Chapter 14: Trapped

Lady Sylphia looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't ready to face the day. She thought she was a few weeks ago. She kept on asking herself how it got so complicated but the answers turn out to be harder to find. A few weeks ago, her mission was simple - go to Timber, announce something on TV, go back to her hometown. It was a chance to travel to the other regions of Galbadia. Now, she got to travel the world, but she didn't enjoy one moment of it. She felt trapped.

She tied her long silver hair into a single braid as she imagined the possible scenarios that this day could give her. She wore and emerald dress that ended at her shin and a forest green bolero jacket. Two strands of her silver hair frame her face and she wore adamantine earrings on both her ears. She decided it was best not to put on heavy make-up for the TV. It would be better to see the sorceress as a fresh and innocent girl than an intimidating witch. To add to her innocent facade, she pulled the long braid to her back and secured it with a white ribbon. She smiled a small smile and sighed a deep sigh.

She heard a knock on her door.

"It's open." said the sorceress.

Louie Leonhart, the leader of the SeeD troupes that was to accompany her to Timber, let himself in her quarters. Being a special guest, she got to stay in the only bedroom in the secret space in the mansion. She insisted on everyone staying with her in the room, but everyone just gave it to her willingly. They were right, anyway. She needed the private time to compose her thoughts. Louie insisted she do her speech alone for it was the original mission but helped her in her speech regarding the crimes against humanity that is done to sorceresses.

"Hey. Are you okay?" asked the leader.

The sorceress turned around. "Yeah. I'm okay." she forced a smile upon her lips.

Louie sighed. "Listen. We're all right behind you when you do your speech, okay? You don't have to worry."

"Louie can you do me favor?"

"Anything."

"If... something happens... to me..."

"Nothing is going to happen to you, Sylphia." Louie comforted the worried sorceress.

"Just in case. Take my powers. Do not let anyone else suffer what we are going through right now."

"Sylphia."

"Please."

Louie sighed again. He smiled a comforting smile. "Okay. I will."

"Thank you."

"Are you ready to go?"

The sorceress nodded. Louie opened the door to the main hall and there, waiting for the sorceress, were her friends. She has learned to like each and every single one of them. She admired Louie's radicalism and she always found comfort in knowing that someone else understands her. She liked Celine's carefree attitude and how she can always make you happy just by smiling at you. She was fond of Elaine's frank personality and admired and sometimes envied her tough girl behavior. She wondered how Dash kept his energy so high up all the time and admired how curious he was. He reminded her of the children back home. She adored Krystof's beautiful heterochromic eyes that gave him this mysterious aura that will fade once you get to know his kind and gentle heart.

And then there was Carlos Almasy. The sorceress knew she had feelings for him from the moment he consoled her in the flower fields. He meant a lot to her and she's guessing it goes both ways. She knew her parents could never comprehend why she felt this way with the young man. She could never comprehend it herself. She didn't know if it was love, lust or some other more complex emotion that no one else has experienced. She did know one thing, though. It was that she felt safe with him around. It's as if he could protect her from herself and from threats outside. With all the confusion about what and how she felt, she was certain of only one thing - that Carlos Almasy was her knight.

She smiled at her knight and walked towards him. Everybody knew there was something going on between the two but no one bothered to ask. Her knight stood from his seat.

"Let's go?" asked Carlos.

She nodded.

With that, Louie typed in a secret code on the touchscreen system beside the door. He then removed his black leather gloves and imprinted his thumb mark on the surface provided. The sound of the stairs echoed through the walls. After a few seconds, the door flung open and the stairs lit up. From the top of the stairs was Jonas, waiting for all of them.

"Your grandfather has prepared lunch for all of you." said Jonas. The party walked through the halls of the second floor, down the stairs and to the main dining room, where General Fury Caraway was waiting for them with a feast in the table. The party dug in to the food as quickly as they can. They had a very light breakfast because they had to get ready afterwards. The lunch was like a relief from all the stress they were having, preparing for this mission.

After the lunch, the parties got into the armored personnel carriers that was waiting for them outside the city. They utilized the same system they used on the SeeD exam. One vehicle will be the escort team and one vehicle will be the convoy team. The escort team consists of Carlos, Sylphia and Elaine, with Elaine driving while the convoy team consists of Louie, Celine and Krys with Louie driving.

The drive to Timber was relatively easy. There were no flat tire traps and other attempts to stop the infiltration. As the parties passed Obel Lake, Sylphia spoke "I've always loved Obel Lake. I don't even know why." The people in the escort team smiled. It was nice to see Sylphia get her mind off the impending strike. She was starting to relax. Carlos smiled and held her hand.

The trouble began after parking the vehicles. A welcoming committee of high-ranking Galbadian soldiers were all barricading the gates to Timber. There were no Iron Clads but the soldiers obviously increased their numbers.

"Junction now. Hell will break lose in a minute." said Louie as he shifted gears to park. The escort team was the first to come out of their vehicle, followed by the convoy team. The whole team gazed upon the threat that was stationed in the far gates.

