Chapter 27

Getting Scared

(Rinoa)

"I'm not sure about this," Squall said. He folded his arms in front of his chest and stared at Ellone coolly. "I'd rather not take any risks right now. Let's just stick with what we know for sure."

"Yeah," Rinoa said, standing beside Squall. "We shouldn't take chances."

The three stood in the cockpit of the Ragnarok, while a handful of trained Esthar pilots moved around the room, monitoring the ship's systems and ensuring that everything was working properly. At the front, in the pilot's chair, a soldier guided the Ragnarok on its course towards D-District Prison. Bright blue sky and wispy white clouds hurled past the front window.

Despite the speed and the massive machinery that was propelling the ship through the air, the cockpit felt motionless and emitted only a faint high-pitched whine that Rinoa could easily forget about if she didn't pay attention to it.

Ellone stood off to the side, holding the two items she'd received from Dr. Odine moments before they left Esthar. In her right hand was a black- and white-banded bracelet, nearly as thick around as Rinoa's thumb. She knew it was an Odine Bangle, a somewhat rare artifact produced shortly after the end of the Sorceress War that was said to nullify a sorceress' power. To keep the bracelet from sliding off, it could be snapped shut with no visible way to open it again once it was on.

In Ellone's left hand was a small ring. The ring was an even newer piece of technology, a prototype for a design Odine hoped to produce more of later. The ring was a series of small wires and tiny transistors wrapped in hard, transparent plastic. Where a gemstone would be fitted in an ordinary ring, this ring instead had a square green circuit board.

"But if it helps me connect to people like Doctor Odine said it would," Ellone said. "Then it might help me connect with Ciel. What if this ring helps me connect to her without first getting to know her? Or what if I can connect with anyone, anywhere with this ring? The whole mission would be simplified."

"True," Squall said, his expression not changing. "But that's an untested prototype. What if it somehow interferes with your power and you can't connect at all? Then the mission would be ruined. It's too big of a risk."

"I don't think it can hurt me once I take it off," Ellone said. "Just let me try it. I have to know."

Squall sighed, but then finally nodded. "Okay, but let me put it on first, just to see if there are any side effects."

Ellone set the Odine Bangle on top of an unused terminal in the cockpit and then handed the ring over to Squall. With one hand, he grabbed the fingertip of his right glove and peeled it off, exposing the pale white skin beneath. He tucked his glove into his pocket and then set the ring around his index finger. It was a little too wide, and hung loosely. He brought it up to his face, examining it.

"Feel anything?" Rinoa asked.

Squall shrugged. "I don't feel any different." He turned to Ellone. "Try connecting with me."

Ellone nodded. She lowered her head and clasped her hands in front of her waist. After a moment, Squall winced and gripped his forehead with the palm of his hand. He sunk down to his knees, then fell over to his side, unconscious. Even though Rinoa had watched Squall succumb to Ellone's power several times before, it was still unnerving to watch. She was always afraid that this time something would go wrong. That Ellone would be unable to sever the connection and Squall would be trapped in the past forever.

Rinoa bit her lip as the seconds ticked by. Ellone unclasped her hands and opened her eyes. A few seconds later, Squall's eyes fluttered open and, clutching his head once again, he rose to his feet. Rinoa stared at him worriedly.

"Seemed normal enough," Squall said. "Did you feel that it was easier to connect or anything?"

Ellone shook her head. "It felt the same."

"Maybe it's a dud," Squall said. He plucked the ring off his finger and handed it back to Ellone.

"We'll see," Ellone said. She took the ring from Squall and held it between her fingers, contemplating it for a moment. She eventually summoned up the courage, then slipped it on her finger. There didn't seem to be any immediate or obvious effects, so Squall motioned to have her try to connect with him again.

Ellone shut her eyes, bowed her head, and clasped her hands together. The very instant she completed this ritual, her knees buckled beneath her as if she'd been struck. She put the palms of her hands into her eyes, her fingers raking at her forehead.

"Ow ow ow ow," she said, moaning and shaking her head. Her body rocked side to side.

"Sis!" Squall said, kneeling down beside her and throwing an arm around her shoulder. "Sis! Are you okay?"

Ellone's eyes snapped open and she snatched the ring off her finger and tossed it across the cockpit. It bounced off a wall and clattered across the floor before settling at Rinoa's feet. Ellone went limp, falling into Squall's arms and whimpering.

"Sis!" Squall said, shaking her shoulders. "Sis!"

"I-I'm okay," Ellone said, her voice a shaking whisper. "I'm okay."

Rinoa looked down at the ring at her feet. She bent over and picked it up, holding it in the palm of her hand. Squall was busy asking Ellone some questions and didn't notice what Rinoa was doing. She continued to gaze at the ring, perplexed.

(It's just a machine.)

She held it up towards the window, where the light was brighter. She could see red, yellow, and green wires—each no thicker than a strand of hair—looping through the ring. She angled the top of the ring towards herself, gazing at the circuit board on top. There were designs and devices on the circuit board that she couldn't recognize. She thought it was strange that a simple little machine made from wires and computer parts could have such an effect on Ellone. Rinoa turned and looked at Squall and Ellone.

Squall was gently helping Ellone back to her feet. She seemed to have recovered greatly in the past few seconds. She nodded and Squall and smiled, then held out her hand to show that she could stand by herself. Squall released her shoulders, but still kept his arms hovering around her in case she suddenly collapsed again.

"Are you okay?" Rinoa asked.

Ellone exhaled wearily, then nodded. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine. The ring's effects stopped when I took it off."

Curiosity itched in the back of Rinoa's mind. The ring had no effect on Squall, but yet had struck Ellone with a crippling headache. She felt a little nervous holding it in her hand, like it was a venomous insect that could sting or bite her if she startled it. She wished that they had taken more time to ask Dr. Odine what the ring was supposed to do, how it was meant to work, and what mechanisms drove its power.

Whatever the ring was, it had power. Rinoa had started to become distrustful of power in the past few weeks, especially power she did not understand.

(Well… the ring didn't hurt Ellone until she tried to connect with Squall.)

(So it should be alright if I just put it on for a second.)

"Hey," Rinoa said. "I wanna try something."

Squall shot her a nervous glance, already opening his mouth to protest, but Rinoa slipped the ring onto her index finger before he could say anything. At the same time, her mind—which was still contemplating the workings of the ring—happened to think about when and where they had received the ring from Dr. Odine.

(I remember we were at

the Esthar Airstation.)

And now she is there.

The confines of the Ragnarok's cockpit have vanished, replaced by the endless blue sky of Esthar. Around her are the blue-glass web of the city streets, the towering skyscrapers with their odd architecture, and the smell of electricity in the air.

Esthar Airstation is relatively small despite the city's sprawling size. There are very few civilians who own airships of any kind, and even the richest citizens only possess one or two small aircrafts for short range trips. Esthar's continued isolation from the world makes them wary of the skies. There are three massive circular platforms in the airstation, one for each of the three spaceships that Esthar had built to launch Adel's Tomb into orbit. Of the three, only the Ragnarok has ever come back from its mission.

