Suzu lay asleep, unaware as the infection had murdered what was left of his body. When it was finally over, just skin over bones existed. All else had been destroyed by a monster so small that no one could fight against it, but more potent than anything she had seen. She retched again, tears that had been building for years desperately wishing to finally fall. Horror and disgust at what she had just witnessed and done, eating away at her. She had killed a human before him, but this was someone she knew in Garden. 'Had known…' she mentally corrected.
They had been trainees together; had fought in the same training center, had visited the same library and maybe read the same books. Had slept in the same type of dorm rooms and woken from sleep and had gone to the cafeteria and to classes. Had played on the basketball courts, and on the ice rink, had known the same instructors, the Headmaster and the Commander. Had been trained in Galbadia Garden together for years, and now he was gone. She had tied her hand to his death.
She had not killed him, not by a long shot. But by her casting that spell, she had cast herself into the issues surrounding the murky reign of manslaughter. What if something could have worked, given time, not that he had had much left. What if someone else with stronger magic could have stopped the infection? What if he didn't have to die? By her casting sleep on the dying boy, she had assured his death.
'I killed a classmate.'
'You helped him, love. You did what either Kayden or Ryu could not. You saved him from pain, and that is a great gift.'
'It's not going to be seen like that.'
'And we will face it as it comes. Some will see it as you did. Others will argue. But it is not your fault what happened. You did all you could and more.'
'It…it hurts…'
'I will not leave…' Bast promised and receded into her mind, but kept the soothing contact up. 'Remember, I am waiting always for you.'
'I…don't know…I don't…'
'Shhhhh.'
That contact was the only thing that made it possible for her not to cry over what happened and give up right then. It prevented her from surrendering to both the enemies and to her own emotions. She had to move on. The boys were counting on her.
Kayden looked almost lost in his mind, as if he was mentally searching for anything else he could have possibly done to help the boy before he died. Ryu looked so scared and terrified he gazed at her from where he sat. Both did actually. In their eyes, there was no blame. Kayden and Ryu supported her and approved of her decision to help him when they could not. She knew they would stand with her, and face what she did as a team.
They were children, but not anymore. All three had seen something that scarred them a little more, and now whatever was left of their innocence and their childhood had been destroyed. All three were ones that had seen the worst of human nature taken out on another, and had been so close to have stopped it but so far away that it still occurred. The boys were wondering the same thing she was, Kaidia realized, sharing the same guilt for not being there sooner and the same guilt for surviving what he had not. They were alive, but one of their own was not, and his death would never leave her mind; to the end of her days she would always remember the devastating horror of what had been done to Suzu. It was for him, that she had to succeed, and get her friends out; to tell what had happened in the cavern, so that none would forget the pain.
'I have to do something… neither Kayden or Ryu are capable of taking control at the moment… and we have to get out of here.' She realized. 'But what am I supposed to do? Think.'
She closed her eyes for a moment, taking in their situation and what was left of it, who was left and what strengths and weaknesses existed in the team. Ryu, at the moment, was still a weakness, and as he wept over what he had witnessed she realized that he was not a SeeD and not even a Cadet at the moment; he was a confused and scared boy; a civilian, but she could not exactly afford to treat him as such. He would be useless in attacks and defence… but he could carry something.
Kayden was physically stronger than herself, but she was the faster at drawing and using magic, as well as quicker at dodging and evading. 'Not much to work with; two badly shaken gunblade specialists and a nearly useless fire-arms specialist. Better than nothing.' She mused. 'Something has to be done to re-establish a command order, or we'll all panic.'
She turned her thoughts to the body in front of her, looking down, and swallowing her disgust, before it spewed forth out of her body once more. This could not go without investigation, and as far as she could assume, without the communicator, which Suzu had and which she sure as hell was not touching; no other team had met with this infection. So it was up to them to bring a sample to Garden.
The infection had not eaten through the soaked clothes, nor had it destroyed the weapons that had been held within them. The communicator device as well the locater machine appeared to be in working order; soaked with blood and the infection, but had not been damaged in any way. This proved to her that whatever it was that had killed Suzu only worked on living material, not metals, and if metals and the cotton of the uniform were not affected by the disease, then it stood to reason that glass, too, was safe.
"Kayden? Empty a potion bottle. Get it as clean as possible and hand it to me. Make sure there isn't a crack on the bottle."
