Chapter XXII

The Hunt


(Paine)

The days to follow were definitely nothing to scream about. I had intense training sessions with Tobias every morning and I began to teach him how to unlock his mental capabilities when we were behind closed doors. He was thrilled to be able to learn something new and I was happy that I could actually teach him something for once.

I had regular meetings with Landon and he taught me a few meditation rituals that would help me retain my memories of Baralai. It helped, but not enough. Along with Baralai's face disappearing from my mind I could also feel my control slowly being chipped away.

After a week had passed, the man in my memories with the tan skin and powdery white hair was completely unfamiliar to me. I knew him only as my mark and that in a few day's time, I was to kill him.

Kaiser was persistent with my inoculations, which only sped up the process. That's when I was most frightened. That's when I thought everything I was doing was useless, that I was fighting a losing battle and that there was no way I could win.

I'm not sure what kept me going. The hope that Landon would find something more to his theory was slowly dying with each passing day. That is, until he all but ambushed me in my room after my training session with Tobias.

"I think I've found the answer," he said, his icy eyes dancing with excitement. "I can't believe I never thought of it earlier."

My breath caught in my throat. "What? Tell me," I said, starting to get excited myself.

Landon took a deep breath. "Let me know if you feel something," he said, placing a hand on my shoulder and closing his eyes.

I stood there in confusion, wondering what Landon was trying to do. The seconds ticked by agonizingly slow as I waited for something to happen. I was about to speak and ask him what he was trying to do when I felt it. It was subtle at first, the faintest prickling of my skin where his hand was touching me, then it was like a whirlwind had been set loose in my body. Every nerve was tingling with raw power. I exhaled and my eyes widened in shock as an icy cloud was expelled from my lungs. I looked over at Landon and he was smiling.

"What did you just do?" I asked in astonishment, my muscles still trembling from the surge of power that was running through me.

"I transferred a small amount of my power into you."

"Wow," I said, looking at my hands. If that was only a small amount I wondered what it would feel like if he gave me even more. Along with transferring some of his power to me he had also given me the ability to control his element, ice, for a short period of time. When I called both my element and his forth they mixed together and merged, creating a crystal about the size of a small melon with a ball of churning fire in the center. Very cool.

"This is what the other members that perished from expelling their element never thought of. I'm confident that if I can transfer enough of my power to you that you'll survive the process."

I smiled and it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I was untouchable for the rest of the day and decided to go enjoy my good mood in the ruins of Zanarkand. Landon's power was still running through my veins, giving me a proverbial high, and I wasn't going to waste it. I found that I could run so fast that if I jumped into the air my inertia would carry me well over five hundred feet into the air. It was the closest I had ever been to flying and it felt simply phenomenal.

I shot a few of my ice crystal fire bombs towards a few dilapidated buildings and watched as they exploded in a shower of ice and flame. It was intriguing how my element and Landon's had merged like that in my body. After only a half an hour, much to my regret, it began to wear off until I could no longer call the ice forward. I sighed and stretched my hand out in front of me, unleashing a column of fire that would make a flamethrower look like a blowtorch from my fingertips.

I heard a laugh resembling crystal bells ringing from behind me. I turned and frowned when I saw Gwen standing but twenty feet away from me. She was smiling at me and her icy eyes were shining in the afternoon sun. The last time I had spoken to her we hadn't been on the best of terms, which made me wonder what she was here for.

"I was wondering who was out here," she said, taking a few steps towards me. "What's the reason for your good mood?"

I thought about my answer carefully before asking. "No reason. Just anxious about hunting my mark. It's still a few days away."

Gwen pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her stomach. "Do you know who your mark is, Paine?"

I was confused by her question. "Of course I do. It's Baralai, the Praetor of New Yevon."

She shook her head, her short blonde hair flying about her round face. "That's not what I meant. Do you know who he really is? Do you know who he is to you?" My left eye twitched. I still didn't understand what she was getting at. "Every member's mark is someone important to them. You know that. Do you know why he was chosen as your mark?"