It sits patiently on the nearest platform, like a red dragon frozen as it was about to pounce on its prey. Rinoa is walking beside Squall and Ellone. Beside them is President Laguna, talking loudly and gesturing broadly with his hands. Occasionally, Squall twitches when one of Laguna's hands accidentally swings too close to his face. Laguna doesn't seem to notice.

They are flanked on all sides by Esthar soldiers, marching in tight formation. Some are there only to escort the President, while the others are going to accompany Squall, Rinoa, and Ellone on their mission to Galbadia.

(Wait.)

(I remember this.)

Rinoa tries to look down at herself, but finds that her head is fixed forward, her eyes soaking in the massive frame of the Ragnarok. She feels the same way she did when Ellone sent her back into Adel's past—like a passenger in someone else's body. Only this time, she is in her own body. She can feel her familiar legs walking down the hard glass floor, her comfortable boots rubbing against her feet. Everything about her is the same.

(I'm in my own past.)

(Weird.)

Everything is unfolding exactly as she remembers, as if someone had made an impossibly detailed movie about her life and was showing it to her. She—her past self—looks down and adjusts the hem of her shirt. She cannot hear the thoughts of her past self, but she recalls that her shirt had gone crooked and needed to be straightened. Her past self looks up and makes eye contact with the Ragnarok, almost defiantly.

(And this is where Dr. Odine came in.)

Her timing is a little off. The group proceeds for another few steps before Odine's accented voice cuts through the air behind them.

"WAAAAAAIT!" he hollers. The group comes to a stop and turns around. Past Rinoa spins around, annoyed by the doctor's interruption. She narrows her eyes as the oddly dressed man shuffles down the walkway, taking bizarrely short strides. He keeps his arms pinned to his sides as he runs. He catches up to the group and then pauses to huff and puff for a few seconds.

"You vill need Odine's brilliant mind for zis mission," Dr. Odine says at last. "I come to offer my services."

"You're not coming with," Squall says. "And how'd you find out about the mission anyway?"

Odine hopped up and down and shook a furious finger in Squall's face. "Nothing escapes Odine's ears! Nothing! I know you go after Timber Sorceress! You still owe me a sorceress for testing! Zis sorceress should be mine!"

(He's even sillier the second time around.)

Squall frowns. "We don't 'owe' you a human test subject."

Odine makes a face and waves his hands around. "Semantics! You are planning to bring her to me when you get back to Esthar, correct?"

Squall takes a moment to answer. Then he says, "Maybe."

"MAYBE?" Odine says as he becomes—quite literally—hopping mad. "Who else in ze world has ze knowledge and technology to handle a sorceress? No one! It iz Odine or no one!"

Squall holds his ground. "We don't know yet. She may prove to be an ally. And if we're going to have any chance of convincing her to join our side, then we can't hand her over to you to be tested like a lab rat."

"My lab rats are very well taken care of!" Odine says, offended. "Ask anyone! Those rats live better than my assistants!"

"You're not coming with, Doctor," Squall says. "You'll just upset the sorceress and make it harder for us to do our job."

Odine spins around to face Laguna. "Wimpy president! Arrest him for standing in ze way of science and progress!"

Laguna smirks and shakes his head. "Nope. I totally agree with Squall here. You should stay in your lab where you belong."

Odine's face turns red. "AND YOU SHOULD STAY OUT OF MY BUSINESS! Lunatic Pandora iz coming to Esthar and I need a new test subject. Since black-haired girl won't be my test subject, then I need a someone else. Simple as zat!"

"Why?" Squall asks. "Do sorceresses have something to do with the Lunatic Pandora?"

"Maybe!" Odine says, spinning around to face Squall. "But how can I know for sure without a sorceress to test on? Hmm? Didn't think of zat, did you?"

"I can't make any promises," Squall says. "But if we can't get her to cooperate, then perhaps we can work out a deal with you. But even if we decide to hand her over, we're not just going to let you treat her like an animal."

Odine mumbles under his breath. After a moment, he reaches into his pockets and produces two items—a ring and a bracelet—which he shoves rudely into Ellone's hands. She accepts them out of reflex, staring confusedly at the others.

"Fine," Odine said. "Take these. I give you an Odine Bangle and an Odine Ring. Ze bangle will suppress ze sorceress' powers, and ze ring will enhance Ellone's powers. Ze Odine Ring is a new invention made only just yesterday. Iz stunning new prototype at the cutting edge of science. Zey will help you capture ze Timber Sorceress. You may thank me when you come back. Now bring me a sorceress!"

With that, Odine spins around and shuffles back towards his lab, muttering curses and threats under his breath. Laguna smirks awkwardly and rubs the back of his head.

"Man, it kinda worries me that he knew about the mission," Laguna says. "I might hafta up security around my office or somethin'. I dunno."

(I should go back now.)

(How do I take this ring off?)

Her eyes opened. She was staring at the blank ceiling of the Ragnarok's cockpit. She could feel the hard floor on the backs of her legs and arms. Her upper body was resting on Squall's legs. Squall's hand cradled her head, gently trying to shake her awake.

"Rinoa!" he said. His eyes were full of panic.

"I'm alright," Rinoa said, blinking. "I'm alright."

She had a slight twinge of a headache, but nothing compared to what she always felt whenever Ellone connected to her. Rinoa turned her head and raised her hand. To her surprise, the ring was no longer on her finger. It was resting on the floor beside her.

"Why did you do that?" Squall asked. "You saw what it did to Ellone!"

"I figured…" Rinoa started. But she couldn't complete the sentence.

(Why did I put the ring on?)

(Curiosity?)

"I-I dunno," Rinoa said. "I was curious, I guess."

Squall sighed. "But you're alright?"

"Yeah, just a little disoriented," Rinoa said. She rubbed her temple with one hand. Already the headache had faded, leaving her with nothing more than a feeling of tiredness, as if she'd been napping.

Squall looked away from her and glared at the ring. He lifted Rinoa up into a sitting position and then snatched the ring off the floor, careful to use his gloved hand rather than his bare one. He shoved the ring into his pocket and got to his feet.

"I'm going to hold on to this for now," Squall said. "I was the only one unaffected, so I should carry it. Or hell, maybe we should just destroy it now. We can't afford to have it acting up in the middle of the mission."

Rinoa still sat on the floor, trying to get her bearings.

"I don't… well, I mean, it didn't hurt me," Rinoa said. She looked up at Squall. "It sent me into the past, like Ellone does."

Squall exchanged a glance with Ellone. She seemed confused and shook her head. Squall took his glove out of his pocket and placed it back onto his hand, staring at the floor pensively.

"Odine's going to want to know about that," Squall said. "I don't think that's what he meant for it to do."

