Part Twenty Seven

Doubleback

Balamb Garden

It was like one bizarre family reunion. After talking to Squall and explaining her situation Ellone wanted to meet up with the others and discuss what they should do about Ultimecia. The truth about the evil woman was a lot more chilling than Squall could ever realize.

Ultimecia was a Sorceress from the future and she wanted to use Ellone's ability to manipulate the past to suit her means. Edea confirmed this. She possessed memories of her possession by Ultimecia as well as some knowledge of what the evil Sorceress wanted. Ellone told the others that she could transport Squall mentally back through time to change what happened to Seifer and Riku.

After a lot of yelling from Sora and pleading from Demyx Squall eventually made it clear that he would do what Ellone asked. Roxas had summoned up Axel when the red head wanted to talk to Seifer again. Cid ordered Nida to keep the Garden on standby in case Galbadia launched another attack.

By the time night fell Ellone was ready to cast her spell. Squall, Zell, Quistis, Irvine and Selphie stayed with Ellone while Leon, Cloud, Baralai and Ienzo stayed around Fisherman's Horizon. It had taken a while to explain Leon to Ellone but now everything was ready.

Sora and Roxas sat with their comatose friends while Ellone and Edea chanted the spell. Edea still had some level of magic and she would make sure that Squall would be safe. The idea was to transport his mind back to the past so he could find a way to stop Seifer from being attacked by Ultimecia. Now that he was a Sorcerer events would only get worse. The last man to become a Sorcerer had been driven insane by the power he possessed. In the end his own beloved Knight had to end his life. Squall vowed he wouldn't let that happen to either Seifer or Riku.

In a way Squall, Zell, Quistis and Selphie already had some experience with Ellone's power. Throughout the course of their journey they often had strange dreams of three men from the past. Laguna, Ward and Kiros had been soldiers during the Sorceress War almost twenty years ago.

Ellone explained that the reason she was showing Squall those three was that they defeated Adel and that maybe he could learn some way to defeat Ultimecia. For now he just wanted to help Seifer and Riku. Taking a deep breath he glanced towards Ellone and nodded.

For a moment Squall had the sensation of being pulled by ropes. He wanted to open his eyes but it was if they had been glued shut. He could hear Ellone chanting along with Edea then something crackled loudly and he could finally open his eyes.

He saw shapes moving around and colour began to seep into the dark images. He could hear other voices and they were screaming about something. Squall shook his head to clear his vision and he tried to move his heavy limbs.

He felt his heart clench when he saw Seifer standing before Edea. It was happening all over again. He saw the black magic escape from Edea's body and head towards Seifer. Squall tried desperately to get his body to move.

It is as if he is frozen in time and all he could do is watch helplessly as Seifer and Riku are consumed by the black smoke. However there was something else within the smoke this time and the figure emerged from the darkness. It was a tall woman with a strange headdress and wearing one of the kinkiest dresses Squall had ever seen in his life.

The woman smiled when Seifer collapsed, his golden eyes staring blankly ahead. The woman knelt down and smiled at the blond man before glancing over to Riku. She had a calculating look on her face as she stared back and forth between them. Finally she settled for Seifer and she smiled as she used one hand to caress his face. Squall felt anger bubbling up within him and he gritted his teeth. He wanted to cut that bitch's hand off for touching the blond.

"Unlock the Lunatic Pandora." The woman said.

"Seifer!" Squall called but it wasn't any use.

"What are you doing here?" the woman turned her golden gaze unto Squall. "You don't belong here."

"What the hell?" Squall whispered.

"If you wish to save him," she gestured toward Seifer. "Then go to Esthar. You can get to the Lunar Station from there. The magic within them will destroy them eventually."

"Who are you?" Squall demanded. The woman began to laugh.

"I'm the one who is going to rule everything." She waved her hand and Squall felt the sensation of being pushed away hard.

"No!" the Commander screamed. He was falling back and then his body slammed into something hard.

"Squall!" he heard Ellone shout his name. "Are you ok?"

"What happened Squall?" Zell questioned as he helped his friend back onto the chair he had fallen out of.

"I saw them..." Squall muttered when he got back into the chair.

"You saw Seifer and Riku?" Quistis asked.

