Final Fantasy 8: Future Bound

by Darsar

The continuation of the events of Final Fantasy 8, shortly after the conclusion of the game.

56. Chapter 56: A Losing Battle

Chapter 56

A Losing Battle

(Zell)

It seemed like every time that they were beginning to get the situation under control, something happened to knock them all back to chaos.

For a moment—an agonizingly brief moment—the rebellion within SeeD had been put down. Mireya and her cronies were hopelessly outnumbered and Quistis was effectively arguing her into a corner. Unable to fight back, either physically or rhetorically, it seemed like only a matter of time before Mireya was forced to back down and allow Garden to be whole again.

But then three things happened: Tomomi had rushed forward to try to force Mireya to surrender, Dax had killed her, and Mireya had inherited the sorceress powers. Zell knew then that the fighting would not stop. And once Mireya seized control of NORG's pod—ripping Quistis out of the cockpit and hurling her into the hallway—Zell wondered if anyone could stop her.

(She was strong enough before.)

(But now that she's a sorceress…)

Mireya, clad in the armor of NORG's pod, ascended towards the second floor walkway. A half dozen White SeeDs threw themselves in the sky, jumping off the central pillar of the elevator or off the walls of the school to gain elevation as they pursued her.

But even with their incredible jumping ability, they couldn't keep up with the flying pod. One lucky White SeeD managed to reach the second floor walkway and then jump from the railing, heading straight for the pod, his fists raised, ready to fight. But Mireya simply steered the pod to the side, and the White SeeD was left striking at air as he plummeted back down to the first floor. He landed with a splash in a nearby fountain. A few seconds later, Mireya was well above the walkway and beyond the reach of the White SeeDs.

The other SeeDs around Zell launched magic spells at the pod to try to bring it down, but Mireya's newfound sorceress powers allowed her to easily maintain a shield around the pod, keeping it safe from the barrage from below. Fire, lightning, and water spells bounced harmlessly off the transparent shield, filling the school with heat and noise but accomplishing nothing. Mireya continued to rise, heading for the ceiling, and Zell could do nothing but watch, since he had neither a White SeeD's jumping ability nor any magic or junctions.

(… There's gotta be somethin' I can do.)

He turned away from the pod and saw Xu busily healing Quistis' wound, which was bleeding through her black SeeD uniform. A wet, sticky patch completely enveloped her shoulder, but Quistis clenched her teeth and breathed through her nose, doing her best to downplay the injury. Zell didn't remember seeing Quistis get wounded, but he was glad that Xu was around to take care of it. He certainly wouldn't have been able to help—not without his junctions. He turned away again, looking for somewhere else where he could be of service.

Further down the hall, towards the massive steel door that sealed off the front gate, a cluster of SeeDs loyal to Quistis were battling the remnants of Mireya's forces. Given everything that had happened in the past few minutes—Mireya's defeat and her acquisition of the sorceress powers—only three SeeDs continued to fight for her cause. All the others had abandoned her.

But one of those three remaining SeeDs was Dax. Zell looked at the massive blonde fighter as he swung vicious uppercuts and crosses and jabs at his enemies, and Zell grew pale. A SeeD armed with a staff rushed at Dax's exposed side and thrust his staff end first into Dax's kidney. An attack like this would have dropped an ordinary person, but Dax merely grunted and swung around. He backhanded the unlucky SeeD across the head, knocking the staff from his hand and throwing him into the retaining wall around a fountain. The beaten SeeD collapsed, limp and bloody, and two other SeeDs rushed forward to pull him away from the fight and heal him.

(I could barely fight Dax when I was junctioned.)

(What can I do now that I don't have my GF?)

Still, even though he knew he was outmatched, a surge of righteous anger rose up in Zell's heart. Dax had sided with Mireya and fought against SeeD. He had nearly killed Zell in the previous fight, and had been indirectly responsible for getting Ami slashed across the back by Mireya. Then he had murdered Tomomi without a second thought, as if he was squashing a bug. Zell's hands clenched into fists.

(I'm not gonna let him get away with it…)

(I'm not gonna let ANY of them get away with it!)

Zell turned away from the wounded Quistis and away from the fleeing Mireya and headed for the front gate. First he walked, but as his anger grew he began jogging, then running. He moved through the clusters of SeeDs around him, pushing through wounded students and people rushing to their assigned positions. He was dimly aware that Quistis was barking orders, organizing the school's defense against Galbadia, but he didn't hear any of it. Nothing else mattered except settling the score with Dax.

Dax's furious attacking and wild punches were drawing him closer and closer to the sealed front gate, leaving Mireya's other two supporters between Dax and Zell. At first, Zell thought of just charging straight at Dax, ignoring the other two, but a rational part of his brain realized that would be almost suicide. If Zell ran straight for Dax, the Zell would lose almost instantly.

But if he finished off the other two rebels first and gathered all the SeeDs in the area into one fighting group and attacked Dax in a united force, there might be a chance. Of course, Zell wanted to be the one who finished off Dax, but he wasn't so arrogant that he would risk letting Dax get away just for the sake of being the hero.

Zell slowed down as he approached the fighting, his eyes flicking back and forth, taking in the details of the three rebels and assessing their strengths and weaknesses, subconsciously calling up all his training and experience and devising strategies for victory. Without his junctions, he couldn't resort to brute strength. He needed every advantage he could get.

Aside from Dax, the other two rebels were a young man and woman dressed in their SeeD uniforms. The guy wore his uniform shirt unbuttoned, exposing the white undershirt beneath it. He had long red hair tied back in a ponytail that lashed around like a snake as he spun and ducked. He wielded two thin fencing blades, one in each hand. He moved like a tornado, always spinning and sidestepping, tucking his swords close to his body one moment, then lashing out with one or both blades as soon as anyone got too close. Because he kept moving so fast, it was hard to judge what his range was, so more than one SeeD drew too near to the red-haired fencer and found themselves stumbling backwards with bloody slashes across their arms and chests.

(I can't fight that!)

