You think Rinoa's possessed by that witch, then?" Zell asked.

- "Most likely." Quistis replied, shrugging.

Squall stared at Zell intently for a few seconds 'I should give that guy much more credit…'

- "Well, we're about to find out what she's looking for, aren't we?" Squall said "Let's go."

Looking at each other apprehensively, Quistis, Selphie and Zell followed Squall towards the entrance of the building.

The brown-haired Commander stepped through the threshold of the entrance. The moment he did, a chilled breeze blew on his face from inside the building. More intrigued than ever, he walked further inside, within the semi-darkened room. Just like Zell had informed them, the place had obviously been abandoned for years. Even decades, possibly. The walls were barely holding up, ominous looking vegetation and vines crept up the floor and walls and giant spider webs cascaded all around the big, round room.

With a gloved hand, Squall swept the first web away, hearing a long-dragged 'Ewww' escape Selphie's lips from behind him. Unfazed, he continued to walk cautiously forward, towards the source of the blurry red light in the 'heart' of the room. As more and more webs got brushed away, his vision became clearer. His eyes turned wide open when he made out the figure of a woman, sitting cross-legged in front of the source of light.

Rinoa.

Her head was lowered down, palms resting onto her legs, back turned to them, her body glowing red. Quistis immediately recognized the red aura that had been surrounding her only a few hours ago when she had risen from the Infirmary room.

Squall boldly hastened his pace towards her. He was only a few feet away from her when he felt the ground beneath his feet begin to shake violently. He heard Selphie's gasp drown within the deafening sound of thunder.

Rinoa's eyes cracked open.

Id incepit…

Seifer made his way down the unusually quiet corridors of Balamb Garden. The Academy was still mourning for the loss of four of its members, so all classes had been temporarily postponed for another day, as a symbol of respect towards the deceased ones. The atmosphere in the Cafeteria was equally heavy and silent, nothing like the life-bursting facility it was during every other time of the year. No long, boisterous queues in front of the counters, no vigorous chatting among the tables. Nothing at all.

A certain table in the far back of the room caught Seifer's attention. Irvine and Edea were sitting on it, having a mild conversation and sipping what was probably coffee. The tall bond approached them.

- "Good morning, Seifer." Edea said, smiling warmly at him.

- "Good morning, Matron." Seifer reciprocated, nodding.

- "Wanna sit down for a cup of coffee?" Irvine asked him.

- "Nah thanks. I just had some in my dorm." Seifer replied, always standing next to Edea.

- "Well, we're just about done here. So… shall we?" the Matron suggested.

Irvine nodded and got up, picking up his long coat from the back of his chair. Seifer offered a hand to Edea, helping her up. The cowboy began stepping towards the exit and Seifer was about to follow suit, when he felt Edea's hand rest upon his shoulder, pulling him back. He turned around and looked at her questioningly.

- "Irvine tells me you had some… 'trouble' with sleeping?" she asked tentatively.

The blond shot a venomous glare at Irvine, who merely raised his glance upon the ceiling, faking nonchalance. Seifer sighed, turning back to Edea.

- "It was nothing…" he said, shrugging "Just a dream. That's all."

- "I know. I just don't want you to worry." the Matron replied, rubbing his arm in comfort.

Seifer gave her a weak smile.

- "I know. Let's go."

- "Rinoa…?!"

Squall's voice choked within the loud noise of the ground beneath them shaking and thunderbolts roaring.

- "RINOA!" he called again, louder.

Staggering, he tried to make his way towards her, careful of each step he took. Behind him, his comrades had already taken out their weapons; there was definitely something wrong going on. They could all feel danger seeping deep into their core alerting all their senses. The young Commander was drawing closer to Rinoa with each passing second. He extended a gloved palm, touching her shoulder when-

BANG!

Squall felt his heart stop beating momentarily, as with outlandish weightlessness, his body flew many feet behind, landing him onto the arms of his friends. All SeeDs fell to the ground, knocked back by the force of the wall-like shield that was protecting Rinoa. Squall winced and groaned, smelling the scent of burnt fabric right under his nose; the tip of his glove had burnt away. Opening his eyes, he watched Rinoa's form slowly ascend to full height.

The girl turned around, presenting a sight bewildering to everyone who was laying eyes upon her. With the roaring sound of another thunder, the red light source flickered, rendering the room in full darkness for a few split seconds. During that short time, Squall could easily make out the only light inside the room; Rinoa's eyes. Red and glowing like gems, but all warmth had been drained from them, replaced by steel coldness. She took the first step forward, as a strong draft of wind soared within the room, blowing her hair and clothes away. A Machiavellian grin was placed upon her lips and with every step she took, the ground shook even more wildly, echoing piercingly into everyone's eardrums.

All four SeeDs covered their ears, hissing from the shrill pain the sound was causing them. Squall tried to open his watering eyes. His fleeting look caught Zell covering both girls who were screaming in pain, while he was trying his best not to shout out. Squall's head fell back onto the floor and his teary gaze followed Rinoa as she exited the room. Releasing one arm free, he tried to crawl his way outside, following her, feeling the walls of his head throbbing like there was no tomorrow.

His mind was splitting into a million pieces, he could feel it, but he had to go on, he had to catch up with her. He could hear nothing but ringing anymore within his struggle. He could sense the morning light falling onto his face now; he was inching his way outside. Tears streaming down his face from the pain, he made another attempt to open his bloodshot, stinging eyes.

And then he saw her.

She was standing on the very edge of a boulder, arms extended. The skies darkened with ominous grey clouds, thunders cracking, waves beginning to form on the so far calm surface of the ocean.

She opened her mouth.

A tui cineris resurge, intra quo tegerent tu

oh, ampla Lunaris Pandora,

ad luna loqueri.

