Ch.3 Fragile Illusions
"It's been more than three years since my last mission…" Quistis let out a sigh as she spoke to the listening shadows. "I hope I'm not too rusty."
She began packing for the impending mission, while the whole time questioning her own abilities. After a few hours of packing she finally fell back onto the cushy embrace of her mattress.
A rather large sigh escaped the petit blonde as she stared up at the ceiling, puzzling thoughts muddling her mind. She rolled over and glanced at her alarm clock, noting that it read 7:48.
'Where is Selphie? I figured she would have been back by now.' A frown crossed her face as her thoughts wondered to her "so called friend." "Humph, she is probably with Irvine…At least she has someone to hold…" Quistis scowled to herself.
She glanced at the clock once more and figured she might as well go to the Training Center and get some late night practicing in. She walked over to the dresser that dominated the west side of the room and retrieved her "Save the Queen." With whip in hand she secured it to her waist buckle and exited the room.
Slowly but surely she made her way down to the Training Center. Upon entering she stretched floridly and got her body ready for a good workout. She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet slightly while rotating her arms in a windmill motion. She finished by jerking her neck side to side allowing a couple sickening cracks to filter into the air.
"Alright, let's do this!" She spoke with determination.
Her hand slipped to her waist and gripped her whip forcefully as she made her way around the Training Center. A lone Grat bounded out from the tree line and let out a maniacal cackle.
Quistis was more than ready, immediately and just by sure instinct she snapped her wrist causing her whip to elegantly dance through the air. Her whip gleamed maniacally in the artificial light, waiting to taste the blood of its next victim. With another flick of her wrist, the whip tore through the flesh and bone of its enemy with horrific speed.
A spray of sluggish green blood spewed from the creature as it screamed in agony before falling into darkness.
"Ahh…" Quistis gasped as she cradled her right hand. She placed her whip back on her waist and lifted her hand up to examine it carefully.
"Damn!" She cursed herself for being so reckless and letting her emotions overwhelm her earlier. "Why did I go and punch the wall!" She asked aggravated with her previous actions. She could tell her hand was slightly swollen and starting to bruise. Carefully and slowly she opened and closed her hand, trying to loosen up the stiff joints.
'Watch it…'
A voice called to her only seconds before a Grendel burst from the small shrubbery ready to attack.
Quistis immediately looked around for the origin of the voice, only to be tackled to the ground by the massive beast in front of her.
"Ahhh…" A yelp of pain exuded from her lips as she was slammed into the unforgiving ground. Hastily she sprang back up to her feet and retrieved her whip. With a single crack, the mighty beast fell before her.
Quistis glanced down to see that her arm had a serious gash and blood sluggishly purged from the wound.
"Dammit! How could I be so careless to loose my focus?" Quistis angrily questioned herself before using cure magic. A beautiful radiant glow enveloped her body causing her to resemble that of an angel as it cured her of her ailments.
Rejuvenated, she remembered hearing a familiar voice warn her of the imminent attack.
"Who was that, it sounded so familiar." Quistis searched her memory for a match of the voice, but couldn't quite figure it out.
She continued her search, but after five minutes and two Grats later she decided enough was enough. Pleased with her performance she placed her hands behind her head and started to make her way back to the entrance with a satisfied grin on her face.
'Booyah…!'
A loud yell erupted from the other side of the tree line and pierced Quistis' ears. Instantly she sprinted to the source of the voice, disregarding the small and annoying Grats that kept impeding her way.
As she got closer she could see a single person, most likely male with what appears to be blonde spikey hair, throwing an excited fist in the air while doing a back flip.
Quistis' heart skipped a beat as she came closer and closer to this mysterious individual. Just before reaching the clearing her body involuntarily stopped as the person turned towards her and smiled tenderly.
"No…It...It can't be…" Quistis stuttered as her hand covered her quivering lip.
She resumed her sprint towards the clearing, only to discover that there was nobody there, and not even a single drop of blood to signal a fight has occurred.
Quistis shook her head and rubbed her eyes, as she was speechless. "I could have sworn there was someone right here…" Quistis spoke uneasy, questioning her rationale.
"Zell…" She breathed his name solemnly and skeptically. "I must be going crazy. Well it is getting really late; I should get heading back and get some rest, before I start seeing something else." She mused to herself.
Quistis walked back with her head hung low deep in thought about the events that passed only moments ago.
Quisty…
Quistis' eyes shot wide open and her head sprang up upon hearing that same voice. She scanned the area, but still couldn't find a trace of where that voice was emanating from.
"I am going crazy." She cursed shaking her head.
A sharp force smashed against her back causing her to fly forward and be slammed hard against the ground. As soon as she hit, pain erupted throughout her body.
"What the…?" She yelled as she wobbly stood up on two shaky legs. Her eyes fell upon a massive male T-Rexaur.
"Shit!" She uncharacteristically cursed aloud. The massive beast let out a bone chilling roar that reverberated throughout Training Center. Quistis couldn't believe how strong a lone T-Rexaur could be.
She clenched her ribs tightly upon trying to take a breath. Her breathing was short and raspy, as she stood hunched over looking through blurry eyes.
"Damn, at least two of my ribs are broken." Her mind roared through the pain.
She reached down for her whip only to realize that it was knocked off from the first attack. Standing defenseless, Quistis ran through her slim options in her head.
'First I need to cure myself.' Quistis raised her right arm to call upon the mystical powers of Curaga only to have it unwillingly shoot back down to her ribs as she writhed in pain. Her eyes shut tight and she gritted her teeth trying to bear the agony within.
Under the pain her right knee buckled causing her to collapse to one knee. Wearily she glanced up only to see the colossal beast whip his body around prone to strike the final blow with his tail.
Quistis used all her energy to stand and dodge the attack, but found out that she her body was seemingly paralyzed. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain. Though it took mere seconds to Quistis it felt like an eternity before the strike actually hit her.
Once again her petit body was sent flying through the air like a rag doll. She landed on top on a small bush and couldn't tell if the sickening cracks were from the limbs breaking or her bones.
She could hear the devil of a monster storm closer, but could do nothing to stop the events that were coming next. She lied there on the ground unable to move or even breathe for that matter.
'Is…Is this the way it truly ends!...Zell…' An earsplitting bellow broke Quistis' thoughts. She tried sitting up to look around, but it was futile, her body was too battered to do anything of the sort. So there she lye, helpless unable to protect herself and unable to even cure herself. Slowly her eyes fell closed as she waited for her fate.
An endless amount of time seemed to pass by, as Quistis started slipping into a cold familiar darkness…
Quistis…
That same voice called out to her once again, trying to reach her and give her something to hold onto.
A warm feeling cascaded across Quistis' face and made its presence known on Quistis' injured hand. It felt as though someone was holding it tightly while caressing her cheek ever so gently.
Glassy eyes barely open to see a silhouette of that same blonde stranger hovering over her, almost assuring her everything was going to be alright.
'Zell…' Was the last thing running through her fragile mind before falling back into a void of nothingness.
A/N: Well another chapter done yah! I hope you all still enjoy my stories. Sorry it is taking so long to post but WORK SUCKS! And I just want to give a shout out to those who are still giving me much needed reviews you guys are AWESOME! Thank you so much, and please keep the reviews coming. Well hopefully I will post soon, later!