Zell turned to his second option: the girl on the other side of the hall. She had pale skin and a field of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her pale hair was almost translucent in the bright artificial light of the school. She fought with a heavy spear, the shaft as large around as one of Zell's wrist—but she wielded it like it weighed no more than a baton. At the end of the spear were four blades, each about the size of a dagger. She wasn't as quick or agile as the fencer, but she kept the spear spinning in constant motion as she twirled around, ducked, and slashed. Her footwork was incredible, and she could—and frequently did—do unpredictable motions like swinging the spear behind her back or between her legs, making it difficult to find an opening.

The handful of SeeDs that were fighting her tried to lunge at her to draw her off balance, but she was too disciplined to be tricked by their feints. She stayed in place, her spear spinning around with a rush of wind, patiently waiting for someone to get too close. A nearby SeeD struck out with a fire spell, but she swung with her spear and swatted it down, then quickly returned to her fighting stance.

(Man, all three of these guys are out of my league…)

Zell glanced over his shoulder, wondering if maybe he would be better served at Quistis' side, helping her do whatever she needed to do to organize the rest of SeeD for their battle against the Galbadians. But when he looked, she was already gone, and the hallway was rapidly emptying of students. Everyone was moving to their defensive positions for the fight. The only students left in the hall were those who had informally volunteered to finish off Mireya's allies.

(Damn, damn, damn!)

Without consciously trying to remember it, Zell thought of the sickening sound Tomomi's neck had made when it snapped. He shuddered and closed his eyes. But once the moment of revulsion passed, it turned back into anger. He hadn't known Tomomi very well, but from what he had seen of her, she was a nice girl—and she certainly didn't deserve to die. No one who had died or been wounded fighting against Mireya's cronies deserved what had happened to them. It wasn't right, what Mireya's army had done to SeeD, had done to Garden, and the more Zell thought of it, the more furious he became.

(… You… BASTARDS!)

Without his junctions and without any sort of plan, Zell rushed forward into the battle. Picking at random, he ran first towards the red-haired fencer. Zell moved to the side and hopped on top of the retaining wall of the fountain, bypassing around the cluster of SeeDs who were battling the fencer.

Zell's eyes watched the fencer, studying him and checking for openings or weaknesses. Zell had to admit, the fencer's style was excellent. He wasn't causing a lot of damage to his enemies, but his quick movements and fast reflexes effectively held off all his attackers.

(I need to get in close.)

Once Zell was a few paces away, he got a better glimpse at the guy's swords, and he noticed that the fencing foils were only sharp at the tips—the rest of the swords were cylindrical for greater strength and flexibility. They were built for stabbing and shallow cuts, not slashing and chopping like an ordinary sword.

(That's it!)

Zell charged, leaping from the top of the retaining wall and down onto the floor. With a sideways glance, the fencer noticed Zell's approach and shifted his feet, pointing his swords in opposite directions and angling his body. So many things were going on at once—the man's unusual stance, his strange body angle, the direction of his swords—that Zell couldn't figure out where the man was defending or how he would choose to attack.

Zell stamped his right foot hard on the floor and shifted his weight, then gave a head fake and ducked to his left. The fencer was not fooled by this simple trick, and he slashed out with his foil, flicking the tip across Zell's arm. A bright line of red pain seared across Zell's forearm, making him gasp. He had forgotten how much his junctions had helped to dull the pain of injury, but he didn't let it slow him down.

Zell spun away from the attack and kept rushing forward. The fencer skittered backwards, stabbing with his other foil. Zell swatted the attack aside with his forearm—hitting the dull middle of the blade and receiving no damage from the contact. Zell felt slow and sluggish without his junctions, but he let his momentum carry him forward.

The fencer adjusted his stance and thrust forward with his second blade. Zell twisted and sidestepped at the last moment and let the thrust go just past his chest, almost close enough to pierce the fabric of his shirt. Zell reached out and gripped the blade tightly in one hand, holding the cylindrical part, then pulled hard—the same trick he had used against Mireya. The fencer's eyes widened in panic as he found himself stumbling forwards, refusing to release his blade.

In desperation, the fencer stabbed with his other sword, but Zell knew this was coming and deflected the attack aside once again. He then kept his arm in motion, pulling it back to his side and then up into a crushing uppercut, driving his knuckles into the fencer's stomach. Even without his junctions, Zell still knew how to make a punch have devastating impact.

All the air came rushing out of the fencer's mouth and he dropped down to his knees, but still kept a grip on his swords. With his one free sword, he hacked weakly at Zell's legs, but Zell raised his foot and blocked the attack with the bottom of his shoe, catching the blade in the middle of his shoe's arch. He then stomped down hard, pinning the blade on the floor.

Down on his knees and with both swords trapped, the fencer was essentially neutralized. Four SeeDs quickly rushed in around Zell, and one tackled the fencer hard to the ground, his red ponytail flopping out as the SeeD was driven to his back. The fencer finally released his grip on his swords, and Zell picked them up and tossed them in the nearby fountain.

(One down, two to go.)

Meanwhile, Dax was throwing endless left-right combos that were terrifying to witness. The few SeeDs that had gathered around him could do nothing more than lunge and retreat repeatedly—too afraid to get caught by one of his meaty swings. Even the two nearby White SeeDs seemed intimidated and kept their distance, jumping in and out, trying to get Dax to expose a weakness. A few SeeDs threw out some basic magic, hoping to take down Dax from a distance, but he proved that he was reasonably skilled with para-magic as well, and managed to deflect the worst of the magic with his own spells.

Zell turned and looked at the other remaining fighter: the girl with the spear. She kept her back to the water fountain, which limited her mobility, but kept the SeeDs from surrounding her. With all her enemies in front of her, she was able to keep her spear moving in circles, spinning unpredictably. Even when no one was attacking her, she kept the spear moving, hand-over-hand, forming a barrier between herself and the others.

Zell knew he had no hope of catching her heavy spear like he had done with the fencer. Even if his reflexes were fast enough, the weight of the spear would be too much for him to handle. He'd snap finger bones or his wrists if he tried. Even blocking the spear or redirecting it would be dangerous to attempt with his bare hands.

Zell ground his teeth.

(Man, I wish I had my junctions.)

Without magic or augmented strength or summons he had little chance of taking down the pale girl with the spear. And as he watched her fight, he saw no obvious weaknesses—no flaws in her weapon or predictable patterns in her movements.