Her words were loud and echoing, her voice bizarre, distorted and nothing like her own. But her chanting seemed to have an impact on the surrounding environment. A fierce wind encircled her, the waves grew taller and stronger, the thunders lightened up the sky and Squall would bet they'd be visible from thousands of miles away.

Quia nostra dominatrix inibi iacet

as finis de infinitas adligata.

At denuo emergiet.

Feeling his body grow weaker and weaker, Squall continued to watch the shocking sight of nature obeying the young girl, with such overwhelming results, unable to do the slightest thing… A whirlpool was now beginning to form within the very middle of the ocean.

Resurge, ampla Pandora! Unum praeclarus Phoenix similis!

Et iterum dice!

Rinoa's voice was now booming, her face screwed into a twisted, triumphant smirk, her eyes glowing brighter than ever. The whirlpool grew wider and wider.

Tuus vox

illuc quo lacrimas effunduntur circumsonabit

et nostra dominatrix nos copulare excitabit!

Rinoa began to raise her arms higher and Squall watched through half-open eyes in horrified fascination, as an enormous dark object began to rise from the whirlpool, commanded by the girl's steadily rising arms.

Dea lunaris iterum nam nos lacrimabit

et eius copiae caeli invadient, cum imber russus!

The seas almost split open as the object rose higher into the air, darkening the sky –if it was possible- even more. Thin, amber formations were glowing vigorously through its entirety, like serpents creeping around its core. The towering structure was now fully erect in mid-air.

Resurge, ampla Pandora!

Resurge, et iterum dice!

And with those words, the structure began to move away into the distance in steady speed. Squall felt the soreness within his head slowly become nothing but a dull, numb pain. His eyes were able to once again open up fully. The clouds retreated almost magically, granting the sky its normal clearness once again. All thunders were swept back as well, until all that was left was a ghostly silence and calmness in the atmosphere.

Squall tried to stand on his knees, carefully aiding his aching body up. Before him, Rinoa had covered her face in her palms and was staggering. The Commander sprang up to his feet and dashed towards her, as he saw her form slowly crumble to the ground.

He caught her frail body into his arms, brushing away the hair from her face tenderly. His worried gaze fell upon her paler than ever face. She was breathing fast, as if hyperventilating. Squall's steel blue eyes traveled upon her weary face with utmost concern. Rinoa's eyelids fluttered open; her eyes were back to normal. Squall's facial features became mild and a weak smile crossed his lips as he caressed her hair with one hand, holding her safely with the other. Rinoa coughed and trembled in his embrace raising one week palm.

- "Squall…" she croaked out.

Her fingers caressed his cheek gently, before her eyes shut once again and her body fell limp into his arms. Squall's eyes widened.

- "Rinoa?! RINOA!" he shouted in desperation.

Not losing a single second, he lowered her down to the ground and rested his ear upon her chest, frantically searching for a heartbeat. He grabbed her wrist, pressing two fingers on the vein visible above her skin 'Come on… Come on….' he thought to himself, panting. He felt slight pressure underneath his fingers and he sighed in relief. He took out one of his gloves and touched her palms and forehead. Cold. Raking a hand through his hair, he tried to catch his breath. She had fallen into a coma again. She had only been awakened to serve as Ultimecia's pawn and release that… that… thing.

Pulling his glove back on, he stood on his knees, running his fingers through Rinoa's hair, when he realized something.

He was alone.

His eyes widened once more 'Oh Hyne! The others! They never left the room!' His head jerked backwards, to the entrance of the building. Cursing under his breath, he scooped Rinoa up into his arms and made a run towards the aircraft. The pilot was still inside the cockpit, panting, wiping his sweaty forehead. Upon seeing Squall, his face lightened up in relief. He ran to the back, opening the hangar door for Squall.

- "Sir!" he exclaimed, as Squall rushed inside "What happened?! What did she do?!"

- "There's no time to discuss that now." Squall said firmly, thrusting Rinoa's body into the man's arms "Take care of her. I have to go see what happened to the others."

The pilot nodded shakily, carrying Rinoa to the seats in the back of the aircraft, as Squall rushed outside again.

Seifer wiped his sweaty forehead dry, continuing to walk along the FH train rails. The noon sun rays were falling hot on his face and shoulders, making this already straining task almost unbearable. Behind him, Irvine had taken out his coat which now hung haphazardly from his right shoulder, while fanning his face with his hat. Edea, who was walking in front of Seifer, was also dressed quite heavily for the occasion, but kept pacing patiently.

- "OK… Hold it!" Irvine wheezed from behind.

Seifer and Edea stopped in their tracks and turned around to face him.

- "Let's just stop for a couple of secs for a breather, eh?" the cowboy suggested, promptly plopping down to the ground, near the edge of the rails.

Seifer nodded and joined him, soon followed by Edea. The latter sat down cross-legged, sighing as she looked at the ocean spreading wide before her. Seifer remained silent. His thoughts immediately traveled to the other group. Not that he'd been thinking about anything else from the moment he left his dorm, but the frequent conversations during their small journey distracted him from time to time. If it had been any other mission, he'd have nothing to be worried about. But after facing the horror of what that Sorceress could do, even 'trapped' inside Rinoa's body, he couldn't get the slightest moment of peace 'I should have never let Quistis go…' he thought, letting out a long-dragged sigh.

His mind was about to go wandering to her, when a hard slap on his back almost made him fall off the bridge and into the sea many a feet below. Wobbling back in place, he shot a murderous glare at Irvine who'd slapped him and who was now already babbling and not paying any attention to Seifer.