"Ready?" Louie said as he tightened his black leather gloves. He wore a short sleeve black jacket over a white v-neck shirt. His Griever necklace hung loose on his neck and three brown belts were wrapped around his left forearm. His black leather pants matched his black jacket and shoes. He took a deep breath as he grabbed the Revolver.

"Now or never, Leonhart." Carlos replied. He wore a white shirt with long sleeves and the red Cross of St. James insignia on its back and black pants with black shoes. He tightened his black cotton gloves and grabbed the Hyperion from his belt compartment.

"Now, bitches." Louie smiled as they ran to the battlefield.

The first thing that happened absolutely shocked everybody. Lady Sylphia was floating in the sky with green harpie-like wings on her back. The soldiers were stunned. Celine saw it as an opportunity to attack. She switched the silencer mode on and started firing at stunned soldiers. One by one the soldiers fell out of their stupor as residue gun powder stuck to her white tank top and black shorts.

Lady Sylphia cast a huge tornado spell and the soldiers were literally blown away just like they were on the SeeD exam. Elaine grasped her Gladius tightly swung her left arm. The blade flew out of the handle and hit one of the soldiers. Then as quickly as it flew, the blade was pulled by a chain.

"What was that?" asked Celine when she saw Elaine's new skill.

"I had an upgrade." Elaine smiled. Her green miniskirt flew in the wind as she took out one soldier after another with her newly upgraded daggers. Her orange shirt was wet with the enemy's blood but she didn't care. She just wanted this to be over.

They all did.

Louie summoned a huge gravity spell that sent a troop of soldiers flying through the air, clearing a path to the gates of Timber. The party rushed inside before the soldiers blocked the gate again. They were in Timber now, the heart of the beast.

Krys and Celine fired backwards as they ran through the streets of Timber. One by one they see soldiers that they didn't hit falling to the ground. The two gunners looked up and saw hundreds of masked civilians at the top of the buildings, wielding guns and arrows to help them. Celine smiled at one shooter and the sharpshooter waved back.

"Guys. Look up. Their helping us." said Celine. The party looked up and saw the shooters, all wearing masks with Timber's insignia on them. Their faces are hidden but their spirit is clearly visible. It is obvious that they hate the guts of these Galbadian soldiers.

The resistance. Louie thought. He made a small salute to the gunners before casting a spell by raising his right hand and quickly forcing it to fall. After a moment, a meteor the size of a couch fell between the Soldiers and the invading party. This bought them time to actually run to the TV station.

When the party reached the TV station, two GIM47N's, an Iron Clad and a whole lot of soldiers were waiting for them. They stopped and there was a momentary silence between the two parties.

The infiltrating party panted. They were all tired and out of breath but they had to keep going. There were only a few more steps. From above the stairs, they see shadows of people with masks ready to fire once the onslaught begins. Lady Sylphia withdrew her wings and brought herself down.

It was time.

Celine placed her finger on her head. Out of nowhere, gold dust started to rain on the TV Station. The soldiers realized that the SeeDs were summoning so they started to attack. Swords were flung and guns were fired all around. The party tried to make their way through the soldiers with their weapons and magic. Once in a while, gold dust envelops one particular soldier and disappears with him. It was Celine's GF, Midas.

Sylphia started to fly again. Something was noticeably different about her, though. Her wings started to have different colors and her arms look like they had feathers on them. She unleashed a strong tornado spell that wiped out half of the soldiers. Carlos summoned Cerberus and gave everybody Triple Magic. Louie started casting triple Thundaga spells, damaging the Iron Clad severely. As usual, Celine and Kys would let their bullets get inflicted with Louie's thunder spells and hit the Iron Clad for major damage.

Krystof Kinneas unleashed bullet after bullet on the soldiers. He was worried they were a bit rusty from all the rest they had in Centra and Deling but his worries dissipated when he saw they were going somewhere. That was until he saw Louie's jacket ripped and blood oozing from a fresh wound from what seemed like a sword. Carlos had a gunshot wound on his right shin and is starting to feel the adrenaline rush fade away. Elaine was having a hard time fighting one persistent soldier and another one was coming up behind her. Sylphia's spells were going weaker as she started giving in to the exhaustion. Celine's bullets were running out and she can't find a place to hide to reload. Sweat was building up on her forehead as she endured recoil after recoil from her silver barrel guns. These troops were too many for them.

They had just reached the second level of the TV Station when the gunshots stopped. One by one the soldiers started to retreat to the ground floor. It was a curious case. The soldiers were actually winning. It was pointless for them to retreat.

Never mind. Krys thought.

The infiltrating party ran to the TV station. They all knew something wasn't right with how the soldiers suddenly stopped attacking them, but they didn't care anymore. They just wanted to get this over with. Waiting for them in the TV Station was someone they expected to be there, at the same time they didn't expect her to be there.