The safest bet would be to continually harass her and force her to keep that massive spear in motion and slowly wear her out, but her Guardian Force would give her supernatural stamina. Depending on how she had chosen to prioritize her junctions, it may be hours before she became tired out enough to be beaten. And by then Galbadia might be swarming up and down the halls of the school.

(Gotta think of somethin' fast…)

It was then that Zell's eyes alighted on a nearby potted plant, parked beside one of the benches in the hallway. The green fronds of the plant reached up as high as Zell, growing out from a pot the size of a beachball and filled with black soil. A silly plan came to mind, but he didn't have time to come up with anything better, so he shrugged to himself and scrambled over to the plant. He knelt down beside it and bent at the knees, working his fingers underneath it. It was heavy, but not unmanageable. He hoisted it up to waist level then shifted his grip and raised it above his head. The green plant shivered and lost some of its leaves.

By now the girl had noticed him and was watching from the corner of her eye as she spun and maneuvered her spear. But it didn't matter to Zell if she saw him or not. He only wanted to provide a distraction long enough to create an opening in her defense. He took a few steps closer and waited for the other SeeDs to clear an opening wide enough for him to throw the plant through.

With a grunt, he heaved the potted plant at the girl. For a moment he thought she would simply sidestep the attack—which would totally ruin his plan. But—as Zell had noticed from watching her—her fighting style meant that she was strongest when she kept her feet firmly rooted in the ground. Instead of dodging the attack, she spun her spear around and shattered the clay pot in the air with the base end of the weapon.

(Yes!)

Zell pumped a fist and watched as the pot exploded, dumping a massive amount of dirt onto the girl. Most of it hit her clothes, but some of it got into her face and her eyes. She blinked, but didn't seem to be too affected by the attack. She twirled her spear around and shook her head, trying to throw off the dirt from her clothes. She spat a few times, getting the soil out of her mouth, but she kept fighting.

(… It didn't work?)

However, the soil at her feet was loose and slightly damp. Underneath her shoes, it turned to slick mud. As she angled her body to block an incoming attack from a staff, her ankle twisted too far and her leg buckled. She dropped to one knee, providing the first opening Zell had seen since he began watching her. The White SeeDs and the others capitalized on the moment, rushing in all at once to keep her from recovering.

A White SeeD jumped in from the side. The girl thrust out the back end of her spear at him, forcing him to jump back again, his boots skidding on the muddy floor. From the other side, another White SeeD attacked, dodging aside from her spear and catching her with a sharp kick to the shoulder. She cried out and twisted away from the attack, but still trapped on one knee her movements were restricted, less agile and less maneuverable.

She continued to fight until the very end, slashing and swatting at her foes, but they drew closer and closer and their attacks wore her down, until finally someone shoved a staff through her defenses and caught her sharply on the wrist. Her hand went limp and she dropped the spear. Once the end of the spear clattered on the floor, the fight was over. The White SeeDs and everyone else swarmed her, enveloping in her in a sea of black uniforms and white uniforms until Zell could see nothing but her spear lying unused on the floor before him.

Zell grinned.

(Two down, one to go.)

He had saved the most difficult fight for last. Dax was still battling on, even though he was now officially the last of Mireya's supporters. Despite the fact that his uniform was burned and cut and pierced and his skin was marked with bruises and lacerations, he showed no signs of slowing down.

(He's a fricken machine.)

Although there was a matching potted plant across the hall, Zell didn't think that trick would work on Dax. Zell had fought Dax on loose dirt of the training center and knew that Dax could still be deadly even with poor footing. And judging by the hits that Dax had shaken off so far, Zell figured even a direct hit to the head wouldn't do much more than annoy Dax.

As Zell was trying to come up with a plan to finally defeat Dax, there was a rush of wind from above and NORG's pod came flying down towards the front gate, pursued by a cluster of leaping White SeeDs.

"Dax, get down!" Mireya's voice shouted over the pod's speakers. Without question or hesitation, Dax dropped to the floor and huddled against the retaining wall of the nearby fountain as both orbs on NORG's pod blasted out twin streams of fire. Zell yelped and dove over the nearest retaining wall, dropping down into the water fountain.

He could feel the heat of the flames chasing him, licking at his back as he fell. He hit the water just in time and the conflagration passed harmlessly over him, blocked by the water's surface. Totally submerged, he opened his eyes and looked up, expecting a second attack, but instead—through the clear water—he saw Dax climb atop NORG's pod and swat aside one White SeeD, then another. Zell watched the pod shoot up in the air, with Dax clutching the top and riding it away.

(DAMN!)

Sputtering with anger, Zell broke out of the water and climbed to his feet. Sopping wet, he vaulted over the wall of the water fountain and jumped back onto the walkway. He watched the pod rise up in the air, and then head towards a massive, jagged hole in the ceiling. Judging by the blackened edges around the hole, Zell assumed that Mireya had burned an exit through the school for this very purpose. Dax ducked down atop the pod and—pursued by White SeeDs and magic spells—the pod flew into the clear sky and out of sight.

(Where's she gonna go?)
There was nothing but ocean in all directions—with Galbadia to the west and Esthar to the east. They would find no safe harbor, unless they traveled all the way to Balamb, or Trabia, or some other distant location.

But no matter what Mireya's plan was, it didn't matter at the moment. Dax and Mireya were gone, the last of Mireya's rebellion was now either in custody or fleeing from Garden. The insurrection had been defeated, and Garden could focus its full attention on fighting against their real enemies—the Galbadians.

(Finally.)

Zell sighed and took stock of the situation. Quistis and the others were gone. Tomomi's body had been removed earlier—to where, Zell couldn't say. Ami was in the infirmary, too badly wounded to continue helping in the fight. Zell thought of her, and a wave of pained anger rushed through him.

(Mireya.)

He looked back up at the hole in the ceiling. A part of him wished that she'd come back into the school and fly directly at him and continue the fight. He was glad that she was gone, but he wanted closure. He wanted to see Mireya and Dax defeated and humiliated. Just chasing them out of Garden didn't seem like punishment enough.