- "Worried, huh? Yeah, I feel ya… I'm worried about my Selph, too. But y'know what? I'm certain they'll have caught up with Rinoa already and are heading back right as we speak. I bet our mission'll turn out to be worse than theirs." He chuckled, an action in which Seifer didn't join in "I mean, really now! Why couldn't we have taken the aircraft all the way down the rails, instead of walkin' all the way down there in the damned hot sun an' all?"

Edea had turned her attention to both young men by now and was trying to conceal a chuckle upon seeing Seifer's expression.

- "I'm beginning to see why you and Selphie are so matching for each other…" the blond said.

- "Really?" Irvine beamed "Why?"

- "You both share the same-" Edea nudged him in the ribs "…Optimism." Seifer said eventually, wincing slightly.

- "Yeah, I guess so…" Irvine said, grinning broadly.

- "Can we get going now?" Seifer said "The sun's giving me a damned headache."

- "Yeah, let's keep going." Irvine agreed, getting up on his feet.

He helped Edea up and led the way, closely followed by the blond.

Seifer wasn't aware how long they'd been walking, before he sensed the sun begin to hide behind the mountains and a stunning light hit his eyes. Squinting, he covered his eyes with one palm, moving forward in careful steps. He stopped on his tracks at the upper edge of a slope, staring wide-eyed at the canyon before him.

A vast area of land that ended beyond eye-reach lay in front of them, sparkling white. He realized now why such a strong ray of light had reached his eyes. The sun rays were being reflected upon the milky white surface of the valley. Fortunately, the sun had almost disappeared behind the mountains surrounding them by now and the light was becoming weaker and easier to get accustomed to. Raking a hand through his fair hair, Seifer let out a low whistle.

- "What the hell is that?" he wondered out loud.

- "The Great Salt Lake." Edea replied, stepping forward.

- "Lake?" Seifer asked incredulously; there wasn't the slightest drop of water visible in the canyon.

- "It was drained many years ago." Edea replied "Only the salt is left, lingering on the bottom of the Lake."

- "Yeah, I've heard about it…" Irvine piped in "Esthar's supposed to be hidden right beyond it."

Seifer nodded, rubbing his chin.

- "Well, we don't have much choice, do we?" he said "Let's cross it."

He proceeded in beginning to climb down the slope, moving sideways, trying to keep his balance. He extended one arm for Edea to hold and the two of them began their descent. Irvine followed right behind them, staying close to Edea, making sure she wouldn't slip. Soon enough, the small slope reached an end and the trio landed onto the bottom of what used to be the Great Salt Lake. Leading the small group, Seifer looked around him in alert; the area was unfamiliar to all three of them, so they had no idea of the danger they might have to come across. After all, Esthar had a very good, although mysterious, reason for wanting to remain hidden from the public eye, and a hostile territory situated around the mythical city would be a great way to conceal it.

Drawing out Hyperion, the blond's jade eyes scanned the surroundings. Edea looked apprehensive.

- "Do you think we might encounter hostility?" she asked.

- "It's possible…" Irvine replied, drawing out his shotgun as well "Better be prepared either way."

- "Just stay close to us and you'll be safe, Matron." Seifer told her reassuringly.

Slightly less anxious, Edea kept her pace, remaining situated between her two 'bodyguards'. She smiled inwardly. Her two boys had grown into strong men, ready to protect her at all cost. What more could a mother ever ask for?

Seifer kept his gunblade in battle position, using his sight and hearing to the fullest. His well-trained senses warned him something wasn't quite right; the atmosphere was way too calm, stagnant. If there was one thing life and military training had taught him, it was to keep constant vigilance. Not all situations were what they appeared to be… And the silence just kept getting heavier… The sound of their footsteps was echoing among the valley, reflected upon the myriads of salt crystals formed onto the grounds, creating a soothing, music-like sound that made Seifer's body calm down an unnatural amount.

They had been walking for well over an hour across the Lake by now and had encountered no enemies. Not even one. Which was quite alarming, considering Gaia was a world infested with monsters, quite harmless and not, within almost every inch of uninhabited land. Seifer had the disturbing feeling that the place was haunted.

- "Matron?" he whispered, so as not to draw any possible hostility near them.

- "Yes?"

- "Umm… What happened to the SaltLake?" Seifer asked.

- "What do you mean?" Edea asked, puzzled.

- "I mean: What happened and it became what it is now. You said it was drained years ago. Why?" Seifer asked again.

- "Oh… I believe it was a measure the Estharian government took when the city was first built." she replied "For more safety."

- "Safety?" Seifer asked, a queasy feeling creeping up his stomach.

- "Yes. You see, when the Lake was intact, people from the rest of the world could cross it more easily."

- "Why, exactly?" Irvine piped in, suddenly interested in the conversation.

- "Oh, it's nothing but a silly legend…" Edea said, grinning.

Seifer turned around and shared an uneasy glance with Irvine.

- "Care to indulge us?" Seifer asked, almost afraid of what her answer was going to be.

- "Well, there was rumored to be an underwater cavern that was said to be the home of Abadon, a monster." Edea replied calmly "Esthar used that urban legend to scare away unwelcome visitors, since now that the Lake is drained, the monster is at 'loose'." she added, making quotation marks with her fingers "When the Lake was full of water, Abadon didn't harm any possible passengers with boats."

- "Really?" Irvine croaked out "And what, pray tell, is this 'Abadon' supposed to be?"

- "Wouldn't know…" Edea replied shrugging "As I said, it's nothing but a silly legend."

- "Translation: we're screwed." Seifer said, turning his attention to his front once again.

- "Language!" Edea scolded "Don't tell me you actually believe this?"

None of the young men replied however.

