Disclaimer: I do NOT own FF8 because if I did the game would end different and Quistis would be locked away in Sorceress Memoria or somwhere equally forgotton and Squall would have kitty ears and tail XD

Warnings: Okay peeps, this is heading into the M area but not quite so it'll remain T rating and that's because theres a bit of violence, a tiny bit of bad language (it's in one sentence I think but still...) and implied suicide. If any of this upsets you press the back button now.. Besides that there's the Weirdy Witch, and some other minor things but I can't remember what they are XD

A/N:...*dodges people with pitch forkes.* I know...HEY I SAID I KNOW! Jeez, I took a long time updating but really, I'm sorry but I've been forced to suffer college :( They hate me I'm sure. Anyway this is Part one of Chapter six and it has a title too *gasps with shock!* So enjoy and tell me what you think, you can also moan at for being late too if you want :)

ENJOY!

Chapter six part 1: Saving Squall.

Landing on Lunatic Pandora wasn't particulary hard considering there was a massive hole in the side from the last time Ragnarok had crashed into it. As soon as Ragnarok's claws dug into the ground and the landing gear found purchase, everybody was rushing off the ship to be greeted by hordes of monsters that had called the building home. Instantly Selphie and Quistis was on the defense, casting various spells on the main attackers which were Seifer, Irvine, Laguna, Kiros and Ward as well as the odd offense spell. Zell had muttered that he would stay close to the girls just in case a monster slipped by them, which was rather level headed and smart of the blond.

The rest of the Esthar army were being lead by Rinoa and Angelo was attacking the building at ground level, insuring that should McEvoy tried to flee he wouldn't get far. Seifer swiped Hyperion in a wide arc, hitting a couple of Turtapods and near slicing them in two. In the background were the near constant hum Laguna and Irvine's guns, while he barely heard Quistis and Selphie's shouts of spells. The gunfire stuttered to a halt while the shooters reloaded and Seifer had enough time to hear Selphie cry of "Flare!" and Quistis snarl "Micro Missile." and duck as several dozen missles sailed over him, hitting the large, charging horde of Wendigo's heading their way. He felt the heat of Flare, wincing at the dying howls of a few Behemoths. He got to his feet, blocking the sword of a Blitz. The soldier like monster growled, electricity humming rounds its form threateningly. Seifer smirk and stepped back, turning on his heels and into a crouch as he sliced at the Blitz's legs before it had chance to attack, knocking it on its back. He quickly finished the fiends life before running over to Kiros who had found himself surrounded by Vysage, Lefty and Righty.

He fired a couple of rounds into Righty, watching as the hand-shaped monster flapped around before slumping to the floor, Lefty soon following after a quick attack from Kiros's two blades. Vysage growled casting a powerful chain of Thundaga, Firaga and Haste, the first two spells hitting their mark and causing Seifer and Kiros to stumble back and the last allowed Vysage to recover faster and begin to summon more spells.

Seifer hissed as Curaga slid over his wounds, forcing them to heal as he got to his feet and prepared to attack Vysage. It seemed Kiros was the man target of the spells as it took him longer to recover even with the healing spells Selphie was throwing around like candy. Seifer felt his Overdrive kick in from the near fatal attack and took advantage of it, using Red Cross. Vysage didn't stand a chance.

He helped Kiros from the floor, handing the man his swords back. Kiros nodded his head in thanks, looking grim as a sealed door burst open to reveal twenty-odd Bombs ready and waiting.

"Aw, c'mon! Give us a break!"

"Seify! What do we do?" Selphie asked as the rest of the group gravitated towards the blond; Selphie and Quistis were panting, obviously feeling the strain. Laguna...looked excited, reloading his weapon with quick movements, Ward's Harpoon still had remnants of monsters insides on it and Seifer wrinkled his nose when the large man put the weapon on his shoulder. Zell's gloves were near unrecognisable and Seifer didn't even want to think what they smelt like. Irvine was checking his ammo, his lips silently moving as he counted the rounds, and Kiros was drinking a potion.