The SeeDs that had gathered to finish off the last of Mireya's rebellion began to disperse. A few White SeeDs used their wrist ties to handcuff the fencer and the pale girl with the spear and bring them to wherever the prisoners were being kept. Someone with a higher rank was ordering the other students around, making sure that everyone knew that just because they had ended the rebellion didn't mean the fighting was over. Zell rushed over to this SeeD.

"Where's Quistis?" Zell asked her.

"The Commander went up to the third floor," she responded.

"Thanks," Zell said. He took a few steps towards the elevator, but the girl stopped him.

"The elevators are still down!" she said.

(Wait, that's right!)

(Mireya has the fricken key!)

"ARGH!" Zell yelled. He spun around. "So how do I get up there?"

"I'll take you," one of the White SeeDs said. "That's how we've been bringing everyone up."

Zell gave him a thumbs-up. "Hey, thanks, man!"

"It better be important," the White SeeD grumbled as he grabbed Zell around the chest. Before Zell could explain why he wanted to see Quistis and justify his trip up to the third floor, he felt the floor drop from beneath him as the White SeeD leapt him straight up in the air.

Zell grunted as the SeeD's strong arms choked the air out of him. The White SeeD hit the side of the elevator shaft and jumped again, landing neatly on the second floor walkway. Zell hoped that the SeeD would loosen his grip for a moment so that Zell could suck in a breath, but the White SeeD had other plans. He jumped again, heading for the hole in the third floor that Selphie had created when she and the others had escaped from the bridge.

(Man, that feels like a lifetime ago.)

They flew through the hole and landed in Cid's reception room. The White SeeD released Zell and Zell stumbled forward, coughing.

"Hey… gugh… thanks again," Zell said with a short wave.

The White SeeD nodded and turned, then dropped back down through the hole and vanished. Zell put a hand on his ribs and took a deep breath then jogged forward, pushing through the ornate double doors into Cid's office.

Zell hadn't seen any of the fighting in the office, so he was taken aback by the scorched walls, the shattered glass on the floor, and the annihilated ceiling. The marble floor was cracked, like it had survived an earthquake. He slowed down and scanned around as he tried to process all the damage. He came to a stop and put his hands on his hips.

(Look what they did…)

Frowning, he glanced up at the bridge. He could see the tops of a few people's heads. He wasn't sure if Quistis was up there, but he knew it was a good guess that she would be. He trotted to the metal lift on the side of the bridge and hopped on. It registered his presence and then raised him up to the top of the bridge.

Four people were already up there when Zell arrived. He recognized Quistis, Xu, and Nida immediately, but there was a fourth person as well, a stern-looking White SeeD that Zell didn't remember, until he thought back to his time spent aboard Trabia Garden.

(Oh, that's Commander Alnaj.)

Zell got off the lift and stepped forward into the group. Nida had his back to the group, his hands on the control column of the school. In the distance, the line of Galbadian ships drew closer and the large red dot of Galbadia Garden lead the charge.

"What's goin' on?" he asked.

Xu spun around, a mixture of fury and despair in her eyes. "Tell her, Zell," Xu said. "Tell her she can't."

(What?)

"Can't what?" Zell asked. "Huh?"

"It's already decided, Xu," Quistis said calmly. She crossed her arms. "That's our plan."

"What's our plan?" Zell asked. "Quistis can't what? Uhhh… huh?"

(Not even five seconds in and I'm already lost.)
Quistis turned and looked at Zell. "The situation is dire. Garden is in shambles, we've lost all three of our sorceresses, and the students are completely exhausted from all this fighting. We won't win another fight against Galbadia. That much is obvious."

"Oh…" Zell said. He could think of nothing else to say. "So… what's the good news, then?"

(I really hope there's good news.)

Quistis frowned. No one answered right away.

"Wait!" Zell said. "I have some good news!" Everyone turned to him. "Mireya's rebellion is finished and she's run away with Dax and NORG's pod. So, I mean, there's that, right? It's not all bad… is it?"

Quistis shrugged. "I already knew that, but thank you for your report, Zell."

Zell waved his hands. "Well, it's something to be happy about, isn't it? We're making progress."

"Mireya was always the lesser of the two threats," Quistis said. "And, unfortunately, her actions tonight have ensured that we have almost no chance to survive this next battle."

Zell sagged his head.

"Oh, man…"

"Our only option is to launch a desperate counterattack," Quistis said, speaking to everyone. "The same way we did the first time we fought G-Garden on the Centra Continent a month ago. I'm going to lead a contingent of SeeDs into G-Garden and hopefully take it down from within. It's the only way."

"And I told her that's crazy," Xu said to Zell. "We need to stick to the original plan and defend Garden from within. We can't take on Galbadia on their home turf. And even if that plan works, that will only stop G-Garden. The rest of the G-Navy is out there, and we'll be helpless against them."

"If we gain control of G-Garden, we can use it against the G-Navy," Quistis said.

"Not as long as there are any students or G-Soldiers inside," Xu said. "You'd have to completely wipe out everyone inside before you could really control the school. Otherwise you'd be constantly fighting them as well as the rest of the G-Navy."

"Regardless, that's our only chance," Quistis said. "We cannot endure a long battle against Galbadia. We must act decisively. Either we win quickly, or we won't win at all."

Xu spun around and faced Zell.

"Zell, maybe she'll listen to you," she said. "Tell her this is insane!"

"I uh… er…" Zell said. He scratched the back of his head and found himself wishing he'd stayed down on the first floor.

(I'm not the guy with the plans!)

"I agree with Commander Quistis' plan," Commander Alnaj said. "If we try to hole up inside Garden, Galbadia's artillery will eventually break us. Without a sorceress to defend against the missile strikes, we'll be slowly blown to pieces and Galbadia will be able to march in here and overwhelm us, claiming the school for their own. But if we can overtake G-Garden, that will slow their momentum and give us a chance of actually winning this battle."

He stopped talking and there was a long, uncomfortable silence that followed. Zell realized that everyone was waiting for him to speak, to weigh in on the situation. He bit his lip and looked at Quistis.

(Guess I'll just be honest…)

"Quistis," Zell said. "If you wanna go, I'll go with you. Whatever your plan is, just point me in the right direction and I'll fight."

Quistis nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Zell."

"Then I'll go too," Xu said to Quistis. "I'll watch your back."

Quistis shook her head. "You need to stay here and lead the defense," she said.