Seifer remember only too well during their travels across the globe with the mobile Garden, when they came across 'The Island Closest to Hell'. He distinctly remembered how it was him who laughed at the warnings of many students and colleagues that the island was cursed, but he thought it was nothing but another 'urban legend' as Edea had put it, to drive away any possible visitors. He was exceptionally thrilled to find the island to be a great source of strong magic spells that were almost impossible to find elsewhere, deducing that this was the reason for all the rumors about dangerous monsters lurking around. It was among his excitement in finding a concentrated source of Auras, a 'Draw Point' as it was technically called because one could draw magic from it, when a loud roar made cold sweat run down his spine. Needless to say that when he skedaddled his way back to Garden, the tip of his trench coat having caught fire by the deadly breath of a Hexadragon, Quistis was the first one to laugh out loud in his face, as she was one of the people who'd warned him. His coat still bore the burn mark of that 'unfortunate' encounter, but Seifer refused to throw it away. He claimed that it was 'the mark of a deadly battle' that he wanted to remember. Needless to say -once more- that Quistis yet again laughed in his face, saying that 'a wild run to save his skin could hardly be considered as a deadly battle'.

All joking aside, Seifer felt more worried with every step by the mere memory of another legend turning out to be true, and he was quite certain that a similar -if not the exact same- thought had crossed Irvine's mind as well. His booted foot was about to make contact with the ground in another step when the sound of 'something' almost shattering the ground was heard from the distance. He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes locked onto this boot that had now touched the ground. That could not have been the sound of his own footstep.

More similar sounds followed the previous one, seemingly getting closer and closer by each passing second. As 'it' got nearer, the ground shook more and more vigorously, the salt crystals' movement tuned in with the sound from afar. The –by now- familiar relaxing 'music' of the vibrating crystals grew louder, making Seifer's brain cells relax…

Relax…

'NO!' his mind shouted back at him 'Stay alert!' he thought, snapping his eyes wide open, trying to ignore the soothing resonance of the crystals.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps stopped and all that was left, was the buzzing of the salt crystals slowly returning to stillness. Seifer heard a drop of sweat trickle down his forehead and fall onto the ground among the heated silence. He could hear the air enter his lungs and exit again in heavy breaths, a sound deafening among the eerie peace surrounding them.

Right then, a cracking noise made all jump up startled, as a gargantuan bony arm's fingers appeared from behind an enormous boulder, only to aid the haunting form of a… beast, appear in front of them.

The skeletal creature stood before them in full height, two great mastodons protruding from its skull-like face, endlessly long limbs hanging from a bare pelvis and shoulders.

Seifer's jade eyes slowly rolled from the ground, cascading over a bony form of thirty feet in height, stopping wide at the tip of the monster's skull. Resisting the urge to utter 'Abadon, I presume?', he sucked in a breath.

- "Holy shit…" he choked out.

Edea didn't scold him this time; the exact same phrase had run through her head that very moment as well…

Squall reached the entrance of the abandoned building, panting. Stepping inside, he found the room rendered into a state of complete darkness. The red light source he'd noticed in the middle of the room before, was almost extinguished, and was flickering wildly by now, doing nothing to improve the lighting inside, however. Taking a step inside, Squall drew out his newest and most prized possession, the Lionheart gunblade. The very best model of revolver gunblades, with an azure indestructible blade of pure Adamantine, that was said to glow when danger was near 'Time to test that theory…' Squall thought. As he'd feared, the blade began to glow furiously bright when he removed it from its case. Squall squinted and swung the gunblade around like a torch. He sucked in a swear and bit his lip when he took another step forward, that if taken any further, would have resulted in him slipping down the chasm lying before him. He took a step backwards for safety, creasing his forehead 'Chasm? The ground was intact only a few minutes ago; I'm sure of it…' he thought.

The sound of hushed whispering coming from his right made him turn to the side abruptly, pointing his gunblade towards that direction. He could make out the shape of three human frames.

- "Zell? Quistis? Selphie?" he whispered.

- "Squall!" sounded Selphie's relieved voice "Is that you?!"

- "Yeah. Are you all OK?" he asked, squinting harder to make out their whereabouts.

- "We're fine." Quistis replied this time "But the ground collapsed. What happened?"

- "We'll talk about that later." Squall said "For now, we need to get the hell out of here."

- "No can do for the time being, dude." Zell this time… "There's not much we can do from here. We're trapped."

- "Trapped?" Squall asked, frowning.

- "The ground collapsed." Quistis repeated "We can't move very far."

- "Hold on." Squall said "I'll go get some flares from the aircraft."

- "Hurry!" Selphie hissed.

The young Commander made his way back to the aircraft hastily. The hangar door was still ajar, and Squall met with the pilot looking after Rinoa upon entering.

- "Where are the others, Commander Leonhart sir?" the man asked "Did you find them?"

- "Yeah, but I need to get them out…" Squall said absent-mindedly, looking around the hangar.

- "Can I help you?" the pilot asked.

- "I'm looking for flares…" Squall mumbled, still searching.

The pilot trotted down to the cockpit and returned shortly after, a few flares tucked underneath his armpits and in his cupped palms. Squall grabbed them, making a move to run back outside.

- "Sir, do you need my help?" the pilot offered.

- "No. You stay here and look after Rinoa." Squall replied, firmly, casting a fleeting glance over at her, lying unconscious onto the seats in the back.

He let out a hollow sigh and exited the aircraft yet again, sprinting back to the abandoned building. Upon hearing his footsteps, Zell called him.

- "Hey man… Figured out anything?" he asked.

- "Almost…" Squall muttered.