I stood there in silence. I hadn't even considered that. I figured Kaiser had chosen him for me because of the fact that he was a world leader. Who is he to me? I asked myself. I recoiled in shock as flashes of the Praetor and myself wrapped in an intimate embrace jumped up in front of my eyes. I squeezed them shut and pushed the images away, extremely confused.

"It doesn't matter," I blurted, still shaken by what I had seen. "Why are you doing this?"

Gwen sighed, an unreadable expression on her face. I refrained from reading her mind. Landon had encouraged me of doing it more often like him, but I still had a small courtesy for other people's privacy. "I don't want you to end up like me. The more people you kill the more you lose yourself until there's nothing left but an empty shell," she said, her voice almost too faint to hear. "You deserve so much better than that, Paine. You deserve better than being a killer." With that, she turned around and walked away without another word.

I stared after her in confusion. I had totally not expected her to say something like that. Those few short sentences that she had spoken to me consumed my every thought as I made my way back to my room. Why would she even say those things to me? And, most importantly, what brought it on? When I left Besaid with her, Kaiser and Tobias she looked ready to kill me. What had caused her odd behavior towards me?

I pushed those questions to the back of my mind and concentrated on the task at hand: preparing for my rite and hunting my mark. I felt a great amount of pity towards this man that I was supposed to kill. He probably has a wife and children that love him, friends that are going to miss him when he's gone. None of that mattered anymore. I was to kill him and nothing was going to stop me.

After I assassinated the Praetor of New Yevon I would kill Kaiser and free myself. I would never be truly free until Kaiser was dead. After that I would get back to... Did I even have a life outside The Invisible? I couldn't even remember that. Was there someone waiting for me on the outside?

Those thoughts haunted for the rest of the night and while I was lying in my bed, attempting to get some sleep. I hoped that once I was free from Kaiser's iron grip that I would be able to find the answers I was seeking so desperately for. My desire only made me train harder, just to distract myself.

The night before I was to leave to hunt my mark Kaiser came to my room with my final inoculation. He looked at me with an extremely pleased look on his face, examining me from head to toe. "You have become quite the animal, Paine," he said, a swell of pride in his voice. "I am surprised...and very proud. Your mark will not stand a chance against you."

"Thank you, Kaiser," I said, smiling. I looked down at the syringe in his hand. "Shall we?" I inquired, indicating the needle.

"Of course," he said, lifting the needle to my neck and plunging it in. I no longer needed to be sitting for Kaiser to administer the shot because the drug that was meant to knock me out had been replaced with a numbing agent.

My vision swam as the drug ran its course, making me dizzy. I swayed, my legs threatening to buckle. Kaiser reached forward to steady me but I knocked his hand away, refusing his help. The disorientation subsided after a few moments and I was once again a stranger within my own mind. The visions that had flashed through my mind earlier when I was with Gwen were completely gone, not one had been left behind. It was like I had just woken up from a deep sleep and for the life of me couldn't remember what I had been dreaming about.

"I also came to deliver this," Kaiser said, handing something to me.

When I felt the sturdy leather of a sheath in my hand I knew without looking what he had given to me. It was the dagger that I was to make the killing blow with. My throat dried up immediately and I wrapped both my hands around it so I wouldn't have to lay my eyes on it.

"Rest up," he said, folding his hands behind his back. "You have a big day tomorrow." A sly smile crept onto his face then he turned and left my room, pulling the door shut behind him with a soft click.

Once Kaiser had left I went into my room and tossed the dagger onto my bed, still without looking at it. I had another meeting with Landon that I had to get to. I teleported from my room and straight into the ruined blitzball stadium, right outside the Chamber of the Fayth. I was surprised to see Tobias standing there with Landon. Tobias had never been to one of our meetings before.