"I saw this woman...she talked about getting to Esthar and something called the Lunatic Pandora."

"Oh no." Edea gasped loudly.

"What is it?" Selphie turned to the older woman.

"The Lunatic Pandora...that is where Adel is." She explained.

"So this woman wants to awaken Adel?" Irvine cocked an eyebrow.

"She said that we could help Seifer and Riku by getting them to Esthar. She said the magic would kill them eventually." Squall interrupted.

"But what if she was lying?" Zell pointed out.

"Squall..." Ellone placed a hand on his shoulder. "I think the woman you saw was Ultimecia."

"You can't believe anything she says." Edea cut in.

"Even if it means saving Seifer and Riku?" Squall bit out. "Esthar is on the next continent right? We just follow the monorail to the city."

"The city hasn't been seen in nearly two decades Squall." Edea said sternly. "And even if we could find it we can't trust anything Ultimecia has said."

"I don't care." Squall snarled. "We have a change to help them."

"We should ask Cid about this." Quistis spoke up. Squall snarled but said nothing more.

"I don't think we should go to Esthar now." Edea warned.

"She's right." Ellone nodded. "Ultimecia wants you to take Seifer there for some reason."

"What about Riku?" a small voice spoke up. Everyone turned and stared at Sora. "Are you saying I should just leave him like this?"

"We're not saying that Sora." Edea tried to soothe the boy.

"But we could just ask for help when we get to Esthar. We won't need to go to this Lunatic Pandora thing right?" the Keyblade Master said desperately.

"It's not that simple." Ellone tried to explain.

"What's the point of just sitting here anyway?" Sora demanded. "We can help them. Squall said so."

"But Ultimecia may want this to happen." Quistis stated.

"We have to wait a little longer Sora." Edea pleaded.

"Fine..." Sora got up. "If you wanna sit here and watch Seifer die then be my guest. But I'm not gonna lose Riku again."

"Where are you going?" Zell called. Squall felt sick at Sora's words about watching Seifer die but he said nothing.

"To talk to my friends." Sora snapped.

"Sora, come back." Selphie called but the boy was already gone.

Balamb Garden

Cafeteria

Sora was just so angry. How could they just sit around and wait for something to happen? Seifer and Riku could die if they didn't do something. Sora had made up his mind to go to Esthar. He would find a way to save Riku and Seifer. He just had to convince his friends to join him.

He couldn't bear the thought of watching Riku die if he could've prevented it. He entered the cafeteria and thanked all the higher powers when he saw his friends getting something to eat. Roxas had joined up with Leon and Cloud before Squall went under that spell thanks to Ellone. Baralai and Ienzo were also there and they looked up when Sora entered the cafeteria.

"How did everything go Sora?" Leon asked. The boy quickly explained everything.

"Are you joking?" Roxas couldn't believe what he had heard. Axel was busy yelling curses in his head.

"They want to assess the danger before going to Eshtar. But what if Riku and Seifer die before then?" Sora cried.

"So what do you wanna do Sora?" Leon asked.

"I...I can't just wait around to see what happens!" the teenager wiped his eyes.

"Sora." Roxas approached his twin and hugged the distraught boy.

"Maybe we can find the city." Baralai suggested.

"All we need to do is follow the monorail." Roxas nodded. Leon and Cloud looked uncertain but Ienzo spoke up next.

"So when do we leave?" he crossed his arms.

"Are you sure about this Sora?" Leon questioned. He wanted to help Riku and Seifer but maybe the best thing was to wait.

"Please Leon...I need you to trust me on this." Sora pleaded.

"We do trust you Sora." Cloud affirmed.

"So when do you wanna do this?" Ienzo asked after a few moments.

"It'll take us a while to cross the monorail so the sooner we leave the better." Sora said.

"Should we take Seifer with us? He suffered the massive dosage." Cloud pointed out.

"Yeah," Leon nodded. "Seifer could be in bigger danger than Riku now."

"Should we tell the Squall and the others?" Roxas questioned.

"Let's just get Riku and Seifer. If Squall won't help them then we will." Sora said.

Note-if anyone is interested they can check out my Enchanted Arms story in my profile. Till next time guys.