He lit up one of the flares and raised it up high, scanning the surrounding area. Apparently, the vibrations from Rinoa's wake had damaged the room severely. Great portions of ground had sunk down into oblivion, creating deep chasms, like the one he'd narrowly missed only a couple of minutes ago. Hesitating a bit, Squall threw the flare down the gorge before him, studying it as it flew down and into the abyss. He could barely make out a tiny flicker of light when the flare reached ground. Some feet away from him, he heard someone swallow audibly. Lighting up another flare, Squall turned towards the direction of his comrades.

- "I'm throwing you one of the flares. Watch out." he warned, tossing it with what he hoped was enough or not exceeding force.

A ray of light followed the trajectory of the flare as it flew in mid-air, only to be caught by Selphie. Squall winced inwardly by the sight now visible before him. All three of his friends seemed to bear deep scratches and were covered in soil from head to toe. Obviously dust from the collapsing ground. But the worst was their position. His peers were standing on a chunk of ground that had miraculously remained intact, but they were separated from him a fair amount of distance. At least thirteen to fourteen feet. There was no way they could jump across it…

Squall threw them a few more flares which they placed onto the ground surrounding them, illuminating the room a fair amount. Squall exhaled audibly, raking a hand through his brown hair. The easy part was over. Now he had to figure a way to get them out of there…

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind, than a low, roaring sound began to emit from the red light source. All four heads immediately turned to the tall pillar still standing in the middle of the room, the glass light source yet undamaged on top. The crimson light began to get brighter and brighter, the buzzing, roaring sound louder and louder… The glass seemed to begin pulsating robustly before shattering into thousands of tiny glass shards.

Squall fell onto the ground, covering his face in protection. He felt the room become incredibly lit up all of a sudden. Carefully, he raised his covered head, glancing up to the ceiling; a great part of it had been destroyed by the shattering glass. Instinctively, he turned his gaze over at his friends in concern. They'd been fast enough to protect their faces as well, but all of them shared the palest, most terrified expression Squall had ever met with. It didn't take him long to realize what was the source of terror…

Right where the red light source had been, stood… No. Floated, a creature… A creature wrapped in a grey cocoon, hovering in mid-air. It was within seconds that Squall realized that what he'd perceived as a cocoon, were in fact a pair of wings, wrapped around the creature, now uncoiling slowly. In one sharp movement, the large, scaly wings flew open, revealing a dragon-like monster which showed no traces of a peaceful mood. Stretching its wings and body, the beast let out a shrill roar, unfolding its body to full size.

Squall's eyes widened; he'd heard of this creature before… He was certain… Among numerous lectures he'd received within his training for SeeD, this beast stood out in mind. Only it was no plain monster. The description perfectly fit that of a Guardian Force. The Guardian Force called…

- "Bahamut…" Quistis choked out.

The Guardian Force lost no time with acquaintances, and immediately lunged forward to attack Zell, Selphie and Quistis who were standing closer. Zell and Selphie, between which Bahamut was heading, rolled out of the way of its claws. The beast swept back, before lunging forward once again. Quistis rushed to the edge of the boulder they'd been standing on, extending her arm.

- "STOP!" she yelled.

The spell flew right from the tips of her fingers, striking Bahamut on the chest. The young Instructor was aware that an enemy of the GF's magnitude wouldn't be affected greatly by such a simple spell, but it brought the result she'd hoped for. The dragon stopped in mid-air for a split second, before resuming its course in what looked like real-life slow-motion.

Squall knew this was probably the one good chance he'd have to help his friends before it was too late. Looking around him frantically, while trying to decide what to do, his eyes stopped onto the wall behind him. A thick, leafy vine was crawling up the entire wall, emerging from a small crack on the ground upon which he was standing. Thinking quickly, Squall drew out Lionheart, crushing it against the wall. The thick vine snapped and before it coiled away, the Commander grabbed the freshly cut tip, suspending his gunblade from his belt. He mounted the vine, kicking the ground for extra force.

With one swing, he flew across the room and onto the chunk of ground his friends had been trapped upon. Hopping down, he grabbed the vine with one hand, thrusting it to Zell's chest.

- "Selphie, hold Zell and swing back to the entrance like I did. Then toss it back for me and Quistis." he said, panting "Quick!"

Zell nodded determinedly and grabbed the vine firmly. Selphie snaked her arms around his neck and gave him the 'OK' to go. They were hovering in mid-air when the Stop spell wore off on Bahamut and the creature regained full speed.

- "Quistis, look out!"

Squall pushed the blonde away just in time, before he dodged the GF's attack. Bahamut, confused by the abrupt change of speed, lost control and bumped hard on the wall behind them, crushing it down. Large hunks of stone crumbled and found their way down towards Quistis and Squall, as Bahamut swept backwards again. Squall turned around just in time to see the vine Zell and Selphie were upon snap as the wall collapsed. Luckily, they both landed safely near the entrance of the building. Selphie quickly got up, looking towards their direction worriedly.

- "Squall, Quisty! Are you OK?!"

- "GO!" Squall yelled at her "Go and tell the pilot to take off! We'll be there!"

He watched both of them hesitate, looking at each other for reassurance.

- "THIS IS AN ORDER FROM YOUR COMMANDER, DAMMIT! NOW GO!" Squall yelled furiously.

He caught glimpse of both of them running outside before turning his attention back to Bahamut, who was screeching from the wound a rogue boulder had caused to it. They had gained few precious minutes and had to figure out their next move quickly, or they'd be dead in a matter of seconds. Squall glanced around him frantically. Quistis… Where was Quistis?!

- "Quistis?!" he gasped in pain; the collapsing wall had caused him no small amount of damage either… "QUISTIS! Oh no… Oh, Hyne no…"

Desperately, he began moving around chunks of fallen debris, casting fleeting looks at Bahamut who was recovering quite rapidly. It was then that he noticed a soil-covered Quistis hunched down, back arching up and down fast. A heavy breathing sound filled his ears as he crawled over to her. His eyes fell upon Bahamut again. It had recovered from the blow and was eyeing both of them with murderous intentions.