Before they could continue the conversation any further, the pilot of the Ragnarok turned around in his seat, his hands still clutching the controls.

"We'll be at D-District soon," he said, his voice muffled by his helmet.

"Good," Squall said. "Gather all the soldiers and have them meet me in the passenger bay for a quick briefing." He turned and faced Ellone and Rinoa. "I don't know what this ring does, but let's not mess with it for now. Let's just focus on the mission, okay?"

Ellone and Rinoa nodded.

"Come on," Squall said. He grabbed the Odine Bangle and shoved it in his pocket. He walked to the back of the bridge, where there was a small personnel elevator that could support about four to five people. Ellone and Rinoa stood beside him on the elevator. After a moment, the elevator jerked as its supports disengaged, and it sunk to the lower level.

In the next room, they turned to the right and entered through an automatic sliding door. Rinoa looked around at the passenger bay.

The Ragnarok was not designed to be a transportation vehicle, so its passenger bay was relatively small and could only seat about a dozen people. The front window was wide, and offered the same view of sky and clouds that they saw when they were back in the bridge. The three walked to the front of the passenger bay and waited for the soldiers to arrive. Soon the room was full and Squall began.

"Let's go over the plan one more time," Squall said, "To make sure that there's no confusion."

Sitting in the numerous single person bucket seats in the passenger bay were fifteen Esthar soldiers. Three android soldiers were at the back of the room, near the door. They did not need to sit down or rest or hear the mission details. Everything they needed to know had already been programmed into their AI in advance. They stood silently, waiting for their next lines of code to be triggered.

The human soldiers shifted restlessly in their seats as their nerves about the upcoming battle began to show. The robots, however, stood perfectly, inhumanly still. They clutched their rifles and posed identically, like mannequins at a department store. Rinoa glanced at them from the corner of her eye and got a chill.

(They look so real…)

The only visible difference between the robots and the humans was their uniforms. The android models had darker gray uniforms with deep blue visors and joint pads, while the rest of the army wore much lighter colors. Aside from that, it was nearly impossible to see the difference.

"D-District Prison has two default positions," Squall said, addressing the soldiers. "It can emerge from the sand several stories so that prisoners cannot escape from the top, or it can bury itself underground to make it impossible for the prisoners to escape from the bottom. Fortunately, we're attacking by air, so its position doesn't matter to us. Our plan won't change in either scenario."

He took a breath, then continued. "Our objective is to rescue the Timber Sorceress and Seifer Almasy." He couldn't hide the mild distaste in his voice when he said Seifer's name. "If all goes well after the completion of the primary objective, we will conduct a search of the prison to ensure that there aren't any other sorceresses there. If there are, we'll rescue them as well. In terms of temperament, the Timber Sorceress is an unknown variable, but we assume that she's going to cooperate with the rescue mission. Seifer, on the other hand, will possibly pose a threat to the operation, even as we attempt to rescue him. For that reason, we've brought along Ellone, to knock him out in case he decides to resist."

Ellone smiled and nodded at the others when her name was mentioned, but only one or two of the soldiers bothered to glance at her. One of the soldiers raised a hand, then spoke.

"If Seifer's hostile, why are we bothering to help him?" the soldier asked.

"Seifer knows sensitive information concerning sorceresses," Squall said. "There's a chance he might know sensitive information about sorceresses and Esthar. Things we don't want him repeating to the Galbadian government. It's best for us if the Galbadians don't have him in their custody."

The soldier nodded, satisfied by Squall's answer.

"The operation will proceed as follows," Squall said. "Our first objective is to gain entry into the prison. Regardless of whether the prison is buried or not, the pilot has orders to hover near the entrance and deposit the entry team onto the prison. Meanwhile, the pilot, Ellone, two regular soldiers, and one android will stay aboard the Ragnarok to protect Ellone and the ship. The Ragnarok will then fly out of gunfire range, but stay close enough to receive transmissions from us in the prison.

"Our next objective is to disable the prison's anti-magic field." Squall nodded to a soldier seated up front. "You're one hundred percent sure that you can disable the field?"

"Oh, definitely," the soldier said, nodding. "G-Tech is embarrassingly primitive. If we can't disable the system manually, we can jam the field with this little guy." He waggled a glowing blue box in his hand. "And if that doesn't work, we'll just smash up their generator. In any case, the field won't be a problem."

Squall nodded. "Good. The rest of us will provide support for the tech team while they work to disable the field. We are not to proceed with the mission until that field is down. Once it is, the tech team and one android will stay behind to make sure that the Galbadians don't try to restore power to the system. If they can, they should also prevent the guards from releasing their stock of monsters into the main shafts. The rest of us will then fight our way into the prison and recover Seifer and the sorceress. Be aware that although Seifer is likely to be unarmed, he'll have access to his magic and Guardian Forces once the anti-magic field is down. Treat him with caution. Same goes for the sorceress."

Squall put his hands behind his back, a pose Rinoa had seen Headmaster Cid take when he was speaking to students. "If everything is going well, we can continue to search for other sorceresses once Seifer and Ciel are secured. If things go poorly, we'll leave with just Seifer and the Timber Sorceress. It's highly unlikely that there are other sorceresses in the prison, so searching for them is a low priority.

"As our last resort—if Seifer or the Timber Sorceress prove to be uncooperative—Ellone is prepared to send them into a temporary trance, rendering them helpless. We can simply carry them back to the Ragnarok in this state. She already knows Seifer, so forging the connection with him will be easy." He turned to Ellone. "How do you feel about connecting with the sorceress?"

Ellone shrugged. "I don't know. I've been watching that video clip of her on the ship's monitor, but I've never tried connecting with a person that I only know from TV. It might not work."

"It's still better than nothing," Squall said. "When Seifer and the sorceress are in hand, we will then rejoin with the tech team outside. From there, we contact the Ragnarok and secure our retreat. Based on what I remember of the prison, I estimate a total operation time of ten or fifteen minutes, if everything goes as planned. Any questions?"

Ellone raised her hand. "What if Seifer and the sorceress fight back?" she asked. "I can only connect with one at a time."

"In that case, focus on the sorceress," Squall said. "She's the more dangerous of the two. Let me and Rinoa handle Seifer."

Rinoa pursed her lips. It wouldn't be the first time she had fought Seifer. Or even the second or third time. But there was always something deeply unsettling about it. Granted, she hadn't grown up in the orphanage with the others, but she'd still once had a connection with Seifer and no matter how deranged Seifer became, Rinoa could never forget their shared past. She had once felt strong feelings towards him, and it was always difficult to set those aside and fight.

(Still, I'll do what I have to.)

Another soldier in the group raised his hand. Squall pointed at him.

"What kind of resistance are we expecting?" the soldier asked. "How well prepared are the Galbadians?"