It was Lamia Brasque.

"Ah. The SeeDs." said the woman. Lamia noticed Louie at the center of the team. He was wounded and panting. His hands gripped his revolver tightly but was obviously shaking from exhaustion. Sweat glistened on his face and his hair was a mess.

"Poor child. Listen to me. You are all just children. This is way too complicated for you to handle."

"We are SeeDs and we have an oath to our client. We will do what we can to fullfill this oath." Louie spoke.

"No need, child. I just want to make things clear." the woman walked closer to the young Leonhart. "I will agree to let your sorceress speak in public in one condition."

"And what is that?" asked Carlos Almasy.

"Remove your junctions."

"What?! You gotta be kidding me, lady! No way are we gonna let our guard down." replied Louie.

"Look at you. You're wounded. We could've killed all of you if we wanted to, but we let you live. This is all just a pathetic attempt at a game you know you are going to lose. SeeD has nothing against Galbadia or Esthar. If I were you I would abandon your mission as soon as the treaty between the two superpowers were signed. But stubborn as you are, you continued to support this child in her useless advocacy. Pity, really. You are such strong warriors. But apparently, not strong enough to handle our armies."

Where is she going with this? Isn't she supposed to be totally against sorceresses? Especially Sylphia? What is happening? Why is she not mentioning either sorceresses, my mother, Matron or Sylphia? Louie thought.

"All I'm asking is for you to un-junction the GFs that you are taking for granted and we'll let the little pest speak."

Sylphia's mouth flew open. She was offended.

"Fine. We'll do it. For Lady Sylphia." Louie finally decided as he took a deep breath. As one last action before un-junctioning, he cast a Curaga spell on the entire party. He then touched his head. He started to feel weaker and weaker until he no longer felt the support given by Leviathan. His teammates did the same.

"Now, Lady Sylphia, is it?" Lamia walked towards Sylphia. Carlos tensed up. "Relax, cadet. I'll just talk to the sorceress."

What is this woman doing? thought Louie.

"What exactly do you plan to tell the world, miss sorceress?"

"I plan to tell the world to stop believing in all your bullcrap!"

"Such strong language for a little child. Don't you see, Sylphia? You've proven our point. How many soldiers have you taken down in your infiltration to Timber? It's a disaster, really. You plan to call for peace, yet you're the one who's causing the war."

"That is not true."

"Oh yes, it is true, dear. If you hadn't planned to storm Timber in the first place, all of this wouldn't have happened. Now hundreds are dead. People are scared and it's all because of you."

"You're lying."

"Lying? Honey, take a look around. Maybe you haven't seen the chaos you've caused while you were in hiding. You caused the war, Sylphia." Lamia mentioned for the camera to start rolling. Sylphia looked intently on the eyes of Lamia Brasque. The cameras started filming just as soon as Sylphia unleashed a spell on Lamia. The woman flew to the right.

Louie's eyes widened. He suddenly realized what all of this was.

Sylphia breathed heavily. Her wings unfolded and her gaze locked on Lamia Brasque. Her arms had visible green feathers on them and her face had dark markings. She spoke but her voice was darker.

"YOU DARE TELL YOUR LIES TO MY FACE?! IF YOU WANT ME TO BE THE MONSTER THAT YOU INSIST i AM, THEN HERE IT IS! I AM SORCERESS SYLPHIA AND YOU SHALL FEAR THE TRUE POWER THAT HYNE HAS GIVEN ME. SORCERESSES AREN'T MEANT TO BE LOCKED UP ON SOME SITE IN ESTHAR. HOW DARE YOU TELL US WHERE TO GO, AND WHAT TO DO."

She started floating. Strong winds started to ravage the small set. Equipments came flying and the camera started shaking profusely, blurring the image.

"It's a trap!" Louie shouted. Celine and Carlos snapped out of their daze and tried to stop Lady Sylphia, to no avail. Krys quickly tuend the camera off and Elaine helped Lamia Brasque up. Celine and Carlos flew to the air as their attempt to stop the angered sorceress backfired.

"Sylphia, please calm down! It's me, Carlos. Please. This is not you. This is not the Sylphia I know!" Carlos shouted through the vortex.

"Louie, do something!" Elaine shouted as the winds got stronger. Louie was panicking. It seems like they had no choice. The camera was off and the only witness would be Lamia Brasque. He had no choice.

White feather wings with four sharp protrusions each side materialized from Louie's back. It was a different set of wings but Louie's power grew magnificently. Louie started floating. His wings balancing the winds on the set. He folded his forearms forcefully. Sylphia's wings folded and the winds stopped. Louie withdrew his wings and fell to the ground.

Lamia Brasque ran to the exit.

Carlos ran towards Sylphia. The sorceress was sobbing.

"I failed."

"No. We fell for the trap. We failed you, Sylphia."

"I'm sorry." the sorceress said one last time before unfolding her wings and flying through the roof of the TV station, leaving her friends wondering where she went.