- "Quistis…?" Squall croaked out, laying a gloved palm onto her back, eyes never leaving Bahamut "Quistis? Now would be a good time to get up…"

Bahamut let out a high-pitched screech before lunging forward again. Squall's irises dilated.

- "QUISTIS!"

It all happened in a heartbeat.

Quistis rose up in full height abruptly, dust molecules falling off her clothes and hovering in mid-air as she did so. Bahamut was dangerously close when she extended her arm forward. Her eyes no longer bore irises and pupils, but were covered completely by a deep blue curtain. Her whole body was glowing and her teeth were clenched so hard, they looked ready to shatter into pieces any moment now. She withdrew her hand and arched her body backwards as a surge of electricity escaped from her cells. Squall fell back onto the ground covering his face, as the thousands of lightning bolts made contact with Bahamut, sending it crushing to the opposite wall, sizzling with electricity. The GF shrieked in pain as the bolt continued to penetrate its body and burn it to the core.

Quistis arched up her body in full height again, thrusting her extended arm towards a low part of the pillar still standing in the middle of the room. A deep crack appeared at that spot, beginning to spread to the full width of the round pillar. Squall opened his eyes quickly enough to watch it crumbling down and towards them. With a loud bang, it crushed against the wall only a few feet a way from them, raising a new cloud of dust. Quistis turned around to face Squall, motioning towards the fallen pillar with her head. Squall swiftly got up and took a step towards the edge of the boulder they were standing upon, when a whirring sound was heard from above. Squall looked up just in time, to make out the shape of the aircraft hovering through the opening that Bahamut had created on the wall behind them. Zell and Selphie's faces were visible over by the open hangar door as it floated in the air. Selphie kicked a rope ladder that came uncoiling in front of Squall's feet. The Commander grabbed it and placed one foot upon a rope step. Behind him, Bahamut was getting ready to attack once again. Thinking quickly, he grabbed Quistis's wrist.

- "TAKE OFF!" Squall yelled at the pilot from below.

The aircraft began to ascend higher, lifting both SeeDs from their feet. The impact of Quistis's full weight made the muscles on Squall's arm tighten, as he struggled to keep holding her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bahamut lunging forward in full speed. His eyes widened.

- "Pull up the ladder!" Squall ordered.

The beast was much faster than the aircraft; they weren't going to make it. Squall half shut his eyes, preparing himself mentally for the worst. Bahamut was less than four feet away when the rattling sound of gunfire roared. The next thing he saw, was the GF being shoved backwards once again. The SeeD aircraft soared higher into the air, but Bahamut had yet to be defeated. Swinging one large claw, he made a move to slice Quistis in two. Squall swung his arm, trying to move her away from the claw swipe, but it was the sound of gunfire that proved to be life-saving once again. Only this time, the round of bullets was targeted towards the remaining ceiling of the Deep Sea Research Center. The ceiling collapsed, burying Bahamut under a mass of debris. Panting, Quistis took one last look on the island underneath them that was falling to pieces, before turning her gaze back up to Squall.

- "Don't you dare let go now, Trepe." he hissed at her, clenching his teeth.

Zell and Selphie soon pulled the ladder back up to the hangar, bringing Squall to safety. The young Commander extended his other arm down as well, for Quistis to grab. With much greater ease now, he pulled her up onto the hangar, bringing her rolling onto the metal floor.

The blonde took one last look at the ocean and the destroyed island in the distance, before the hangar door closed shut. Her gaze fell upon Selphie, who was beaming at them, sitting behind the machine gun of the aircraft.

- "Tee-hee! Irvy would be soooo proud if he could see me now!" she squealed in delight.

Both Squall and Quistis uttered a breathless 'Thanks' before falling hard upon the floor back-first, breathing heavily. None of them spoke for a fair couple of minutes, before Squall heard a chuckle escape his former Instructor's lips. He scoffed as her laughter became stronger, until he couldn't take it.

He laughed out loud as well.

It took both of them a fair amount of time to keep a straight face again. Quistis was the first one to sit up on the floor, running a gloved hand through her dirty hair. She shot Squall a mischievous grin as he got up as well. Squall grinned back at her.

- "Aaaand we're even for the day…" Quistis said, extending her arm towards him.

Squall chuckled.

- "Yeah, we're even."

He shook her hand.

- "Holy shit…" he choked out.

His voice drowned from the whistling sound of one gigantic arm speeding down towards them. Instinctively, he shoved Edea away and rolled onto the ground himself to avoid the blow. Abadon's arm shattered the salty ground, making the crystals vibrate like wild.

Irvine swung his shotgun in one hand skillfully, before aiming right at the beast's left knee.

- "Eat this." he said smirking.

A loud bang echoed from the nozzle of his gun, as a bullet sped towards its aim. As always, the cowboy's hit was nothing less than perfect. The bony knee smashed and the limb fell with a loud thud on the ground.

Beaming with pride, Irvine swung his gun once more, resting it onto his shoulder.

- "Nice shot!" Seifer said grinning, aiding himself up from the ground.

However, he was more than surprised to see the monster kneel down at first, as its leg began to reform itself magically. All grins were immediately wiped off the trio's faces.

- "What the hell…?" Irvine gasped.

Abadon's leg, now fully re-grown, plunged into the ground, aiding the monster up to full height again.

- "Let's see you recover from this, you piece of shit…" Seifer growled, extending his arm forward "Firaga!"

A jet of fire unleashed upon the creature, but Seifer was horrified to see that it did little damage. Abadon merely staggered a couple of steps backwards.

