I'm trying to write the story I had originally intended.
I don't own any of the Final Fantasy 8 characters, but the newbies are mine.
Sorry about the really long wait, I had a weeklong break, and then I was in a tizzy/panic about a research paper, so I've been monkeying with this for almost three weeks.
To warn you, this is starting to get gory. There are also slight hints of couples developing, but they're so slight as to almost not exist. This might change later. I say again, this is gory, or at least getting really violent.
The Rinoa bashing is revving into overdrive. I promise it's unintentional. Or at least, it started that way...
~
Chapter 15
The small group decided to meet in a different location, and they dragged Odine into their impromptu meeting. When everyone had reached the little back room of the library, Cid nodded at the young men and women who were the Library Committee. The members turned and left the area; their jobs were to keep anyone else from coming into the study area until the little band was finished.
"I am curious as to how you know zat zose Guardians were captured," Odine hissed in his curious manner.
Max sat curled into one of the high-backed chairs with his feet tucked closely to the rest of his body, "I can feel them in my mind. At all times, I know where all of them are. It doesn't mean I can always communicate with them, but if they want, they can relate a message to me at any time."
"How are we going to help them?" Edea stood off to one side of the small enclosure, "Two Gardens are under his control, either through martial means or through the use of magic, and this one is certainly being observed."
"We take Odine with us," Max glared at the scientist as the latter moved to voice an objection, "And head to the tomb. We have to try saving the SeeDs that were sent there. For some of them, it may already be too late."
"For all of zem it iz too late!" Odine's pride in his machinery surfaced in an outburst, "Zose bullets were designed to kill any undead creatures in one hit!"
"That's the key though," Irvine snorted, "They're meant to kill the undead in one hit, but you still have to aim right to kill those who are still living."
Odine was shocked into thoughtful silence, "I suppose zat vould be right."
"If we have Odine with us, this Garden is still safe," Cid pointed out hopefully, "And maybe any SeeDs who aren't presently in any of the Gardens can seek this one out as a safe haven."
"That will only work until Caraway decides to attack," Squall rubbed his scar, "There are three other Gardens, and I suspect he has control, or access to the controls of all three of them."
Max nodded, "That's why we're going straight to him."
"Wait," Irvine sputtered, "What about the SeeDs in the other Gardens? Won't they get killed if we act?"
"Who'll tell Caraway what we're up to if Odine is with us?" Squall directed a quirked eyebrow at the scientist in question, while said doctor looked quite queasy.
~
"Thank you for surrendering without a fight," Rinoa smiled gently at Seifer, "I really didn't want to kill you."
Seifer growled low in his throat as he continued to hold his hands within her vision, "Why?"
"My father was always angry that he could never Junction a Guardian Force," she shrugged, "And I've never gotten what I truly want or deserve."
"You deserve a swift kick in the," Seifer started.
"Now, now, Seify," Rinoa used a twisted nickname that was uncomfortably close to Selphie's, "That kind of language isn't needed here."
"I wasn't gonna say 'ass,' Rinoa," Seifer grinned at her outrage in his sneaking the word in anyway, "I was just gonna say you needed a kick in the throat. It's a much more permanent and suitable punishment."
"Who are you to talk of punishment?!" Rinoa exploded, "I've done nothing wrong! It's you SeeD's who've wronged me. It's you Orphanage children who've wronged me! You've excluded me at every turn that you could, and you took away what I wanted most!"
Seifer's eyes widened. Rinoa wasn't just mad; she wasn't even truly Rinoa. He wished he could contact the others with this information, but knew that he couldn't even get out of the room.
Rinoa stalked up to Siefer, "You all had it so easy," she growled, "The power was practically handed to you!"
Seifer had a feeling that the conversation was going nowhere, and decided to let the maniac woman vent. Perhaps if he didn't encourage her...
"Are YOU IGNORING ME?!" she screamed shrilly.
-Forget that thought- Seifer sighed mentally.
~
"As much as that explains, it still leaves out how the Guardians were so easily captured," Edea questioned.
Odine cackled, "Zey were captured by my creations!"