"Hello, Paine." One corner of my mouth curled up when I heard Tobias' mind voice in my head. He had come so far in the last few days and now his mental abilities were almost as good as mine and Landon's.

"Hello, Tobias, Landon," I projected. "What brings you here, Tobias?"

"Landon just told me about how he had transferred some of his power to you a few days ago and he has instructed me on how to do it. It seems as though you have your own little army." He was smiling as he projected his thoughts to me.

"I wouldn't have gotten this far without either of you so I owe you both my thanks. And I'm not trying to create an army."

Landon shook his head. "You don't need to thank us, Paine. You are not only creating a way out for yourself but for us as well. I don't think anyone has ever thought about killing Kaiser before. How are you expecting to do that?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and bit the inside of my cheek. "Well, I remember you said that when I expel my element there's going to be a...'cataclysmic explosion', right?"

"Correct."

"Kaiser's going out with a bang then." I couldn't help the smile that crawled onto my face. Projecting those words to Landon and Tobias felt amazing.

Landon looked at Tobias and I could tell that he was communicating privately with the younger member. They deliberated between themselves for many long moments before Landon turned back to me and spoke instead of projecting his thoughts.

"What I want to know," he began. "is why none of us never thought of that."

We stood there for a very long time, what felt like hours, going over every aspect of our plan, making sure that there was no margin for error. When the time came, our every move had to be precise and flawless. If we failed I would die and Kaiser would continue his reign of terror. Landon eventually sent me back to my room, telling me to get as much sleep as possible. Since night time was much more effective for hunting marks, I would set off for Bevelle after sunset tomorrow, which meant I didn't have my usual early morning training session with Tobias. I would spend the whole day preparing for my rite and I didn't mind that one bit.

The next morning I woke up a few minutes before noon, the latest I had ever woken up in my life. For a second I thought my eyes were deceiving me but the small rays of sunlight coming in through my tiny window told me otherwise. I huffed and flipped over onto my back, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Happy birthday to me... Next to my tenth birthday this one was going to be just as bad.

I had missed breakfast by a long shot but if I hurried I would get my lunch right on time. I showered quickly, trying to keep the subject of my rite off my mind. I mostly kept my eyes shut while I washed myself because I didn't want to open them and see blood running off my hands. After tonight was over they would be permanently stained.

I wasn't paying attention while I was walking towards the mess hall and I almost ran straight into Roland when I was turning a corner. We both jumped back in surprise, neither of us expecting to almost run into the other. My mind had been in a completely different place so I hadn't even sensed him coming.

"Paine," Roland greeted, inclining his head towards me. "I was just on my way to see you."

I had to fight to keep a straight face. I knew the real reason why he had come looking for me. I just wanted to see if he was going to admit it to me. "Why would you want to come see me?" I questioned, not bothering to keep the venom out of my voice.

Roland pursed his lips and cleared his throat. I caught his right eye twitching. It took him a few seconds to come up with a believable lie. "I didn't see you at breakfast this morning. I was...wondering where you were."

I narrowed my eyes and went against my better judgment to quickly scan his thoughts. I was in and out of his mind so quick that, even if he had the ability, he wouldn't have been able to sense my presence. I smirked as my suspicions were confirmed. "Right," I said as I walked past him. "You just wanted to make sure that I hadn't run off during the night." I didn't turn around to gauge his reaction because I already knew what it would look like.

Tobias and Landon found me after I had already gotten my lunch. The three of us sat at a table by ourselves, communicating only with our minds so it looked like we weren't even paying attention to each other. They were also inquisitive to why I had missed breakfast. I wouldn't have minded as much if either of them had come to look for me but they knew that I could take care of myself just fine. Roland coming to find me just proved that Kaiser still doubted me. Hopefully my little run in with him was enough to convince them that I wasn't going to try anything.

"I slept in longer than I needed to. I must have been more exhausted than I thought."

"I suppose you ran into Roland?" Tobias thought, his mind voice soft in my head.