"Security at the prison is surprisingly lax," Squall said. "D-District depends heavily on its unique design and its anti-magic field in order to hold prisoners. The security staff itself consists mostly of lower rank G-Soldiers and a few wardens. In an emergency, they'll flood the main shafts with monsters to frighten and intimidate prisoners, but that's about all they can do. Myself and five others were able to escape easily without any outside help, so I'm not anticipating much trouble with security, especially once the anti-magic field is disabled. I'm honestly more concerned about Seifer and the sorceress than I am about any of the Galbadians."

The intercom on the ship came to life. There was a crackling hiss over the nearby speakers for a few seconds, until the pilot spoke.

"D-District is in sight," the pilot said over the speaker. "We're landing in two minutes."

Squall nodded to the soldiers. "Entry team into the boarding ramp," he said. "And good luck."

The majority of the soldiers got out of their chairs and rushed for the back door. Two other soldiers—members of the tech team—scrambled over to the androids and used remote control terminals to input last-minute orders for each of the three robots. Rinoa watched the robots suspiciously, refusing to trust anything that could kill on demand, but could not think for itself.

The three androids were nearly twenty years old each. After Laguna overthrew Adel and took over as Esthar's president, he declared that the androids were "creepy" and refused to fund their construction. But at the same time, the robots looked too human for him to order their destruction, so he simply placed them all in storage for the past two decades. These three androids had only recently been removed from their storage units and powered up.

(Who knows how they'll act?)

After receiving their orders from their handlers, the androids came to life. Their actions were very humanoid, yet there was something uncanny about them. Their movements were too precise, the paths they traveled were too efficient, their balance and coordination were unnatural, and they raised their knees too high when they walked.

(Gotta agree with Laguna on this one.)

(They're creepy.)

One android moved to stand near Ellone, offering her silent protection. Ellone did not appear to be very comforted. The other two androids followed after the other soldiers and headed into the boarding ramp, clutching their rifles with mechanical precision. The tech team members stayed close to the androids, monitoring their vital data on handheld monitors to ensure that they were functioning properly after their years in storage.

"Let's go," Squall said to Rinoa, nodding his head towards the door. Rinoa took a deep breath.

"Be careful, you two," Ellone said.

"We will!" Rinoa said, trying her best to sound optimistic. Together, Rinoa and Squall headed out the back of the passenger bay and into the boarding ramp.

Rinoa's role in the mission was unusual. Being a sorceress, she was easily the most powerful member of the entire operation, even eclipsing the power of the three androids. She could help out with the initial attack on the prison, but would then become completely useless once they got inside and she fell under the power of the anti-magic field. Once inside the prison, she would become almost totally dependent on Squall and the others to fight for her until the field was down.

She used to have a weapon, a wrist-mounted bladed boomerang that she simply called her "blaster." But over time, she'd become increasingly accustomed to using her magic as her primary weapon, so she'd left her blaster in Squall's room back inside Garden. She hadn't anticipated a scenario where her magic wouldn't be readily available to her, and she was dreading that period of helplessness that was soon to come. And unlike Squall, she didn't have any junctions to fall back on, so she'd receive no strength or speed augmentations to see her through. She would become a perfectly ordinary person again for the first time since she met Squall and junctioned her first Guardian Force.

(Not looking forward to this.)

She stuck close to Squall and gripped his arm tightly. She was already feeling vulnerable, and the mission hadn't even begun yet.

The Ragnarok's boarding ramp was fairly small, as the ship was designed primarily as a warship, rather than a cargo ship. There was enough room for all the soldiers to stand in a loose formation, each about an arm's width apart, but not much space for anything wider than that. There were no windows inside the loading bay so at this point everyone depended on the pilot to keep feeding them information. A few moments later, his voice came over the speakers.

"D-District is in the 'raised' position," the pilot said. "No guards in sight. Now opening boarding bay door. Stand back."

The back wall of the boarding ramp opened at the top, turning into a large ramp that folded outward. A rush of hot, dry air blew into the ship, whipping Rinoa's hair in all directions. She held up one hand to the side of her head to keep her hair out of her face and shield her eyes from the sudden brightness.

At first she could see nothing but the blue sky and clouds as the ship descended, but then the faded orange tops of the three screw-shaped pillars of D-District Prison became visible. As the pilot had said, no guards were in sight. Rinoa strained to listen above the roar of the wind and the ship's engines, but she couldn't hear the sound of an alarm being sounded either.

(Maybe we caught them napping?)

She hoped so. An irrational part of her brain hoped that all the guards would be sleeping or on vacation. Or maybe they'd just throw down their weapons and surrender. Even though Rinoa was a combat veteran at that point, she had still been deeply shaken by her visions of Adel's power, and the mental image of Adel slaughtering her tribe. The thought of Rinoa using her powers to hurt others made her stomach tie in knots.

She tried to tell herself that it was necessary. That the Galbadians were evil people who probably deserved to die anyway. But she found it increasingly difficult to believe that anymore. No matter how cold and callous she tried to be, her emotions always trickled through, clouding her judgment and shaking her resolve.

(I wonder how Squall and the others do it?)

She spared a glance at him from the corner of her eye. His jaw was set, his eyes squinting in the wind and the glare, but his expression was stern and unafraid. If he had any concerns or fears going into this mission, his face did not reveal them.

"Use your magic," Squall said. "Protect spells."

Rinoa nodded and bowed her head in concentration. In rapid succession, she encased each of the Esthar soldiers plus herself and Squall in protective transparent blue shields that snapped into place and then turned invisible. The magic would hopefully protect them long enough for the tech team to disable the anti-magic field, because Rinoa would be unable to recast that spell for as long as the field was up.

(Don't worry about that.)

With incredible precision, the pilot lowered the Ragnarok until the very tip of the bay door hovered just a short hop away from one of the walkways that encircled the nearest tower. Despite the wind buffeting the ship from all sides, the pilot was able to hold the ship almost perfectly steady.

"Move out!" Squall yelled, and the soldiers and androids rushed down the ramp and into the burning sunlight of the Galbadian desert. Squall drew his gunblade and ran, and Rinoa followed behind.

Without hesitation, Squall ran out of the ship and leapt into the air. Rinoa ran a step behind him without slowing, knowing that if she stopped moving, she'd freeze up from fear and never leave the ship. She kept her gaze fixed on Squall's back to keep herself from looking at the ground—far, far below—and jumped.

There was a thrilling moment of weightlessness, her body flying between the ship and the prison tower. Squall's boots clicked on the metal walkway as he landed. He hit the walkway and stopped his momentum within two steps. Rinoa's landing, however, was not so controlled. She crashed bodily into Squall when she landed, knocking him sideways. With his free hand he caught her, gripping her shoulders in a reflexive embrace and kept them from tumbling.

"Sorry, sorry," she said. He shrugged it off, sparing her a glance to make sure she was okay, and raced down the walkway after the other soldiers. Behind them, the Ragnarok shot up into the sky, speeding upwards until it was nothing more than a red dot among the clouds.