If Seifer had been terrified by the first glance he cast upon the monster, right now he was mortified. Both physical and magical attacks did no great damage to this creature and he had a good feeling that GFs wouldn't work either. Limit Breaks weren't going to help them out on this as well; Irvine's relied purely on shots of his shotgun which clearly were no good, and Seifer's were a combination of fire magic and physical attacks. Still of no use. How on earth were they going to get out of this one alive?

Abadon didn't allow Seifer's musings to go any further, as it brought down its arm once more, with the intention on making the blond a permanent part of the salty ground. Not having the time to dodge this one, Seifer swung Hyperion forcefully at the fingers that were trying to gain a hold of him, yanking the arm away. A pair of long, needle like bones fell onto the ground. The creature pulled back up and Seifer could have sworn it smirked at him wickedly as its two fingers began to reform.

- "Matron!" Seifer called to Edea, who was standing a few feet behind him, she too, horrified "You stay back and let us handle this!"

The older woman did as she was told, stepping back as Irvine rushed to Seifer's side.

- "So… No magic, no physical attacks… Apparently no Limit Breaks either…" Irvine mumbled at Seifer "Any propositions?"

- "Nope."

Both men rolled away as Abadon brought down a bony arm once more, only to hit nothing but ground once again. Seifer rolled onto his feet, clutching his ears in vexation.

- "And will those fucking crystals stop ringing?!" he hissed "Dammit! HOLY!"

A yellow spell escaped Seifer's outstretched hand, soaring towards Abadon's head. Both men's eyes widened.

The monster shrieked in pain and retreated a fair amount of steps. Realization dawned on Seifer right then. Physical attacks wouldn't work, but some magic would. Holy magic, which meant that this creature was…

- "An undead monster!" Irvine finished for him.

Abadon let out a shrill scream before lunging at the two men once again. This time, Seifer wasn't fast enough; the sharp claws of the beast managed to scrape his pants, leaving deep cuts onto his left leg. Seifer hissed and fell onto the ground, clutching his wounded leg.

- "Quick! Cast any cure spell you've got!" Irvine yelled at him.

- "I don't have any!" Seifer growled "HOLY!"

Abadon shrieked and took a few steps back again.

- "I never cure people, cowboy!" Seifer went on "They cure me!"

- "Fine, use Holy spells then!"

- "That was my last one!" the blond hissed, getting up on his feet with slight difficulty "And why the hell are you lecturing me instead of using one yourself?!"

- "I don't have any either!" Irvine yelled back, taking a shot at Abadon.

The bullet pierced right through its skull and although Irvine knew it would do minor damage, it managed to hold the monster back a few seconds more.

- "CURAGA!"

Both Irvine and Seifer turned around abruptly. They managed to see Edea, arms outstretched, right before a green surge of energy struck Abadon right on the chest. The shrill scream of pain the monster let out made the crystals vibrate wildly again. Seifer groaned loudly, clutching his ears once again, before turning to face Edea.

- "You carry spells?!" he gasped out in surprise.

- "Of course I do. My days as a fighter aren't quite done yet, you know." she retorted proudly "CURAGA!"

The monster was becoming weaker and weaker with all the latest attacks, now lacking the strength to attack as fiercely as before. Edea rested her palms on her knees, panting, as Abadon tried to recover from the two consecutive blows.

- "Use healing items…" Edea said, breathing heavily "I can't keep using magic so often; I'll be drained…"

Seifer reached deep into his pockets and retrieved a tiny bottle, throwing it with might towards their enemy. The glass of the bottle smashed against Abadon's body, and the yellow fluid began to seep into its bones, causing it even more pain. Irvine took his turn in tossing another small bottle towards Abadon. The shattering sound of the glass, however, was accompanied by a drum-breaking shriek.

All three fell down to their knees, covering her ears tightly. Squinting, Seifer tried to look up only to see Abadon falling onto its knees. The tip of one of its bony legs began to get greyer right then, the same effect spreading gradually to every inch of its skeletal structure, like a Break spell. The beast's scream was drowned when the last tip of its face buried into the grayness that had taken all over it. A heavy silence spread into the canyon of the Great Salt Lake for a split second, before Abadon shattered into millions of shards. Seifer ducked again, covering his face underneath his arms.

The wind blew away the grey, ash-like tidbits of what was only a couple of minutes ago their enemy. The eerie peace fell once again upon the valley, leaving only the buzzing sound of the crystals settling down hover into the air. Seifer raised up his head once again, slowly aiding himself up to his feet. Next to him, Edea and Irvine followed suit, their expressions betraying the fact that they still couldn't believe the beast had been destroyed.

- "So much for 'silly urban legends' then, eh?" Seifer turned to Edea, smirking.

- "Maybe that was just a coincidence." the Matron replied, shrugging, apparently quite amused now that the threat was extinguished.

- "Yeah… A coincidence with two big-ass mastodons and body limbs the size of frickin' Galbadia…" Seifer mumbled, rubbing his sore shoulders.

- "Language…" Edea scolded, walking down the path lying ahead of them.

Seifer shook his head in disbelief, following Edea's lead. He felt yet another hearty slap on his back, making him stagger a few steps forward.

- "I swear to Hyne, Kinneas," he growled at Irvine, glaring at him "If you do this once more, I'll give Messenger-Girl a reason to feel lonely at nights…"

- "Sheesh, what a grouch…" Irvine said grinning "Lighten up, will ya? We'll be reaching Esthar any moment now…"

- "For the one hundredth time!" Seifer snarled "We've walked past this road again!"

Edea stopped on her tracks, looking around her worriedly.

- "I think Seifer's right, Irvine…" she said "We're walking around in circles."

- "But how?" Irvine said, crossing his arms.