"I did. How did you know?"

Landon projected his laughter through our minds. "I was coming to check on you but Roland stopped me. He told me he would take care of you."

I nodded my head lazily and was about to respond when I felt Kaiser walk into the room. Tobias confirmed my thoughts about why he was here. "You're right. He's here looking for you. He wants to brief you about tonight."

I closed my eyes and rolled them beneath their lids. I knew everything that I needed to know already. His insistent coddling was getting extremely aggravating. Tobias and Landon agreed with me and I told them that I would meet them in the blitzball stadium before I left.

Kaiser rested his hand on my shoulder a few moments later and I rose to go with him, leaving my half-eaten lunch behind. I was still a little hungry but Tobias and Landon needed it more than I did. I could survive until dinner.

"What's this about?" I asked as we left the mess hall.

"I just wanted to go over a few more things with you before tonight." He left it at that. I figured he wanted to talk about the rest in private.

When we reached his living quarters he held his door open and allowed me to go inside before him. He shut the door silently behind him a few seconds later. "I'm going to be sending you out a few hours early, before sunset in fact."

I frowned and turned to look at him. "Why?" I asked incredulously.

"I want you to watch your mark, study him. Figure out the best way to kill him then, when the time comes, I want you to...toy with him." The way Kaiser said the last part of that sentence made my skin crawl.

"So you want me to torture him?"

"Not exactly. Just don't kill him right away."

The rational side of my brain was yelling and screaming for me to refuse. The cold-blooded assassin part couldn't wait to dive in head first. Before I even had the chance to fight that more lethal side of myself off I had answered him.

"Of course, Kaiser. It will be done."

"Good," he said, sounding extremely pleased. "I want you to depart from here promptly at four o'clock. You are free to do whatever you wish until then."

I nodded and left his living quarters, deciding to go straight back to my own room to prepare. It was barely one so I had a little more than three hours. Three hours that were going to crawl by horrifically slow. "Change of plan, guys. Kaiser is sending me out in three hours. Meet me in the blitzball stadium in two. I'll tell you more then." I didn't wait to get a response. I knew that they had heard me.

Once I was back in my room the first thing I did was attach my dagger to my sword belt. I slowly slid it out of the sheath and examined it, committing the feel of the wooden handle to memory. My eyes traveled up the blade and settled on the tip. Soon the blood of my mark will saturate this blade, I thought.

For the next two hours I put my mind through intense mental training. At one point I made everything in my small bedroom, including me, levitate a few inches in the air for a good thirty seconds, which was something I had never done before. I practiced guiding my fire around the room and even tried to make a small ball of flame go supernova. I only managed to get half way there before I got too tired to continue. Before I left to meet Tobias and Landon I grabbed an apple from my cupboard that I had been saving then teleported to the dome. They were already there when I arrived.

"Why is Kaiser sending you out early?" Landon questioned as I walked towards them.

"He wants me to study my mark...and then he wants me to toy around with him before I kill him." Those words weren't very easy for me to say. They seemed wrong somehow.

Tobias turned to Landon and they once again held a private conversation between themselves for a few moments before Landon turned back to me. "Do whatever you must to bring your mark down. That is all you need to be concerned about."

After that Landon directed the subject away from my mark and to how I would bring Kaiser down after I returned. If everything went as planned we would all be free before the sun rose tomorrow. Before I knew it, it was time for me to leave. Wow, time flies...

"I better go," I said, swallowing the lump that had wormed its way into my throat.

Tobias and Landon nodded solemnly, projecting encouraging thoughts into my mind. I waved then teleported directly into Baralai's backyard. I moved stealthily through the trees until I was about a hundred yards from the house then I hunkered down beside a tall spruce. I located my mark inside the house and tracked his every move and thought.

I was shocked to discover that I had been this man's lover, but I was confused. If I loved him so much then why had I left him? Oh well... I thought. It's better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all.