Squall and Rinoa ran around the perimeter walkway until they reunited with the Esthar soldiers. The soldiers had come to a halt outside the main entrance to the tower, all of them clustered around the steel door. Two soldiers were quickly setting a number of circular disks around the edges of the doorframe. The disks beeped after they were placed on the frame, a glowing light in the center of each disk changing from blue to green when it was ready.

"Charges in place," one soldier said. "Everyone stand clear."

The soldiers all took several steps backwards and averted their heads. Rinoa covered her ears and closed her eyes.

The explosion wasn't as loud as she expected. The disks sounded more like fireworks than bombs. When the dust from the blast cleared, she could see that door had been dented and warped, but still held strong.

"Tough door," another soldier said, as two soldiers began covering the door in more disk-shaped explosives.

"Charges in place," the soldier said again. "Stand clear."

All the soldiers turned away once more, and Rinoa put her hands back on her ears. This time the charges broke through and the broken door crumpled like a soda can and collapsed noisily inward, falling to the floor.

Inside the building, red lights were flashing and a warning siren shrieked incessantly. The Esthar soldiers stormed inside, crossing the threshold in pairs with their rifles pressed to their shoulders and their barrels focused ahead. Squall and Rinoa waited on the walkway to allow the soldiers room to operate. After a few seconds, she could hear the chattering of gunfire join in with the shrieking of the alarm. She gulped.

(Stay calm. Stay calm.)

(We've been through worse.)

"Let's go," Squall said, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her towards the door. He hesitated at the edge of the doorframe, taking a moment to peek around the corner to see if the coast was clear, then ran inside, tugging Rinoa after him.

Crossing the threshold into the prison was like falling into a pool of cold water. The air felt different inside: heavier and thicker. Rinoa's limbs felt like she had weights tied to her hands and feet, and she suddenly found herself wishing for a nap. It only took her a moment to realize that she couldn't access her magic anymore, couldn't feel the churning of its energy as it flowed through her body.

It frightened her. She was tempted to pull on Squall's hand to drag him back into the scorching desert sun, where at least she still had her magic. Without her sorceress powers, she was nothing more than dead weight, a hindrance to the team. She would have rather stayed aboard the Ragnarok than to be a burden to anyone. She felt like a part of her body was missing.

(This is awful.)

The outer doorway led immediately into the prison's control room. The room was encircled by computers, dark blue panels with dozens of monitors and displays, buttons, and switches. In addition to the door they had taken to come inside, there was also a staircase leading down into the prison.

By the time Squall and Rinoa entered the room, the Esthar soldiers had already cleared all the guards from the control room and had now split up to cover the stairs and the entrance. They exchanged gunfire with prison guards that Rinoa could not see, firing down the steps or out into the desert, ducking and taking cover with practiced ease. Squall held out his arm protectively, keeping himself and Rinoa in a portion of the room that wasn't in the line of fire.

The three members of the Esthar tech team got to work immediately, rushing to various terminals around the room and attaching their own devices to brightly colored wires and ports in the Galbadian machines.

"Oh wow," one of the Esthar techs said, laughing. "They're still running Version 8 software. My kid could hack this system."

"Just hurry up," Squall said impatiently, his words muffled by the gunfire all around.

The tech team ignored him and continued to chatter as they worked. "Man, my toilet has more memory than this whole system," one of them said.

"I could write better code with my ass."

"Is this a prison security system, or a really big calculator?"

"How's that field coming?" Squall said sternly.

"Field'll be down in a minute," a member of the tech team said. "But their system is a mess. Look at all this junk code. It's like a jungle in here."

"Hey, check this out," the first member of the tech team said, waving over Squall and Rinoa. "I got a complete prisoner list."

Squall and Rinoa hurried over to check the monitor. After scanning through the long list of names, they found both Seifer's name and Ciel's name on the registry, along with their assigned cells. The registry said they were being held in Tower B.

"What tower is this?" Squall asked.

"It's Tower A," Rinoa said. She remembered having seen a large "A" painted in block lettering on the outside of the tower. Squall nodded and turned to face the group.

"Once the field is down, we have to relocate to Tower B," Squall said, shouting to be heard above the noise. "That could pose a problem if they decide to submerge and dissemble the connecting walkways."

"Man, you have no faith in us," the second member of the tech team said. "Look, I've already locked the system so that they can't submerge. Ain't nobody goin' nowhere as long as we're here. This is so easy it's almost boring."

Squall looked shocked. "Oh… Good."

"Aw... look at this!" the third member of the tech team said, giggling. "Someone in Tower C is trying to override us and regain control of the system! Daww… so cute. He's trying so hard."

"Focus, you three!" Squall said, exasperated.

"Hey, we think better when we chatter," the first member said. "And the field's almost down, so keep yer pants on."

"I sealed off the monster containers in all towers," the second tech member said. "So they won't be able to flood the shafts with monsters."

A moment later the warning sirens shut off and the red lights stopped flashing. Now there was only the sound of gunfire as the Esthar soldiers continued to fend off the prison guards.

"All alarms are disabled," the third tech member said, stating the obvious. "Aaaand now all the perimeter doors are open too, so we won't have to blast our way into Tower B. Should I open all the cell doors?"

"No," Squall said. "Just open Seifer and Ciel's doors. Leave all the other cells closed. And keep checking the prisoner list. Look for women's names. We're looking for sorceresses."

"There aren't any," one of tech guys said. "Only dudes are listed here, except for the Sorceress Ciel."

(That'll save us some time.)

"Good," Squall said. "Now about that anti-magic field."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Rinoa felt a surge of energy, as if she'd injected adrenaline straight into her heart. Her mind and her body seemed to fill up with glowing power, and her eyes widened.

(My magic!)

"Field's down," the first tech soldier said.

"Rinoa!" Squall said. "Recast our protect spells!"

She nodded and focused, excited to be using her powers again. Almost effortlessly, she called up a blue defensive shield around herself, Squall, and each of the soldiers. Time and bullets had worn the shields down to almost nothing, and her second round of casting restored the magic to full power. Now that she had constant access to her magic, she could continually reapply the protection spells to ensure that they never ran out. Doing this only required a small bit of effort and a little concentration on Rinoa's part.

Newly strengthened, the Esthar soldiers at the doorway rushed out into the sunlight, Rinoa's protect spell deflecting the Galbadian bullets off in all directions. The Esthar soldiers charged across the bridge that connected Towers B and A, firing in controlled, devastating bursts. Across the bridge, the Galbadians guarding the far side retreated inside the tower, and the rest of the Esthar soldiers began pressing the attack. One of the androids ran with the group, firing only single bullets at a time, yet each shot almost invariably resulted in a prison guard crying out and falling dead to the ground.

The tech team remained in the control room to stave off any of the guards' further attempts to regain control of the prison. The remaining android stayed with them, standing at the top of the steps and firing down. Squall ran off after the Esthar soldiers towards Tower B, with Rinoa following right behind.