Xu looked hurt. "Nida can do that!"

"Yeah, I can handle it, Commander," Nida said. He glanced over his shoulder and looked at Quistis. "I led the Garden Team when we invaded Timber. I can manage here by myself."

"No, you have stay up here to pilot Garden," Quistis said. "I need someone down below on the front lines, directly leading the students. Xu is the best choice for that."

Xu opened her mouth to protest, but then shut it again. She grumbled something, then shook her head, as if disappointed.

"Fine," she said. "I'll do it."

"Good," Quistis said. "Nida, hit the intercom."

Nida nodded and flipped the switch. The intercom chimed and Quistis began to speak.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Quistis speaking," she said. "G-Garden and the rest of the Galbadian navy are within minutes of attacking. We have determined that our best chance of surviving this battle is to directly attack G-Garden. Given the high level of danger involved in this mission, I'm asking for volunteers to willingly join me as I lead the attack against G-Garden. Anyone who wishes to come along, meet me on the second floor balcony. If you're currently on the first floor, have a White SeeD take you up to the second floor. Everyone else, stay at your designated battle stations. Once the attack force is dropped off at G-Garden, Garden will retreat from the front lines and join up with the Esthar navy."

(Why does she want volunteers?)

(Why not order people to come with her?)

She sighed, paused, and took a breath. "This is it," she said. "The final push. If we survive this next battle, then that should be the end of it. Good luck."

She nodded at Nida, and he hit the switch to shut off the intercom. It chimed to indicate that it was no longer live. Before anyone could move, Zell decided that this was his last chance to come clean about his current circumstances. After all, Commander Alnaj had put Zell in charge of one of the attack groups under the mistaken impression that Zell could junction. He didn't want to repeat that mistake again with Quistis.

"Oh, uh, by the way," Zell said. "I think I should mention that I don't have my junctions."

"You can have mine," Nida said. "I'm not really using them right now."

"No, I mean I can't junction," Zell said. "It doesn't work."

Everyone paused and looked at him, as if he had just confessed to having some horrible disease.

"How did this happen?" Quistis asked with narrowed eyes.

"I think it was Selphie, or Ultimecia," Zell said. "When she took Bahamut from me… I dunno. Somethin' inside me broke. Now I can't junction. I tried it before but nothing happens."

Quistis responded firmly and immediately.

"Then you stay here with Xu and Nida," Quistis said. "No sense bringing you to the front lines if you can't fight."

"Wait… no," Zell said. He waved his hands. "I can fight. I mean, I just helped take down two of Mireya's goons. I'm not useless."

"But your combat effectiveness has been reduced," Quistis said. "You're a liability. Stay here and help protect the school. It's for the best, Zell."

With that, Quistis stepped past him, giving him one apologetic look before stepping onto the lift to go down to Cid's office. Commander Alnaj joined her, and together the two headed down from the bridge.

Feeling lost and abandoned, Zell watched the two jog across the broken marble floor and head through the double doors to the reception room. The doors swung shut with a heavy thud, and Zell felt as if a part of his life had just ended.

(I can still fight…)

"You really can't junction?" Nida asked.

"Yeah," Zell said softly, still looking at the closed doors down below.

Nida shook his head. "That must suck. I mean, I'm really sorry, man. Maybe we can fix it?"

"Yeah," Zell said. "Maybe."

(But I don't know how.)

He looked down at his gloved hands. He clenched them into fists, squeezing them as tightly as they would go. But he could feel the weakness in his fingers. Without his augmented strength, he really wasn't the same person anymore. Without his Guardian Force, he was barely a SeeD at all.

(So what am I gonna do?)

(Just hide on the bridge all day?)

As if reading his thoughts, Xu stepped forward. "I can think of a good spot for you," she said. "You can still help the school."

"How?" Zell asked, turning to face her. "You want me to help Dr. Kadowaki in the infirmary?"

(I'd probably suck at that too.)

"That's one option," Xu said. "But I was thinking more along the lines of—"

But Zell had stopped listening to her. His eyes were drawn over her shoulder, through the remnants of the glass ceiling, and to the ocean beyond. A small dot the size of a ship was rushing through the ocean waves, heading straight towards the Galbadian lines and G-Garden.

"What's that?" Zell asked, pointing ahead.

"What's what?" Nida asked. He brought his binoculars to his face. "What are you looking at?"

Zell pointed him to the right spot. After a few seconds of searching, Nida's jaw dropped.

"It's NORG's pod!" Nida said. "And… someone's on top of it."

(It's them!)

"FRICKEN DAX!" Zell shouted. He raised his fist up and punched the floor, suddenly filled with anger. "Fricken Mireya too!"

"What are they doing?" Xu asked Nida.

"I dunno," Nida said. "It looks like they're heading for G-Garden."

(G-Garden?)

"Are they planning on joinin' the Galbadians?" Zell asked.

Xu shook her head. "If they are, they're crazy. Galbadia would never work with them, especially once they find out that Mireya's a sorceress."

Nida lowered his binoculars. "I dunno. Maybe they would? I mean, why would Galbadia refuse extra help with defeating SeeD?"

"Because they wouldn't trust her," Xu said. "They'd expect some kind of a trap and blast her on sight. Especially if she's still wearing her uniform."

(Ah, right.)

As if cued by Xu's words, missiles and bullets began to fire off from the surface of Galbadia Garden, converging on NORG's pod in the distance. A transparent shield enveloped the pod, protecting it from the attacks as it flew straight towards its destination.

"Well," Nida said. "Galbadia has laid out their favorite welcome mat, but Mireya doesn't seem to be getting the hint."

"What could she be planning?" Xu asked, using her thumb to flick her bottom lip pensively.

Zell stood up and straightened out. "I dunno what they're planning, but if they're goin' for G-Garden and Quistis is goin' to G-Garden, then that's where I'm goin' too."

(I won't be left behind.)

"Quistis told you to stay here," Xu said.

"I know," Zell said. "But I gotta settle the score with Dax before I die. It kills me knowing that I let him get away once. I won't let him get away again."

"Revenge is a pointless reason to fight," Xu said. "And besides, you'll just get killed if you join the attack team."