He nodded slowly and, after a moment, had finished the task she set. He handed her the sparkling clean bottle and she inspected it carefully, looking for any minute cracks that had damaged the bottle. The glass was hard to break, but under extreme circumstances it was known to happen. Rumour had it that the product used in potion bottles really was a harder substance then glass, but it was anyone's guess on what it was. But right now she needed the reassurance of looking over the glass bottle.
"Do you have that door picking set with you? I need the small suction instrument." She knew the name but at the moment had decided not to complicate things and confuse both boys standing with her. The device she needed was almost like a pipette, it had an end that you could squeeze to create a vacuum in the open end to pull up minute objects or liquids. It would hold the substance in a vacuum until she released her grip from the top part. Simple but at the moment the best chance she had to get a sample. 'Clear and concise instructions; they're both too shaken to think clearly. Then again, so am I.'
He nodded again and handed her the instrument she needed. She studied it carefully, looking for how to pull this off. Just one squeeze would give enough of a sample for the labs to study.
"Give Ryu the locater device and show him how to use it." She requested once more.
This would take all of her concentration; enough to steady her shaking hands and not spill the sickly liquid on herself or down the bottle. Kaidia was shaky enough and did not need their eyes on her to make her more nervous. With a deep breath, she stood up and waited until her balance settled and her heart was beating normally before slowly approaching the body.
'The body! Just a few minutes ago, he was alive and now he's a body! Hyne, what is this all about? He was alive not too long ago, and now he's dead… now he's a body, and only Kay, Ryu and myself know what happened! Calm down. Getting upset is not going to help the others. I have to do this; to make sure that no one else gets hurt with this stuff. This killer.'
With a deep breath, she leaned down, standing just out of the puddle of human remains and reached over. Her hand was rock steady as she squeezed the top of the instrument meant for removing minute shards of metal and glass from the door lock, which now pulled up a small sample of blood from within his gaping mouth. Her hand did not shake, but Kaidia could feel herself trembling internally throughout the ordeal.
Retreating a few steps, she checked herself over carefully before sitting down on the ground, far enough away from the boys that if she made a mistake they would not be affected by it. If she spilt it on herself, then they would be out of the range of her blood as she died too. '…If….' She thought to herself.
Taking another breath, she steadied herself once more with a gentle motion unleashed the reddish liquid into the empty bottle, slowly trickling the infected liquid down the internal side of the bottle so that it would not fall directly and cause some to spill that way. Then it was over and Kaidia sealed the bottle with the air tight lid, pressing it on evenly and sealing the contents inside. She stayed still a moment longer, giving herself time to calm down once more.
She then took out a clean cloth from her pocket, which was originally meant to clean her daggers or her gunblade, but would now serve a different purpose; as a cushion for the precious bottle. If this infection was unleashed in public without an effective antidote, it could destroy everything. Something had to be done to ensure that it would not occur.
She wrapped the bottle tight in the cloth and when done with, that she dropped the small instrument she used to get the sample, near Suzu's empty body before walking completely away and heading up to the boys.
Kayden was patiently explaining how to use the device to the shocked boy.
"We have to move out." Kaidia announced when she was close enough.
"I know…' Kayden answered.
"Ryu. I need you to carry this. It's a sample of whatever killed Suzu."
He twitched and stared up at her with disbelieving eyes before switching his gaze down to the bottle she was holding; staring at it as if it were the deadliest poison he had ever seen. She didn't disagree with him on that notion. The shaken fire-arms specialist shook his head violently.
"We need to get a sample of this to Garden. It could be unleashed on civilians or even in Garden and many more people could die. Whatever this stuff is, it doesn't eat through non – living materials. Glass and the cloth are safe. I wouldn't give it to you if I thought it was too dangerous. I need your help."
"Do… you trust it?" Ryu asked hesitantly.
"Yes." She answered simply, wondering why her answer was so important to the boy.
"…I'll…I'll do it." He answered.
She nodded slowly to him. "I also need you to keep an eye on our location and guide our way out."
He nodded to her request.
"The order will be Kayden first, then you and finally myself." Kaidia decided. 'Hopefully that will work. It's the best order I can think of at the moment.'
"Why that way?" Ryu asked, staring up at her.
It was working, whatever she was doing. Ryu was focused on her and her orders instead of his panic. Kayden had managed to bring his mind back to the current situation and was listening to her directions. Both were completely focused on the mission she was giving herself and them to complete. 'SeeD's are determined on completing the objective. They've both had that drilled into them and that's the only thing keeping them…and me, calm. We can freak out later when we're not in danger…but for now… how did I end up the leader!'