The group made their way across the narrow, exposed walkway that connected Towers A and B. The floor beneath them was composed of a number of thin horizontal slats that could separate from each other and then retract into special containers located at the far ends of the bridge. However, this function—like all the other functions—had been taken over by the Esthar tech team, so there was no danger of the slats retracting. Yet Rinoa still watched her feet as they ran, just to be safe.

By the time she and Squall reached the other side of the bridge, the leading Esthar soldiers had already cleared Tower B's control room of its guards. With Rinoa's protective shields still keeping them relatively safe, the Esthar soldiers could simply charge into any room and annihilate any guards who stood in their way. Rinoa and Squall stepped over the bodies of a couple of downed prison wardens and a few G-Army soldiers. Led by the Esthar soldiers, they headed for the staircase that led down into the prison.

"Rinoa!" Squall said, turning to her. "You and I need to take point from here."

Rinoa wasn't quite sure why he wanted to be in front, but she didn't argue. As long as her shields were in place, she was about as safe in the front as she was in the back. The Esthar soldiers hesitated at the top of the steps, exchanging some gunfire with the Galbadians below, while they waited for her to catch up. She jogged past the Esthar soldiers, side-by-side with Squall, and started heading down the steps.

Judging by the sounds echoing through the central shaft of the prison, Rinoa was quickly able to figure out why the Galbadian defense had been weaker in Tower B than it had been in Tower A. She saw flashes of light from below, accompanied by floor-shaking thunderclaps. The air alternately burned and crackled with devastating fire and lightning spells. She knew then that Seifer and Ciel were out of their cells, and all of Tower B was battling to force them back in.

Squall ran to the metal guard railing that encircled the central shaft and peered down, bullets firing past his head. He saw what he was looking for and then turned to face Rinoa and the Esthar soldiers.

"They're three floors down!" he said. "Rinoa, we need anti-magic shells."

"Right," Rinoa said. She focused once more, this time encasing herself and all the others with pink bubbles that would deflect all but the very worst magic spells. Maintaining both the physical shields and the anti-magic shells at the same time for over a dozen people began to tax her a little bit. For the first time in a long time, she began to grow a little fatigued from using her magic.

But adrenaline and willpower overcame her fatigue, and she finished casting the spells. Once that was done, Squall took up the charge, heading down the flights of steps towards the heart of the battle. Rinoa charged after him and the soldiers followed behind her. Squall swung his gunblade from side to side, cutting a path through the handful of prison guards foolish enough to stand in his way. The rest of the guards stood a distance back, taking shots with their rifles that bounced ineffectually off Rinoa's shields and embedded themselves in the walls.

Three floors down Squall stopped suddenly, and Rinoa once again crashed into him. She apologized once more, then looked over his shoulder towards the walkway that encircled the central shaft. Her mouth fell open.

(Oh… wow…)

She plainly saw Seifer, with his short blonde hair, wearing his familiar blue tank top with a gray cross on the front. His bulky gray trench coat was tied around his waist in a knot. His gloved hands sent out repeated fire spells, turning nearby guards into flaming, screaming pillars of flame that collapsed to the ground. His body glistened with sweat and exertion and his eyes glinted with hateful delight.

Beside Seifer was the sorceress, much shorter than him, wearing ragged clothes and a red bandanna. While Seifer wore an expression of joy, fully enjoying the carnage around him, Ciel's face was locked in a grimace of animal rage, as if she was constantly screaming, despite the fact that no sound was coming from her mouth. She hurled lightning so bright it was painful to look upon and left spots in Rinoa's vision. Each bolt was like an explosion that charged the air with crackling energy and left Rinoa's ears ringing. Compared to the sounds of her lightning, the Galbadian gunfire was nothing more than popcorn cooking in a kettle.

Worst of all were the innumerable bodies strewn everywhere. Burnt bodies, smoking bodies, bodies that still twitched with the faint memories of life. Hulking scraps of ruined metal that used to be Galbadian robots. Between all the blood and the bodies, there was almost no floor visible underneath. Seifer and Ciel weren't merely escaping from prison; they were taking revenge upon it.

A memory—a brief flash—of Adel sped through Rinoa's mind. It was enough to galvanize her resolve, her will to fight.

(We have to stop them!)

For a moment, Rinoa forgot that they were on a mission to rescue Seifer and the sorceress. Her only thought then was to end the violence in whatever way she could.

Mixed in among the bodies were a few Galbadians still holding on to the battle. They crouched down, using broken androids, walls, and bodies as cover and fired blind shots towards the general direction of Seifer and Ciel. Any guard foolish enough to stick his head up usually burst into flame or got struck by lightning.

Squall rushed down to the walkway, picking his way through the wreckage. A G-Soldier spun around and saw him, but too late. Squall raised his gunblade and brought it down in a diagonal slash. The guard screamed, then fell over, his body added to the pile of dead around him. Squall raised his gunblade up to get Seifer's attention, who was still several dozen paces further down the walkway. It took a few seconds, but soon Seifer's eyes locked with Squall's.

"We're here to get you out!" Squall yelled above the chaos. "Follow us!"

Seifer's eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a scowl. He looked away and hurled a fireball at a guard who was sneaking up from behind him. The man exploded into red flame and fell to the floor.

In the gaps between the lightning and the gunfire, Rinoa could hear the brief conversation between Ciel and Seifer.

"Who are they?" Ciel asked.
"SeeDs," Seifer said, as if the word was a filthy insult.

And that, apparently, was all the sorceress needed to know. With an animal shriek, she charged up a bolt of lightning and hurled it straight at Squall. Without thinking, Rinoa jumped in the way, raising up both hands as if to physically push back at the lightning.

The bolt hit her shield so hard that it knocked Rinoa backwards a step. The collision of Ciel's lightning and Rinoa's shield was the very definition of an unstoppable force hitting an immovable object. The energy from Ciel's attack dispersed in all directions, briefly showering Rinoa in sparks and particles of light, then continued outward and charred the wall and floors, leaving a blackened ring in the hard metal.

Rinoa brought her hands down and shouted, "We're here to help!"

Seifer and Ciel either weren't listening or didn't care. They changed their focus from attacking the prison guards—most of whom had fled from the battle by this point—to attacking Squall and Rinoa. They shot fire and lightning at Rinoa, forcing her to put almost all her energy into deflecting the magic to keep herself and Squall alive.

"It's no use," Squall said. "They won't listen." He turned around and shouted to the nearest Esthar soldier. "Call Ellone!" he said. "Have her try to put down the sorceress!"
"Roger!" the soldier said. He got down into a crouch and set his gun to the side and put a hand up to his helmet. He pushed a small button to activate his short-burst radio and relayed the message up to the Ragnarok.