They were at a standstill.

"Can't we summon a GF?" Zell whispered, eying the Bombs with distaste. Quistis shook her head.

"No, we could hit each other as well as the monsters because of the cramped conditions." When she said cramped, Quistis meant that if the room didn't have a ceiling, the could summon away to their hearts content.

"Aw, wish we'd brought Tonberry King or Cactuar. They're smaller summons, perfect for these situations." Everyone hummed an agreement with Selphie's statement, all trying to figure a way out of this. Shiva would be so useful right now against the fire elemental fiends but, if they summoned the Ice Deity, they'd all most likely end up with frostbite. Seifer meanwhile narrowed his eyes, there was one more GF they had forgotten about; Odin. The GF was big, sure but could easily fit in this building. But didn't I kill Odin? Seifer bit his lip, a lot of his memories were foggy in places and not foggy enough in others. One of the not so clear memories was when he fought Squall in...well, Lunatic Pandora. He could vaguely remember deflecting Odin's Zantetzuken and counter attacking, watching as Odin collasped, defeated.

"Seifer! What are you doing? We can't summon!" He was knocked out of his thoughts by Quistis's alarmed cry, blinking as symbols swirled around him and then shot towards the ceiling. The room darkened ominiously and everybody shivered and then gaped in shock as Odin descended from the ceiling, his horse neighing threatening at the Bombs while stomp two of its six hooves. Odin unsheathed his mighty sword and charged, galloping past the monsters, seemingly doing nothing. A subtle breeze swept past and then like dominos falling, the monster split in half one after the other until the pieces fell to the floor, adding to the mess already there. Odin's horse neighed once more, standing on it's two back legs before both Odin and his horse disappeared in a swirl of darkness.

The room was silent for a moment as everyone tried to wrap their heads around what just happened.

"...Well that was unexpected." Seifer said and then rolled his eyes as Quistis and Kiros glared at his obvious statement, Selphie and Laguna giggled while Zell and Irvine just sighed, Ward was just his normal apathetic self. The room was silent and peaceful, sounds of the battle down below a dull noise in the background. It seemed Ultimecia had been ready for their arrival and commandered a healthy horde of monsters, just like she did in her creepy, gothic, down right depressing castle in the future. The group took the chance to rest and heal, something Kiros accepted gratefully and collapsed to the floor in an exhuasted heap. Laguna was instantly at his side, mothering him, cracking jokes while Ward stood by as a silent guardian. Even after all these years their friendship was unbreakable.

"How...How did you summon Odin?" Seifer sighed and looked down at an inquisitve Quistis whose eyes were wide with wonder and a bit of suspiscion. He shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Lets just be grateful that he appeared when he did. We would have been screwed if all the Bombs went into Mass Destruction." The strawberry blond nodded and then without anything else to say she went and walked away to see what held Selphie's attention, and by the squeak of horror she let out and the little green creature running from the room, Seifer gathered it was a Tonberry.

"Alright guys, lets find Squall so I can dump you all on him and be rid of ya." Seifer muttered, frowning when everyone laughed, including Zell. And they think I'm joking?

"Now, now Almasy. We all know how much you love them really." Everyone froze and all breathed in a gasp of shock as they turned to the door to see Ellone standing there, a cruel, disgusted smirk curling her features. Seifer was the first to break from his frozen state and snarl angrily, unsheathing Hyperion quickly. This seemed to knock everyone into action and they whipped out their weapons and got into their battle stances. Ellone chuckled and waved her hand dismissively and then the room burst into a flurry of movement.

Seifer barely had chance to think before he was slammed into the ground by a powerful Flare; the others being tossed away with the blast. Seifer coughed, feeling the hot air burning his lungs but he strived to get up, however before he gained his feet tough, dragon scaled leather wrapped round his throat and brought him back to his knee's. His gaze flickered up to meet a smirking Quistis who held the handle of her whip tight. The room was silent, well there was some hissing and cracling from where Flare had caught a few monster corpses, but besides that, it was quiet.