"I'll probably get killed if I stay here too," Zell said. "You heard Quistis. It's basically a hopeless situation. But if I'm gonna die, then I'm gonna die where I want and doin' what I want. So good luck with the school, guys."

Before they could protest further, Zell spun around and hopped on the lift to bring himself down to Cid's office. All the way down, he tried to justify his outburst and his actions, so that when Quistis inevitably questioned him, he'd be able to come up with good answers.

The lift hit the floor and he jumped off and dashed across Cid's office.

(I already fought Dax once before without junctions in the training center…)

(… Well, I mean, he didn't have junctions either then.)

(And I didn't really "beat" him, but Xu did call the fight in my favor.)

(AAAH! I need to just stop thinkin' about it and do it!)

He opened the double doors and rushed towards the giant open hole in the floor. He skidded to a stop as he realized what he was doing.

"Ah!" he yelped. "I forgot!"

He looked down the hole. It was a long, long drop to the second floor walkway and an even further drop down to the first floor. There was no rope or ladder, so Quistis must have gone down with Commander Alnaj and his excellent jumping ability.

(So how do I get down?)

Zell pondered for a moment, and then remembered how Nida had suggested that there might be a ladder inside the elevator for emergencies. He dashed over to the inoperable elevators and pulled open the double doors. The elevator car was still down at the first floor, leaving a large, yawning hole at Zell's feet. He looked down into the emptiness and got a twinge of vertigo.

(This probably wasn't a good idea.)

(Ah well, too late to back out now.)

He looked down. The front side of the elevator shaft was made of one continuous pane of glass. But tucked in the back was a long series of rungs built in to the wall. And with the elevator still down at the first floor, nothing stopped him from climbing down to the second floor. He climbed along the inside of the shaft until he could stick out a foot and place it on a rung. Then he began to climb down, hurrying along once he remembered the sight of the advancing Galbadian Navy.

(Man, it'd suck if I get there too late.)

He increased his pace, nearly stumbling off the ladder a couple of times, but didn't slow down. Eventually he got to the doors on the second floor. He had to climb back around the shaft and balance precariously on a small metal lip at the bottom of the doors. He shoved his fingers between the double doors and awkwardly pried them open. He squeezed through the opening—glad to be on solid ground again—and dashed for the balcony.

He ran through the hallway which—like most of the rest of the school—was pitted with bullet holes and scorched with magic. Every classroom door had been opened, and all the monsters within had been slain. Zell grimaced as he ran by. He wasn't sad to see monsters die—he had a big heart, but even he couldn't find sympathy for monsters—but rather he was disappointed the classrooms were now so empty and destroyed.

SeeDs stood sentinel along the hall and in the classrooms, but they were a skeleton resistance, visibly exhausted, with damaged uniforms and beaten expressions. Most of them had managed to recover their weapons from wherever Galbadia had hidden them when they had been confiscated, so at least they weren't unarmed, but as Zell ran by, he did not feel the surge of confidence that he normally got when he saw SeeDs preparing for battle.

(Maybe Quistis is right.)

(Maybe this is hopeless.)

But he refused to believe that. As long as he was alive, he would fight for SeeD. And as long as he was fighting for SeeD, then SeeD would never truly die.

He burst through the doors at the end of the hall and dashed up the steps onto the balcony. To his delight, several dozen students had answered Quistis' call for volunteers and stood alongside her on the balcony. For a few seconds, Zell had been worried that no one would have shown up, but it appeared that—even after everything that had happened—there were still people loyal to Quistis.

She spun around when the doors opened and looked at Zell, her eyes narrowing.

"Zell, I told you…" she said. She shook her head and pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. "I guess it doesn't matter now. Find a spot and get ready."

Zell trotted up to her, nodded cheerfully at the other students. He was glad that Quistis wasn't making a big deal of the fact that he disobeyed her orders.

A cluster of White SeeDs were gathered near the edge of the balcony. Commander Alnaj stood beside Quistis, his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on the horizon. Zell followed the White SeeD's gaze and gulped at the line of Galbadian ships stretched before him.

(What is that? A hundred ships?)

(Two hundred?)

He couldn't even begin to count them all. By contrast, when he glanced to the south and east to count Esthar's forces, he was startled to find only a couple dozen ships. Not a small navy by any means, but certainly nothing compared to Galbadia.

"Huh…" he said. "We're totally screwed, aren't we?"

"No one can see the future," Quistis said, gazing firmly at the approaching Galbadian ships. "We'll see this through to the end, regardless of how dire the situation appears."

Zell grinned and nodded. He pumped a fist. "Right! So what's the plan?"

"Nida is going to bring us close to G-Garden," Quistis said. "Their school is known for its extensive open-air gymnasium and athletic center. That is our destination. It's difficult for Galbadia to defend that location, making it our best point of entry. The White SeeDs will jump us to the courts and we will begin the fight, working our way first to the center of the school, and then upwards to the higher levels and the controls. If we can seize the Garden, we can turn it against the rest of Galbadia and hopefully have a chance to survive this battle."

"Cool," Zell said. "What's our Garden going to be up to in the meantime?"

"Retreating," Quistis said. "After we all make the transfer to G-Garden, Nida has orders to pull back into the deepest ranks of the Esthar navy and not emerge until we either give the signal that we have conquered G-Garden or until the Esthar lines begin got collapse and he has no choice but to engage."

"Gotcha," Zell said. "By the way, did you see NORG's pod going after G-Garden?"

"I did," Quistis said.

Zell hesitated. "And… uh… what are we gonna do about that?"

"We don't know what Mireya is up to," Quistis said, "So therefore we cannot adequately prepare ourselves. We have to continue with the plan and hope for the best."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the first missile volleys began to lob from the Galbadian ships, arcing across the sky, diving down towards the ranks of the Esthar navy. Esthar responded immediately, firing their missiles towards the advancing Galbadian fleet. Seconds later, the Galbadian missiles began finding their targets and the ocean erupted into a torrent of explosions.

Water sprayed up in huge fountains where the missiles struck the surface of the ocean. Ships burst open and caught fire. Metal screeched and smoke billowed from the damaged ships. The balcony beneath Zell's feet shook as the school took a couple hits, and debris fell from the top of Garden and crashed into the ocean.