Rinoa stood in the middle of the walkway, her hands outstretched, palms out, fingers splayed. It took everything she had to hold off the combined power of Seifer and the sorceress. Seifer's fire magic was impressive, but easy to handle compared to Ciel's lightning. But the relentless assault from the pair was quickly wearing down her defenses. Each lightning bolt rumbled through Rinoa's body, forcing her backwards step by step. She felt herself weakening. Her arms started to shake and she was sweating with concentration and effort. She was aware that everyone's protect and shell spells were fading, but she couldn't devote the energy to recast them.

"Hold on, Rinoa," Squall said. He focused for a moment, then lobbed a wind spell at the pair, just to throw them off balance and give Rinoa a moment of rest. But Ciel countered with a small wind spell of her own, deflecting Squall's magic into the central shaft where it dissipated into nothingness.

"Damn it," Squall muttered.

In this fight, the rescue team was at a distinct disadvantage. They wanted to recover Seifer and Ciel alive and unharmed, which limited their offensive options. On the other hand, Seifer and Ciel had no obligation to keep Rinoa and Squall alive, so they were free to unload with every nasty spell they possessed. This imbalance in objectives drove Squall and Rinoa backwards, step by step, while a sneering Seifer and snarling Ciel advanced closer and closer, never seeming to tire, never seeming to grow bored of the violence.

Rinoa began to wonder if Squall would order the use of lethal force if the battle continued to go poorly. After all, she remembered, the biggest goal was to keep Seifer and Ciel out of Galbadian hands. Squall could accomplish that either by killing his targets or saving them.

The Esthar soldier with the radio yelled to Squall, "It's no good! Ellone says she can't make the connection with the sorceress!"

(No!)

"Tell her to hit Seifer!" Squall said. The soldier nodded and relayed the order up to Ellone in the Ragnarok.

(Hurry, hurry, hurry.)

Rinoa didn't think she could last any longer. Even if Ellone stopped Seifer at that moment, it wouldn't make much difference, because Seifer was barely a distraction in the battle between Ciel and Rinoa. Rinoa had no idea where the other girl found her strength, whether she was just a naturally more talented sorceress, or whether her mad fury gave her unnatural strength, but Rinoa could sense that she was outclassed. Stopping Ciel's lightning was like standing in the way of a speeding truck. It rattled Rinoa's bones with every strike, filling her with buzzing, tingling pain.

And there was no way Rinoa could strike back to seize the offensive. Ciel's endless attack after attack after attack left her no opening to form her own counter magic. Rinoa was left with no choice but to put all her energy into her shield and hold on as long as she could, all the while growing weaker with every second.

Then suddenly, Seifer snarled and gripped his forehead with one hand, as if seized by a splitting headache.

"No!" he said through clenched teeth. He raised his fist to hurl another fire spell, but never completed the motion. His eyes rolled up in the back of his head, then closed as he collapsed to the floor, sound asleep.

(Seifer's down.)

(But what about Ciel?)

Ciel continued her attack, only briefly glancing at Seifer at her feet.

"What did you do to him?" she yelled, throwing her lightning spells with redoubled fury.

"Squall…" Rinoa said, closing her eyes. "I can't…"

Squall cursed under his breath.

"Hold on for a little more," Squall said. "I'll summon."

He crouched down behind the nearby wall.

(I can't…)

Something in her mind changed. The fear of being beaten by Ciel. The fear that Squall would be hurt or killed in the battle. The sense of betrayal she felt, that Seifer continued to try to harm her and those she cared about, despite all the mercy they had shown him. And the indignation that the people she was genuinely trying to save were now trying to destroy her. All these emotions meshed together into a blinding surge of anger, blotting out all other thoughts, all other considerations.

"Fine!" she yelled. "You like lightning?"

Almost unconsciously, she dropped the protective spells from everyone else, drawing the energy back into herself. Ciel hurled another bolt of lightning at her and Rinoa threw her arms forward, hurling her energy into the motion, sending her own bolt of lightning at Ciel.

The twin blasts met halfway between the two sorceresses and detonated in a burst of pure white light. The world turned empty for a moment, and Rinoa was tossed on her back by the explosion.

She looked up from the floor, her ears ringing and her vision blurry, and saw Squall hunkered down behind the guard wall, which had saved him from the worst of the blast. His fingertip was on his forehead, his eyes closed in concentration. Rinoa's flash of anger subsided, once more replaced by fear when she realized that she and Squall had no protection whatsoever. They were completely vulnerable.

She scrambled up to her knees, ready to deflect the next lightning bolt, but saw that Ciel was only slowly working her way back to her feet. Ciel shook her head as if to clear it, then met Rinoa's gaze—fury burning in her eyes.

Before Ciel could strike again, Squall emerged from behind the wall and stood up. It took a moment for Rinoa to remember what he was doing, but soon she felt the energy gathering. The smell of an approaching storm filled her nose. Energy rippled in waves through the air. The hairs on her arms and neck stood on end as Squall's Guardian Force took physical form.

(Is he going to kill them!?)

Ciel felt it too. She let her hands slowly lower to her sides as she glanced all around, looking for the source of this new, unexpected energy.

Squall snapped his eyes open, the summoning spell now completed. He thrust his hand out towards the open shaft in the middle of the prison and called forth the Guardian Force of lightning, Quezacotl.

Quezacotl appeared instantly in the shaft, like a giant green and yellow bird made of pure lightning. It spread its massive wings, the tips of which reached both ends of the shaft and filled Rinoa's vision with sparkling light. The sound of his appearance was deafening, and Rinoa was forced down to the floor by the power of the electricity in the air.

Ciel snarled again and turned to face her new adversary. She foolishly hurled a lightning spell at the GF. But this attack did absolutely nothing against the beast except fuel its power and fury. Quezacotl pulled back his shapeless head, creating a bolt of spherical lightning at the tip of his rounded nose, like a tiny, cracking white sun, and then fired it at Ciel.

Ciel had just enough time to gasp, then cower as the lightning blast overwhelmed her. The resulting explosion dented the walls outward, scorched the floor, and turned the world into white oblivion for an instant. Even the collision between Rinoa and Ciel's bolts of lightning paled in comparison.

Following the explosion was a dreadful silence. Rinoa could not tell if the fighting had stopped or if she had gone completely deaf.

She opened her eyes. Quezacotl was gone. For a moment, Rinoa feared that Squall had been overzealous in his attack and had accidentally blown up the sorceress and Seifer. But as her eyes adjusted to the comparative dimness following the white explosion, she saw Ciel huddled on the floor, protectively shielding herself and Seifer. Ciel was visibly alive, albeit dazed.

Squall wasted no time. He vaulted over the bodies and around the charred Galbadian machines, using his free hand to pull out the Odine Bangle from his pocket. He dropped his gunblade to the floor and seized Ciel's limp arm and pulled it up, then snapped the bangle around her wrist.

"Now!" Squall said to Rinoa. "Freeze her!"