- "Use your eyes!" Seifer said exasperated "This is where the Lake ends! We haven't gone any further, just back and forth!"

The blond pointed at the clearing before them. Beyond the Great Salt Lake, a vast area of auburn grounds lay, but the city of Esthar was nowhere in sight. There was nothing in the horizon, except for an annoying buzzing sound, of which the source they had yet to discover. Seifer raked a hand through his hair in weariness; they'd done nothing but walking all day –except take a lovely break with a hideous monster- and he just didn't feel like doing that anymore.

Buzzzzz…

He was tired, he was dirty, he was hungry and he was worried sick about the others. Why the hell hadn't they called so far?! And the fact that Esthar began to sound more and more like a real urban legend was pissing him off the most.

Buzzzzz…

All this trouble for nothing… But then again, those White SeeDs had said that Ellone was taken back to Esthar, so there was no doubt about it…

Buzzzzz…

But where the hell was it?! 'And why the FUCK won't that fucking buzzing sound STOP?!!!'

Feeling like he'd reached his limits, Seifer vented out a small amount of frustration by kicking the ground before him and cursing under his breath. A small stone flew away from the force of his kick. Seifer turned away, groaning.

BUZZZZ! Clink.

Arching an eyebrow, he turned around again. His eyes fell upon the small stone he'd kicked just now; it was lying back in front of his feet. Seifer's forehead creased 'Can't be the same one… Bah… All stones look alike; get a grip, Almasy.' he thought, kicking that one as well.

BUZZZZ! Clink.

Seifer's eyes widened. The stone had flown into the air, then had miraculously bounced back to where it came from, as if stopped by an invisible wall. Apparently, he wasn't the only one to notice…

- "D-d-did you just see that?!" Irvine gasped, approaching Seifer.

The blond didn't reply, just kicked the stone yet again, watching its trajectory carefully this time. The stone soared up, it flew, it flew, it flew…

BUZZZZ!

A sound like concentrated electricity was heard and a few tiny bolts appeared, before the rock bounced backwards and onto the ground again.

Clink.

Seifer moved closed to the edge of the gorge in front of him, hesitantly raising his gloved palm. Slowly, he moved his outstretched hand forward. He felt the force of an electric field slightly push his fingers away. Turning abruptly to his right, he began walking along the path, closely followed by a very puzzled-looking Irvine and Edea. The buzzing sound was getting louder and louder… And louder… And louder…

He stopped walking when he noticed a few slim jets of electricity hovering in mid-air right before his very eyes. Squinting, he made out the pattern of many thin, black rows, the one on top of the other. He reached out to touch them cautiously. The electricity didn't push him away this time. His gloved fingers closed around a thin piece of solid material.

- "Plastic…" he mumbled.

- "A ladder?" Edea asked.

- "Seems to be…" Irvine agreed "So what do we do?"

- "There's only one way…" Seifer said "Up."

And with those words, he rested one foot upon the bottom step of the ladder, beginning to climb it. He gazed at the view of the vast crimson valley before him, feeling as if he was walking on thin air. Soon enough, there were no more steps, but his palm found some sort of outcropping, which he gently pushed. The outcropping that had turned out to be somewhat of a button or switch, opened up a new path. What was so far a thin, transparent curtain in front of Seifer's eyes, withdrew like a door opening, revealing a dark, narrow passageway.

Edging inside, Seifer crawled his way down the passage, closely followed by his peer and his Matron, until they found themselves inside a small chamber. Seeing as it looked high-roofed enough for him to stand up, Seifer did so. Edea and Irvine crept out of the narrow path seconds after, both getting up as well. Irvine looked around him, bewildered.

- "What is this place?" he asked.

- "I'm as lost as you are…" Seifer admitted.

He kept looking around the room, when he noticed the formation of the floor. There appeared to be some sort of platform on it. Irvine was standing on it, he was standing on it, but Edea wasn't. Gently pulling her towards him and onto the platform, he was surprised to find his suspicions proven true.

The platform rose up and began to travel within dark channels, elevator-like. Seifer wasn't aware how long they'd been moving on it, but he was hoping he hadn't just done something really stupid. The platform-elevator suddenly stopped, making all its passengers almost trip and fall over. They remained in darkness for a split second, before a weak light came on. Not knowing what else to do, Seifer walked towards the small panel situated onto the platform.

The second he took one step forward though, a tremendously bright light rushed to his eyes, almost blinding him. It was as if someone was yanking the drapes of a pitch dark room open. And in a way, it really was… The darkness that had been surrounding them, faded away in seconds, like black tiles being swept away from view. Swiftly, the so far black and blank view in front of them vanished, like a black veil being drawn away, only to be replaced by a transparent, glass-like wall. When he'd approached the hexagonal panel, it let off its camouflage, setting off a chain reaction with its surrounding brothers. The blinding light came from the sun, reflecting on the tall, emerald structures that stood up high, looking as if made by the finest, most lucid crystal. Long 'ribbons' of glass encircled the city, while weird, half-sphere shaped vehicles flew all round the place.

Seifer's eyes widened once accustomed to the light and he took a few steps forward, resting his palms against the glass.

The glorious, mythical city of Esthar lay before his very eyes…

A/N: Check out my journal for the translation of Rinoa's chant and a small bonus featurette ;-p Oh and anyone who can tell me where the 'buzzing' crystals in the Great Salt Lake where inspired from, gains a cameo in the next chapter Just state your name, gender and a few facial features of yours in case you know the answer. HINT: It comes from a great comic book.

Till next time!

ON THE NEXT CHAPTER OF 'A SECOND CHANCE':

Both groups finally arrive in Esthar to converse with Dr. Odine about Rinoa's situation…