Ellone walked up to the glaring blond, barely making a sound and smirking. She took hold of Seifers jaw, clicking her tongue when Irvine groaned, a few others also voicing that they were alive. Her brown eyes had now adopted an amber glow as she looked Seifer over, smiling cruelly at the various scratches and the long burn down the side of his neck from Flare; it seemed his trench coat got most of the damage.

"Now, I think it's time we had a chat, don't you?"

Seifer glared venomously in reply.

Squall took a step back from the door, trying his best to give the bastard in front of him hypothermia with his glare. McEvoy smirked, taking a step into the room, raising a brow when he noticed he scorched floor, but didn't ask what had caused it, he had more important things to do after all. His mistress had ordered him to get the prisoner and bring him to her while she delt with Seifer and his small army. But he knew by the look in Squall Leonhart's eyes that the man wouldn't come willingly.

"Now, Commander, be a good soldier and come along." Squall hissed back at him, stepping further and further away from the Knight, knowing his was in no shape to fight the man without a weapon, until he nearly tripped over his Griever pendant. He glanced down at the seemingly innocent object and bent down to get it, taking his focus of McEvoy for just a couple of seconds. And that was all McEvoy needed, he lunged forward to take Squall by the arm only find himself hissing in pain when an unbearable bright light surged through the room, the heat sizzling the air with pops and snaps.

McEvoy was forced to stumble back or risk getting third degree burns all over any available skin that wasn't covered by his uniform. He hit the wall with a thud, sucking in a hot breath of air when the metal wall threatened to burn his skin through his jacket. He took a slight step forward, well out of range from the piercing light that had engulfed Squall, but far enough from the wall.

The light fluctated and then bean to draw inwards and turn a soft, pale blue like clear sea ice, it got smaller and smaller until McEvoy saw the outline of his prisoner, however what was in Squall's hand caused the Knight to draw his sword with a quick flourish and snarl like a rabid animal.

Squall blinked, ignoring the bright, negative coloured spots dancing around his vision as he stared open mouth at the item in his hand. The familiar blue metal was warmed and puled brightly as if anticipating battle. From Lionheart's handle Squall's Griever pendant hung proudly, the necklace glinting with unknown magic in the flourescent light. Squall shivered as he felt his energy return with Lionheart in his hands, feeling more at ease than he had the past Hyne knows how many days.

He easily sidestepped McEvoy's attack, his feet dancing over the even blacker floor, he swiped his gunblade in a wide arc, catching McEvoy's blade with a clang. The Knight growled as he was forced to dodge another attack from Squall.

"How is this possible?" He shouted in anger, his lip curling over his teeth when Squall simply muttered a 'whatever' and drove Lionheart forward. McEvoy rolled to the side and swung his blade, catching Squall on the back of his calf though it was hardly anything to worry about, just a tiny scratch. Their blades met again and again as the two soldiers battled in the room, it seemed an even match to an outsider while the truth was McEvoy was not faring well; he had deep cuts along his chest and he was panting heavily like he had ran round the whole outer paramiter of Balamb Garden's lift in an attempt to beat the boy who does it every day without fail. Squall however was fine, a few scratches but nothing else, in fact he was barely breathing hard, an impassive mask on his face.

"Damn it!" McEvoy groaned as he collapsed to one knee, his blade resting harmlessly on the floor as he tried to gather his strength to keep on fighting. Before he could even tighten his grasp on his sword, he found the tip of Lionheart poised threateningly at his throat.

"Yeild. Or die." Squall's voice came out as an ice cold demand and for once McEvoy truly respected the power the young man held. He wasn't facing the teenage soldier, he was facing the SeeD Commander who had defeated Griever and mortally wounded his mistress with out blinking an eye. He threw his sword to the side, hands coming up in surrender, he would be foolish to think he could beat Squall now. He expected Squall to smirk, to silently gloat his victory but he was surprised to the lithe brunette grimace, annoyance and a small amount of pity flashing in those grey/blue eyes as he stepped back, lowering his gunblade to his side.