While Ciel was still reeling from the GF attack—and hopefully unable to use magic with the Odine Bangle on her wrist—Rinoa stood up called forth a spell to stop time for Ciel. A transparent white ball filled with smoothly flowing gray energy formed on the palm of Rinoa's hand. She tossed it at the sorceress. Ciel, her eyes half-lidded and unfocused, didn't even see it coming.

The spell froze Ciel in that exact position, that exact moment in time. Her body became unnaturally rigid, neither breathing nor moving. Inside the cocoon of the stop spell, Ciel could not even so much as think. Her body was stuck in a limp sitting position, her arm raised in the air as if she were a student hoping to be called on by the instructor.

In this situation, the stop spell was a bit more useful than the more common sleep spell, because there was no way for Ciel to be accidentally jostled into wakefulness. With the stop spell, Ciel would remain frozen for as long as Rinoa continued to pump energy into maintaining the effect. Rinoa was exhausted after the battle, but compared to the effort it required to hold off Ciel's attacks, maintaining the stop spell was trivial. Rinoa bent over and put her hands on her knees, gasping for air.

(I haven't had a fight like that since Ultimecia.)

"Good work," Squall said. He picked up his gunblade and rushed to Rinoa. He surprised her by giving her a quick one arm hug, which he broke off almost as quickly as he initiated. He turned to address the soldiers.

"Gather Seifer and Ciel," Squall ordered. "And secure our retreat!"

Two designated soldiers rushed forward, winding their way through the heaped corpses on the walkway. One grabbed Seifer's limp body and tossed him over his shoulders, then carried him back towards the steps. Another soldier went to Ciel and tried to pick her up, but the stop spell had locked her body and her limbs in position like a statue. The soldier could find no way to easily pick her up with her arms and legs stuck in that awkward position. He called over another soldier and together the two were able to pick up Ciel and bring her to the steps, like they were hauling furniture.

With Seifer and the sorceress now neutralized, a few Galbadians regained their courage and resumed the fight, sending halfhearted sprays of bullets towards the group. Rinoa didn't have the energy left to run up the steps, maintain Ciel's stop spell, and make all the soldiers bulletproof again, so she focused her energy on just protecting herself and Squall. She hoped that the Esthar soldiers wouldn't notice that they were totally undefended.

(I'm sorry…)

But it didn't seem to matter in any case. The Galbadians in Tower B had been all but slaughtered, leaving only a few survivors and of those left alive, hardly any were willing to continue the battle. Most seemed content to consider themselves defeated and live another day. The Esthar soldiers returned fire whenever they met resistance, but as the group neared the top, that resistance ebbed away to nothing.

With sleeping Seifer and frozen Ciel in tow, the group got to the control room of Tower B.

"Call the Ragnarok," Squall said. "And the tech team in Tower A. It'll be easier to bring them here, rather than having us go over there."

The radio soldier complied and relayed the order. The soldiers carrying Seifer and Ciel set them down to take a quick break. Four other soldiers guarded the steps to ensure that they weren't being pursued. No Galbadians rushed up to make a last effort at recovering their prisoners, and no guards rushed across the bridge from Tower A.

It only took a couple of seconds for the Ragnarok to plummet from its holding position and hover a short distance above the walkway. The door to the loading bay hummed as it fell open, the lip of the doorway only an arm's length away from the upper railing of the walkway.

The soldiers picked up Seifer and Ciel, then jumped into the ship's loading bay. They worked together to load Seifer and Ciel carefully inside. Squall offered a hand to help balance Rinoa as she stood on the railing then jumped into the ship. She caught a brief glimpse of the sand far below before her boots hit the floor of the boarding ramp. She scurried to get away from the edge as Squall effortlessly jumped inside.

Rinoa turned around and saw the tech team from Tower A rush onto the walkway and hop in. The android was the last to enter, jumping impossibly high and landing smoothly inside the loading bay.

"That everyone?" Squall asked.

"Yeah," one of the tech soldiers said.

"Let's go then," Squall said to the radio man. The radio man ordered the pilot to take off and the Ragnarok shot from the walkway as the loading bay door raised itself into a closed position.

Squall looked around and took stock of the soldiers.

"What's our condition?" he asked.

"No casualties," one of the tech team members said. "A couple of close calls, but that's it."

"Good," Squall said. He turned to Rinoa. "How are you?"

With the danger now passed, Rinoa allowed her and Squall's defensive shields to slip away, but was still actively pouring energy into keeping Ciel in a time stasis. Exhaustion poured over her trembling body in waves, and she felt on the verge of collapsing.

(I don't want Squall to know how close she came to beating me.)

"I'm okay," she said. She smiled and Squall nodded.

"Good work, everyone," Squall said. "Put Ciel in the storage room for now. Keep guards posted inside her room at all times."

"Roger," the soldiers said. They had already divvied up the task of guarding the sorceress before starting the mission and some of the soldiers immediately broke off and carried Ciel out of the boarding ramp.

"Put Seifer in the passenger bay," Squall said.

"Roger," other soldiers said. Since Ellone's magic couldn't be broken by physical contact, there was no need to be gentle with Seifer. The guards picked up Seifer by his boots and his armpits and hauled him back to the passenger bay.

"The rest of you can take a break, but stay on guard," Squall said. "The mission isn't over until we're back in Esthar. From now on, we must assume that Seifer and Ciel are hostile and will attempt to escape if we give them a chance."

The other soldiers all nodded and dispersed through the ship, leaving Squall and Rinoa alone in the boarding ramp. Squall's brow furrowed in thought. He crossed his arms and stared at the floor.

(Uh oh.)

"What now?" Rinoa asked. She sat down on the pleasantly cool metal floor and recovered her breath. There was some sand on the floor that had been blown in on the wind. It rubbed roughly on the skin of her hands.

"I don't know how long Ellone can keep connected with Seifer," Squall said. "And you can't keep up that stop spell forever. We're going to have to talk with Ciel and hopefully get her to calm down. If we still can't get her to be reasonable, we'll have to restrain her for the whole trip."

"I'm surprised," Rinoa said. "I figured Seifer would be trouble, but I really thought that Ciel at least would want to come with us."

"Me too," Squall said.

(We rescued them from prison, so that we could keep them locked up in the Ragnarok.)

(Are we really saving them, or are we bringing them to a worse fate?)

After a moment, Rinoa said. "We're doing the right thing? Bringing them to Esthar?"

"I admit," Squall said. "I don't like Esthar's track record when it comes to dealing with sorceresses. Especially not when Odine is around. But Esthar has the resources and knowledge to deal with her. Nowhere in the world can compare. I don't like it, but it has to be done. She's too dangerous if we bring her anywhere else."

"It just seems like… I dunno," Rinoa said.

"What?" Squall asked.

"Well… it's like we're just moving them from one prison to another. From D-District to some prison in Esthar."

"You saw what those two did back there," Squall said firmly. "Maybe they deserve prison."

Rinoa sighed. "Yeah. You might be right."