Zell gritted his teeth and watched G-Garden bearing down on them, the nose of their school aimed directly for them. He felt how unprotected he was on the balcony, without a sorceress shielding them. If a missile hit the balcony now, the whole operation would be ruined. There would be no SeeD counter-attack, because they would all be obliterated in an instant.

(It's all about luck right now.)

Zell gulped and tried not to think about that as the missiles continued to fall. Quistis shouted out an order, but amidst the shrieks of falling missiles and the concussive thumps of their explosions—Zell could barely tell that she was speaking.

The White SeeDs got ready, each of them grasping a SeeD around the torso and readying themselves to jump from one Garden to the next. Strong arms wrapped themselves around Zell. He turned and looked at the person holding him.

"Good luck, man," Zell said, giving him a thumbs up. The White SeeD nodded solemnly and then turned his attention back to G-Garden.

A moment later, a cloud of paratroopers lifted off from the surface of G-Garden, like a swarm of wasps rising from their nest to fight off an intruder.

"Open fire!" Quistis shouted, and the SeeDs around her fired their magic and their weapons at the cloud of paratroopers. Several of the flying Galbadians fell from the sky, their massive turbine engines spinning in circles as they plummeted to the sea. But the majority of the force was unharmed and they proceeded to bear down upon Garden. Zell could do nothing but watch as they approached. He ground his teeth and waited.

Soon, G-Garden was within range of the balcony. Zell could see as G-Garden began to turn, angling itself away from a direct collision. At the same time, the floor shifted under Zell's feet as Nida changed direction, keeping up with G-Garden's evasive maneuver and heading straight for impact.

"Now!" Quistis yelled, and as one unit, all the White SeeDs bent their knees and jumped into the sky. Zell felt a painful pressure in his chest as the White SeeD tightened his grip on Zell's body. Then they were in the sky, hurtling up through the mass of paratroopers. Green-uniformed Galbadians sped past Zell on both sides. Other SeeDs around him continued to belt out magic spells as they flew through the air, taking out a few Galbadians as they rushed past. The paratroopers drew their swords and hacked wildly at the passing SeeDs, hoping to catch one of them by chance.

A slashing blade rushed just above Zell's head, moving so quickly that it was already gone by the time Zell realized it was coming towards him. Zell looked up and down at the paratroopers around him and began wiggling in the White SeeD's grasp, trying to angle away from the Galbadians and avoid colliding with them—or with their swords.

The White SeeD holding Zell twisted his body so that his legs were in front of him. He bent his knees and struck the turbines of one of the paratroopers and then launched himself off the metal frame, giving the pair additional altitude to rise above the cluster of paratroopers. He did this twice more, rising higher and higher through the ranks of the Galbadians.

Zell looked down from the dizzying heights and could see the whole of the battle splayed out below him, the fighting SeeDs, the White SeeDs leaping from Galbadian to Galbadian, gaining more altitude with every jump. The Galbadian ships rushing straight towards the fleet of Esthar ships. And in the back, away from the worst of the fighting, were Trabia Garden and the White SeeD Ship.

Once all the White SeeDs were airborne, Garden pulled away from its sister school, retreating from the Galbadian ships and their missiles and heading back to the relative safety of the Esthar fleet. G-Garden corrected its course and began to pursue.

All this happened in a matter of seconds. Then Zell and the White SeeD reached the apex of their last jump and began to drop, with G-Garden directly below them and rising fast. The wind whipped at Zell's clothes and made his eyes water. He had no choice but to shut his eyes and trust the White SeeD to handle the rest.

A second later there was a painful impact, like being in a car accident. Zell got his breath knocked out of him and he felt a few of his joints pop painfully. But when he opened his eyes and examined himself, he saw that he was unharmed.

(… Lucky so far.)

He found himself in a fenced-in basketball court. He vaguely remembered this place from when he and the others had invaded G-Garden, but he didn't remember it well enough to know where he was in relation to the rest of the school.

(I can't even navigate without help.)

(Jeez, I'm hopeless.)

Amidst the chaos of dozens of SeeDs landing in the athletic area, Zell didn't immediately notice the splatters of blood, the bullet holes, or the smoking bodies strewn around the area. But when he did, he nearly fell over in shock. His mouth opened as he took in the scene.

G-Garden students and Galbadian soldiers, paratroopers and a few large robots covered the tennis courts, basketball courts, the walkways, and the track. There were two entrances to this area, one in the front and one in the back, and both entrances were piled high with bodies—at some points the bodies were laying atop each other two or three corpses high.

(It's a fricken massacre.)

"Did…" Zell said, struggling for words. "Who did this?"

The White SeeD behind him didn't answer with words. Instead, he released his grip on Zell and pointed to the tennis courts on the other side of the athletic area. There, parked next to the chain-link fence, was the hulking shell of NORG's pod, covered in dents and billowing black smoke from its engines beneath it.

"Mireya," Zell said, unaware that he was speaking aloud.

(So she's killin' Galbadians now?)

(Whose side is she on?)

A couple of SeeDs rushed to investigate the pod. They circled it, trying to find a way to open it from the outside.

"Use earth magic to create a trench and go under the shell!" Quistis shouted at them. "Secure the pod if you can. If you can't, try to destroy it and regroup with the rest of us." Then she turned to the other SeeDs. "Everyone else, follow me!"

She waved her left arm over her head and began charging towards the door leading to the central area of the school. Zell swallowed, clenched his teeth, and moved forward. The ground was slick and red with blood as he rushed for the entrance. He tried not looking down, not focusing too closely on the scene around him.

There once had been a sealed metal door dividing the outdoor athletic center from the rest of the school, but that door had been ripped open with magic. Char marks blackened the edges around the door. Quistis paused to allow the others to catch up to her, and then continued inside. Zell hesitated for a moment, glancing at all the dead bodies and the hole in the door. A nervous tingle formed in his gut.

(Gotta bad feeling about this.)

He took a breath and jogged to keep up with the rest of the group as they piled into the hallway. It was dimmer inside the school, lit only by the florescent lights in the ceiling, and Zell's eyes briefly adjusted to the change in lighting. When they did, he saw more of the same: the hallway was another scene of destruction, riddled with bullet holes and covered with black scorch marks and red bloodstains. Galbadian students and soldiers lay strewn across the floor, some limp and immobile, some still twitching and moaning, as if trapped in a deep nightmare.

