This is a reeaaally short chapter - Well, by my standards. I dunno about other's standards, XD
Anywhoo, WHOA WHAT'D I JUST PRESS?!
Sorry.
Anyway, this'll be my last chapter for a bit, because I'm going to Ireland for two weeks for work experience (in a vet's! How awesome is that?!)
A lot of this chapter was rushed, and it's not fantastic, but I needed this out there before I left for Ireland!
And this chapter may not be medically accurate - I never paid attention to first aid in the guides, I just messed about with bandages. In my defence... it is a fantasy world, so their medical stuff may be different to ours...
I'm going to shut up now.Snow pulled the pillow away from Lightning's face.
She'd stopped moving, stopped struggling. She'd stopped breathing.
The pillow slipped out of his hands as his mind fell into freefall.
She was dead.
He'd killed her.
"Hey guys," Vanille opened the door, smiling as usual. "I was just..." She trailed off as she saw Lightning, her smile vanishing. In a flash she was next to Lightning, her hand on her neck, looking for breathing, a heartbeat.
"What have you done Snow!?" Vanille screamed, anger flashing into her normally cheerful eyes. "What the hell have you done!?"
You have one new message:
"Felix? You may not remember me... It's Vanille. From the hospital? I know you're in Pulse. I need some help, and I don't know who else to ask. If you can, meet me in sector 3 of the forest. It's not hard to find. Thanks. And... Never mind."
Snow fidgeted in front of the higher ups of Phoenix.
"The removal was a success?" The leader asked.
"Yes." He nodded slowly, feeling his eyes start to water, both because of the dark and the subject matter.
"You suffocated her?"
"Yes." Snow focused his attention on the ground, feeling a weight in his chest. He hated the higher ups right now, more than he hated anyone on earth.
"And you disposed of the body correctly?"
"Yes."
"Good." The leader remained silent for a moment. "It appears you have proven your loyalty to us Snow."
"Yeah." Snow breathed out slowly. "Thank you."
"You may leave." The leader nodded approvingly, as Snow exited the room.
He blinked as he shut the door behind him, his eyes adjusting to the light.
"Oh God..." He muttered quietly, realising he'd never be able to complain to Lightning about the higher ups. He'd never be able to talk to her again, yell at her, fight with her, have fun with her.
His best friend. Gone.
Snow leant against the wall. He'd killed her. Because he was just so scared, stupidly just trying to survive.
It was all his fault.
He breathed in deeply and sighed.
Phoenix had made him into a mindless killer, and he hadn't even noticed.
"Got to get out of this stupid, stupid place." He whispered, before pushing himself off the wall and walking away.
"So we're traipsing about Pulse to meet up with some woman who met you in the hospital and phoned for some help?" Lexus asked, as Placido drove through Pulse.
"Yeah." Felix nodded, earning a slight glare from Noctis. "Look, she might know something about Phoenix and all that. She might give us a hand, she's really nice."
"I met a woman who you said was really nice once." Placido commented mildly. "She mugged me."
"She was drunk when I met her! How was I supposed to know she was a criminal when she was sober?"
"Was this one drunk?"
"Nope." Felix smiled happily.
"She better not have been." Noctis leant against the seat and watched the forest fly past the window.
Arminius watched as the troops landed on Pulse, a small smile playing at his lips.
"Captain." He nodded to one of the younger captains, who hurried over.
"Sir." He saluted the elder man.
"I want you to take some troops and find the Prince and his associates. If you have any trouble from the natives, feel free to kill them. They shan't be missed."
The car pulled up at the border of sector three. The group clambered out, arguing as they went.
"People don't just wander into hospitals to visit people who have been shot!" Lexus explained as they headed into the depths of the forest. "She must have had a reason."
"Yeah, I know that! I just don't know what the reason was..." Felix shrugged and grinned. "Well, maybe we'll find out. VANILLE!!" The group winced as Felix hollered her name.
After a moment, a pig-tailed woman ran out from behind a cluster of trees.
"You're here!" She smiled, genuinely pleased. "I didn't think you'd come..." She gave Felix a quick hug, making Noctis and the group exchange glances. Felix went pink.
"Uh... So," Felix asked, glaring at each of his friends in turn. "What's up?"
Vanille pulled away and looked down at the ground.
"Okay...." She bit her lip. "I... kind of have a confession."
"Which is?" Noctis asked. Vanille blinked up in confusion.
"Oh yeah, Vanille, these are my friends, Noctis, Lexus and Placido."
"Noctis?!" The girl stared. "... Oh.... right.... damn."
"What?" Felix smiled at her. Vanille bit her lip even harder.
"I... er.... You mustn't be mad." She sighed. "I...."
"Spit it out." Noctis muttered. Vanille sighed and jerked her head back to where she came from.