'Those that are meant to lead will take charge if need be…' Bast answered. 'For the good of the group. You'll be fine.'
"Kayden's stronger then me; better at heading off a direct assault, you are the one we protect and are between us." She explained to Ryu. "Don't worry about defending yourself in a physical attack, fall back behind Kayden and myself. He and I'll take turns casting defensive magic on you. We will handle whatever comes. I am last because I'm faster with magic as well as evasion of a surprise attack. This time, we stick together, no great distances between us."
Both males slipped ahead of her, and she turned her gaze onto Ryu as he glanced down at the small one handed device, carefully balancing the infection and the locater device at the same moment. That action concerned her, so she stepped in once more.
"At the moment, speed doesn't matter. Garden's been watching us and they know what happened and what we're carrying. We have to get out of here without endangering Ryu or the sample. Ryu, don't put yourself in danger by trying to hold both the sample as well as the other device. Carry it, or secure it on your waist; whatever you feel comfortable with, but don't carry both at the same time. Have the locater in your pocket until we reach a divide and then we stop for you to look to find our next course. They will wait for us and hopefully bring in assistance for us. Which way?" She asked Ryu.
He nodded almost to himself and looked down at the machine he was holding. "It's right from here, and at the first divide we head straight." He answered. "But what about the body?"
"There isn't much we can do about that." Kayden answered. "We can't bring it with us or burn it."
"Why not?" Ryu asked.
"Burning it may cause the pathogen to become airborne. We have to leave it. Garden will send in a team to deal with it." The taller blond reassured the smaller.
"Alright." Ryu answered, not sounding completely satisfied.
Kaidia nodded and waited for the dirty-blonde haired boy to place the device into his cotton pocket and for him to prepare. With that, she reached into her mind and summoned the first spell. A blue barrier appeared between the dark-blond haired boy and the other two. The shield solidified and then turned invisible. Then, Ryu pulled from his mind a second spell, blocking the effects of all magic from him. The shell spell echoed around the protect spell and reinforced the luminous barrier.
"Let's move out." She ordered simply. "Ryu, you set the pace at what you're comfortable with."
Both Kayden and Ryu nodded once more at the direction. Kayden started off, and a moment later Ryu followed, walking slowly for the moment as if he was trying to get used to the idea of carrying the dangerous sample with him, trying not to jar it in anyway. Kayden slowed down to match the pace set by the middle most cadet, and the two only walked with a few steps between them; she was the last to leave. Before she left the cavern, her eyes flickered back to the dead boy once more. 'He's in the past now.'
Kaidia quickly slipped into a position only a few feet behind the dark-blonde haired boy and the team finally left the area where their leader lay in death.
They turned in the direction that was specified by the boy in the middle and continued over the still sleeping body of the man Kayden had left alone. The group walked at a normal pace down the hall.
Kaidia watched as the darkness continued and pressed them deeper into its dark. She now wondered if there was any escape from the hell that they had just descended from. How much of this moment would come back to haunt her in nightmares that left her shaking in the dead of night? How many nights would she be forced to watch her companion die in front of her as her weary mind threw images of her past at her?
Not that she needed any new images to traumatize her; she carried enough. From before Garden. It was those that she hid from the most, from the pain, consciously inflicted upon her by her 'parents,' for every hit and cruel word they said to her, when they deemed she was not good enough, and for them, she would prove her worth as a SeeD, and show them that what they did would not rule her. But it was not worth thinking about now; there were other things to be done first.
A second feeling dawned upon her at that moment. As strong as the first prophetic warning, which had half convinced Kaidia from the outset, that something horrible would occur in the exam that would change her forever. Now this feeling plainly stated that her role in this had not ended, and that this decision she had made had started something so powerful, something which she was caught up in from before she could remember. Her path would be long and hard.
She took a breath, waiting patiently as Ryu stated their next three turns as right twice and then left, and they walked onwards through the deep dark of the cave. As the young boy gained confidence their pace slowly increased, not that she would allow them to run though. With the encounter they had with the experienced military officers and what they had with them, it was smarter to keep moving in a steady but controlled rhythm. At every corner, Kayden would stop the group and investigate around the divide, looking for enemies. This was not the time to be stumbling into something.