"How was that possible?" Edea directed a glare at the over-enthusiastic scientist.
Max tried to explain, "They don't have bodies that are corporeal in this dimension, and have to have one to survive, especially now that all of the Sorceress powers are locked up. They will refuse to submit to the Junctioning any longer, so they need real bodies, bodies of their own. Without them, they are incredibly vulnerable to such things as his bangle machinations."
Edea frowned, "You're sure they won't submit to being Junctioned?"
Max nodded, "They only did before because it was necessary to save both dimensions. Just because you've never seen theirs, doesn't mean that it isn't tied in with ours. How else do you think Diablos and Doomtrain are summoned using items?"
"Why can't they show up in their own forms?" Irvine asked.
"The manifestations you've seen so far are only what their powers make of them," Max paused, "That was confusing," he closed his eyes and tried to explain again, "What you have seen thus far is not their true bodies, but what their powers are. Not even that sounds right," Max growled under his breath, "It's really hard to explain without sounding like I'm totally insane."
"They didn't feel like animals in our heads," Squall pointed out, "Does that mean that they are likely an equivalent to humans?"
Max nodded, "It's just that the difference in the dimensions kind of... warp them."
"No wonder they can't survive long in our dimension," Irvine blinked, recalling year old memories, "What about that dimension you were locked in? The one where we couldn't summon them, but they could still speak with us, and then there were Greiver, Tiamat, and Phoenix, actually having forms of their own. It seemed like the one where Diablos lived in that funny little lamp because they certainly didn't jump in and out of that dimension while we spoke to them."
"I don't know anything about it," Max shrugged, "What ever it was, I think it was dispelled by the time I woke up. You might have to tell me more as we head to the tomb."
Odine got a look of intense curiosity on his face, "And I vould like to hear about zis new dimension too."
~
It is starting to move around in a weird way, so I can't even hope to tell you what the intent is... I certainly don't like the sound of Rinoa not being herself...
~Then again, I just don't like her at all. But I did not set out to make her the evil person of this story that she has turned out. I am willing to give her rope to save herself, or to hang herself with.~
I don't own any of the Final Fantasy 8 characters, but the newbies are mine.
Sorry about the really long wait, I had a weeklong break, and then I was in a tizzy/panic about a research paper, so I've been monkeying with this for almost three weeks.
To warn you, this is starting to get gory. There are also slight hints of couples developing, but they're so slight as to almost not exist. This might change later. I say again, this is gory, or at least getting really violent.
The Rinoa bashing is revving into overdrive. I promise it's unintentional. Or at least, it started that way...
~
Chapter 15
The small group decided to meet in a different location, and they dragged Odine into their impromptu meeting. When everyone had reached the little back room of the library, Cid nodded at the young men and women who were the Library Committee. The members turned and left the area; their jobs were to keep anyone else from coming into the study area until the little band was finished.
"I am curious as to how you know zat zose Guardians were captured," Odine hissed in his curious manner.
Max sat curled into one of the high-backed chairs with his feet tucked closely to the rest of his body, "I can feel them in my mind. At all times, I know where all of them are. It doesn't mean I can always communicate with them, but if they want, they can relate a message to me at any time."
"How are we going to help them?" Edea stood off to one side of the small enclosure, "Two Gardens are under his control, either through martial means or through the use of magic, and this one is certainly being observed."
"We take Odine with us," Max glared at the scientist as the latter moved to voice an objection, "And head to the tomb. We have to try saving the SeeDs that were sent there. For some of them, it may already be too late."
"For all of zem it iz too late!" Odine's pride in his machinery surfaced in an outburst, "Zose bullets were designed to kill any undead creatures in one hit!"
"That's the key though," Irvine snorted, "They're meant to kill the undead in one hit, but you still have to aim right to kill those who are still living."
Odine was shocked into thoughtful silence, "I suppose zat vould be right."
"If we have Odine with us, this Garden is still safe," Cid pointed out hopefully, "And maybe any SeeDs who aren't presently in any of the Gardens can seek this one out as a safe haven."