"This way." And with that, she ran back into the forest, followed by the group.
Vanille scuffed her feet against the ground as she ran, talking at the same time.
"You see, I knew you'd been shot, and I wanted to check you were okay! So I did. But I didn't find out through the news or anything..." She stopped to duck under a bush. "Through here."
The group ducked through the bush, and entered a small clearing.
Noctis stopped dead, making Felix walk into him.
Lightning was lying incredibly still in the middle of the clearing.
Felix swore behind him.
"... That's how I found out." Vanille explained quietly. "Lightning's my friend."
"What happened to her?" Placido was the first one to ask. "I mean... is she okay?"
"Hmph," She scowled and crossed her arms. "I presume you know about Phoenix? Well, they ordered her to kill you. But she didn't. So they labelled her as past her use for them, and ordered she was... 'Disposed of'."
"You mean killed?" Noctis asked, looking carefully at Lightning.
"Yeah. I mean killed."
Vanille felt like she was going to scream.
Damn it, she had been planning to get Lightning out of here, but it was too little too late.
Snow was just staring at their lifeless friend, as if he couldn't understand what had happened.
Maybe he couldn't.
Flashes of the white magic course Vanille had taken flashed into her mind. Quickly she leant forwards and pushed down on Lightning's chest, counting the number in her head.
Nothing.
Pushing aside the panic and discomfort gnawing away at her, Vanille opened Lightning's mouth and breathed into it.
This was wrong.
She wasn't supposed to be the one looking after Lightning, and yet here she was, trying to save her.
Vanille frowned and breathed again. She was going to kill Snow.
Suddenly Lightning gasped loudly, coughing madly. Vanille leapt off the bed, remembering that CPR caused people to throw up.
Which Lightning did.
Snow breathed out, as if he'd been holding it in all this time.
Vanille quickly knelt back on the bed, yelling at Lightning.
The woman muttered something before her eyes flickered shut. Vanille frowned.
"That's it." She hissed. "I am getting her out of here, now."
"I'm sorry." Snow whispered. The pigtailed girl glared at him through her tears.
"Why Snow?" Vanille yelled at him, tears falling down her face. "Why the hell did you do that?!"
"I was scared Vanille." He protested. Vanille scoffed. "Listen to me! You're not a member of Phoenix, you don't understand! Either I killed her, or Phobos would. You know as well as I do what he'd do."
"So you're an angel." The pigtailed girl glared at him. "Just get out. I'll sort this Snow, it's no concern of yours."
"Vanille, I-"
"Get out!" Vanille glared at Snow, who sighed deeply.
"Let me know if you need any help."
"You've helped enough." Her voice became choked. "Just get out." Snow left the room, and breathed out deeply.
He'd just lost two of his best friends.
Silence fell as Vanille finished her story.
"Sorry." She added in a whisper, looking at Felix.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, a frown appearing on his face.
"I... I just..." Vanille paused. "I didn't want you to hate me. I wanted to get to know you a bit."
"....Hm." Felix mused in his head. "...Okay.... I kind of get that... just don't expect me to be best buddies with her."
"Okay!" Vanille cheered up considerably, her smile reappearing.
"He always forgives the cute ones..." Lexus whispered to Placido. Felix punched him hard on the arm.
"Why do you need our help?" Placido asked, ignoring the fight that was beginning behind him.
"Well, I need to get Lightning to the crystal cave. And I was kind of expecting her to be conscious when I was getting her away. So, basically, I need to get her to the crystal cave." Vanille bit her lip. "But I can't, because she's surprisingly heavy."
"So you want us to help her?" Noctis asked, frowning. The pigtailed girl sighed.
"I know, it's weird because she tried to kill you, and you tried to kill her, and then she shot you and everything, but... She couldn't kill you. That's why this has happened-"
"So you're blaming me?"
"... You're very touchy." Vanille summarized. "Please. We won't bother you again. I swear."
"...." The group exchanged glances.
"...Alright." Noctis eventually said. "It's insane, but we'll do it."
Snow sat silently in Lightning's room. Vanille had cleaned things up well.
It wouldn't be long before a new member took this room, blissfully unaware of what had almost occurred.
No, it had occurred. He had killed her.
She just hadn't stayed dead.
But by the time that new member came, he hoped to God he'd be out of here.
This may be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever done.
I am smuggling a wanted assassin and her friend who is apparently interested in my friend, who the assassin shot, across a country where they are both being hunted.
Still, it's too late now.
The crystal's pleased I think. It's less worried now.
She actually looks rather peaceful.
I feel rather sorry for her.
.... Or....
No.
That's stupid.
I just feel sorry for her. Nothing else.I apologize for the crapiness.
I'm gonna miss you guys when I'm in Ireland! But just because I'm not in the country, it's no reason not to review!!
So review mo charas!!
Peace out!