"Do I need to tell you to stay?" McEvoy was even more shocked at the question, although he answered quickly, shifting to make himself comfortable on the floor. He was going nowhere and it would be foolish for him to try anything.

"No. I am useless to my mistress now. I have failed her. I will wait here for my punishment." Squall faltered just slighty, instantly understanding the hidden meaning behind the older soldiers words and he felt a spark of emotion flitter in his chest but knew it was useless to intefere. He nodded in understanding and headed for the door after picking up his jacket and walked over he threshold. As he walked down the battered hallway, he tried not to think about what the man had subtly implied amongst his defeat; the man would not be alive when Squall sent someone to arrest him. As was the duty of a failed Sorceress Knight.

Squall slashed through a Wendigo, stepping over it's corpse and making his way to where he knew Ragnarok had landed. It was an boring repeat of the same actions; walk, slash, step over and start again. Though he let out a surprised grunt when at a crossroads in the hallway he was tackled into the wall by a blue blur. His head cracked painfully against the metal and those damned annoying sun spots danced before his vision before his gaze focused and he found himself staring into teary brown eyes as Rinoa clutched him tightly by the shoulders.

"Oh, Squall!" Rinoa dragged him into a hug and Squall patted her back in an attempt to sooth her, feeling extremely uncomfortable while doing so. This was why he mainly liked Seifer- he couldn't say he liked Seifer completely because the blond could be a right jackass at times and a little insensitive- atleast the blond understood that you could tough Squall when the brunette wanted you to touch him and now was not one of those times.

"Squall we was so worried! Seifer has been working day and night for you, even arguing with Quistis," Rinoa bit her lip and stepped back, her eyes trailing over Squall's form to see if he was injured, though there was a chance she was simply ogling him while she could. "That woman has been acting so strange, Squall-Squall! Where are you going!"

"Ultimecia is controling Quistis!" Squall barely glanced back at the rapidly paling Rinoa as he sprinted up a flight of stairs and up three floors, following the subtle breeze and scent of fresh air over the smoke and stench of death. He could hear Rinoa behind and also several sets of running feet following him, obviously reinforcements.

Squall burst into the massive antichamber that held Ragnarok, his heart stopping for a moment as sheer ice flowed through his veins at the image before him. Laguna and the others were spread out amongst the ruins, either on their side or on their front and looking as if they were sleeping peacefully. Quistis stood next Seifer, her whip wrapped round his neck and looking as if it was chaffing uncomfortably against the burn on the side of his neck, which was strained panfully at the angle Ellone was holding his jaw, her lips twisted in a small smirk as she turned slightly towards Squall. Squall growled as pure anger chased the fear of his friends and Seifer being hurt. Rinoa was at his side, her pinwheel ready to fly while Angelo skidded to a stop by her side, crouching into a attacking manner.

"Ultimecia! Let them go. Your...disagreement is with me." Squall held tightly onto his precious blade, the weapon glowing in answer to his anger. Ellone chuckled but did as her told and flicked her hand. The reaction was instant, Quistis eyes fluttered and she swayed dangerously on the spot, her whip loosening until it slid from Seifers shoulders who quickly turned on his knees and caught the strawberry blond in his arms as she lost consciousness. Squall spared them a glance before stepping forward until he was near touching distance from Ellone and stared fearlessly into amber glowing eyes.

"I know where your 'jewel' is.."

Ellone just grinned...

A/N: Yeah, I noticed my writing style changed a little half way through but never mind. Again I apologise if anything is this chapters upset anybody :/ Either way let me know what you think and if you're confused just tell me and I'll do my best to explain. Big giant marshmellows in the shape of Griever to those who review! :)