"That will only work until Caraway decides to attack," Squall rubbed his scar, "There are three other Gardens, and I suspect he has control, or access to the controls of all three of them."
Max nodded, "That's why we're going straight to him."
"Wait," Irvine sputtered, "What about the SeeDs in the other Gardens? Won't they get killed if we act?"
"Who'll tell Caraway what we're up to if Odine is with us?" Squall directed a quirked eyebrow at the scientist in question, while said doctor looked quite queasy.
~
"Thank you for surrendering without a fight," Rinoa smiled gently at Seifer, "I really didn't want to kill you."
Seifer growled low in his throat as he continued to hold his hands within her vision, "Why?"
"My father was always angry that he could never Junction a Guardian Force," she shrugged, "And I've never gotten what I truly want or deserve."
"You deserve a swift kick in the," Seifer started.
"Now, now, Seify," Rinoa used a twisted nickname that was uncomfortably close to Selphie's, "That kind of language isn't needed here."
"I wasn't gonna say 'ass,' Rinoa," Seifer grinned at her outrage in his sneaking the word in anyway, "I was just gonna say you needed a kick in the throat. It's a much more permanent and suitable punishment."
"Who are you to talk of punishment?!" Rinoa exploded, "I've done nothing wrong! It's you SeeD's who've wronged me. It's you Orphanage children who've wronged me! You've excluded me at every turn that you could, and you took away what I wanted most!"
Seifer's eyes widened. Rinoa wasn't just mad; she wasn't even truly Rinoa. He wished he could contact the others with this information, but knew that he couldn't even get out of the room.
Rinoa stalked up to Siefer, "You all had it so easy," she growled, "The power was practically handed to you!"
Seifer had a feeling that the conversation was going nowhere, and decided to let the maniac woman vent. Perhaps if he didn't encourage her...
"Are YOU IGNORING ME?!" she screamed shrilly.
-Forget that thought- Seifer sighed mentally.
~
"As much as that explains, it still leaves out how the Guardians were so easily captured," Edea questioned.
Odine cackled, "Zey were captured by my creations!"
"How was that possible?" Edea directed a glare at the over-enthusiastic scientist.
Max tried to explain, "They don't have bodies that are corporeal in this dimension, and have to have one to survive, especially now that all of the Sorceress powers are locked up. They will refuse to submit to the Junctioning any longer, so they need real bodies, bodies of their own. Without them, they are incredibly vulnerable to such things as his bangle machinations."
Edea frowned, "You're sure they won't submit to being Junctioned?"
Max nodded, "They only did before because it was necessary to save both dimensions. Just because you've never seen theirs, doesn't mean that it isn't tied in with ours. How else do you think Diablos and Doomtrain are summoned using items?"
"Why can't they show up in their own forms?" Irvine asked.
"The manifestations you've seen so far are only what their powers make of them," Max paused, "That was confusing," he closed his eyes and tried to explain again, "What you have seen thus far is not their true bodies, but what their powers are. Not even that sounds right," Max growled under his breath, "It's really hard to explain without sounding like I'm totally insane."
"They didn't feel like animals in our heads," Squall pointed out, "Does that mean that they are likely an equivalent to humans?"
Max nodded, "It's just that the difference in the dimensions kind of... warp them."
"No wonder they can't survive long in our dimension," Irvine blinked, recalling year old memories, "What about that dimension you were locked in? The one where we couldn't summon them, but they could still speak with us, and then there were Greiver, Tiamat, and Phoenix, actually having forms of their own. It seemed like the one where Diablos lived in that funny little lamp because they certainly didn't jump in and out of that dimension while we spoke to them."
"I don't know anything about it," Max shrugged, "What ever it was, I think it was dispelled by the time I woke up. You might have to tell me more as we head to the tomb."
Odine got a look of intense curiosity on his face, "And I vould like to hear about zis new dimension too."
~
It is starting to move around in a weird way, so I can't even hope to tell you what the intent is... I certainly don't like the sound of Rinoa not being herself...
~Then again, I just don't like her at all. But I did not set out to make her the evil person of this story that she has turned out. I am willing to give her rope to save herself, or to hang herself with.~