Zell grimaced and followed the rest of the group down the hallway, stepping over the bodies and around the larger pools of blood.

(… Mireya did all this?)

Now that he thought about it, he realized that he had never truly witnessed a sorceress unleash her full powers against a large group of soldiers. Ultimecia—in Edea's body—had always used her powers against small groups, usually SeeDs. By the time Rinoa became a sorceress, Squall and the others had shifted their focus away from fighting Galbadians and towards fighting Ultimecia. This was his first time seeing what happened when ordinary soldiers—not protected by junctions and magic—fought against a ruthless sorceress bent on utterly destroying them. The nervous tingle in his gut worsened.

(Just keep movin'.)

It was almost a relief when the sounds of battle started up again. The eerie silence and all the blood and gore were wearing on Zell's nerves.

Up ahead, in the central area that formed the heart of Galbadia Garden, a voice cried out, "It's SeeD!" and immediately gunshots echoed down the hallway. Zell dropped to his stomach and rolled, getting cool blood on his clothes as he pressed himself up against a wall.

In the central dome, those Galbadians who had survived Mireya's massacre had positioned themselves along the upper and lower levels of the wide open area, allowing them to simultaneously watch and defend all points of entry. They had gathered together desks and chairs from the nearby classrooms and built a square fort in the middle of the room, with a few dozen students and soldiers camped out inside.

Through the echoing ricochets of bullets and the answering roar of fire magic and ice magic, Zell could hear Quistis shouting out orders. She used her knowledge of the school's layout to her advantage.

"You!" she yelled, pointing at a group of SeeDs. "Go down that hallway and follow it around. It'll eventually connect with the other side of the central hall. And you!" she said, pointing at a group of SeeDs around and including Zell. "Take these stairs up to the second level."

"Roger!" Zell and the others shouted. He wasn't sure if Quistis really meant to include him in the fighting or if she hadn't noticed he was there, but he wanted to fight and this was his chance.

He got to his feet, keeping low to avoid being struck by bullets, and followed after a half dozen SeeDs and White SeeDs who ran up the nearby staircase to the second floor.

(If Galbadia has managed to hold a defensive line here…)

(Does that mean Mireya and Dax are dead?)

He hoped so. If Galbadia had taken care of them, then that would solve a lot of problems. Now that he had seen the destructive power of Mireya's magic, his lust for vengeance had cooled. Granted, there would still be the question of who would inherit Mireya's sorceress powers, but that was a distant concern at the moment. He had witnessed the massacre she had unleashed on the Galbadians. If she had both the physical strength and ruthlessness to cause that much damage that quickly, then she needed to be stopped, regardless of the future consequences.

Zell and the others emerged on the second floor. Here waited more dead bodies, along with a few shattered robots, their gears and mechanisms whirring uselessly in their wrecked bodies. Now Zell was beginning to wonder where Mireya had found the time to cause all this destruction.

(She must be more powerful than we thought.)

He followed the other SeeDs as they ran down the hall and broke through to the central area of G-Garden.

Galbadia had done what it could to fortify that location, but they had lost their greatest advantage—their numbers. Mireya's decimation of their army had left a comparatively few number of students and soldiers left behind to fight. And with Quistis' flanking strategy—attacking the center from multiple places at once—they simply couldn't defend properly.

Most of the remaining students and soldiers on the second floor were on the far side of the central area. Mireya's path of destruction went about halfway across both sides of the circular walkway and then seemed to die out. Maybe she had been stopped here, or perhaps she had moved on to somewhere else. Zell didn't know.

A bullet fired from across the room and struck a SeeD's magic shield and bounced, whizzing just past Zell's ear. He ducked a half second after the shot was fired, and then dropped to a crouch. Surrounding the walkway on the second floor was a large metal hand railing with an opaque metal sheet supporting it. Zell threw himself against this barrier. The metal sheet, he knew, was too thin to stop any bullets, but it at least kept him out of sight. The other SeeDs did the same, pressing themselves against the barrier as they moved in two different directions, one half heading to the north end of the school, and the other half moving south. Zell picked at random and followed the latter group.

Keeping low, Zell could only catch brief glimpses of the battle raging below. He could see White SeeDs leap up to the ceiling, jumping up and down from the first and second floors, taking full advantage of the open space and their extreme mobility. Ahead, around the curving second floor walkway, Zell could see an outcropping of soldiers tucked behind a makeshift barricade. Since the other SeeDs ahead of him had their magic, he drifted back a little bit, falling behind the others. He wanted to fight, but he didn't want to become a human shield.

(I'll only die if I have to.)

(I won't rush out and try to die.)

The cluster of SeeDs moved past a hallway leading towards some classrooms, with Zell taking up the rear. Since he wasn't leading the attack, he did as he was trained and stopped and turned, watching for any pursuit from behind. There was none.

As he turned back to continue forward, a large, strong hand gripped his collar and pulled him hard, dragging him into the hallway he had just passed and out of sight from the rest of the SeeDs. He tried to yelp out an alarm, but his collar choked him and the gasping wheeze that escaped his lips was completely drowned out by the sounds of fighting. He had a brief flash of panic, before his training kicked in. He got his feet under him, spun on his heel, and threw a desperate uppercut into the gut of his assailant.

His gloved fist struck chiseled muscle and stopped. His wrist and fingers ached as if he'd struck a stone wall. He glanced up slowly and met Dax's steely gaze.

(Oh, hell.)

"Was that supposed to hurt?" Dax asked.

Zell tried to pull away, but Dax still had a tight grip on Zell's collar. Zell spun and raised his arms, trying to wriggle free of his shirt, but Dax reached forward with his other hand and grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up in the air. Zell gripped Dax's wrist with both hands, desperately kicking out in all directions, feeling as the blood to his brain got cut off.

Dax took a step forward and pushed down from his shoulder, choke-slamming Zell onto the floor. Zell's head struck hard against the tiled floor, sending bursts of light through his eyes. But still he fought on. He put flattened both feet on the ground and arched his back up, trying to twist and lever his way out of Dax's grip.

But he barely even moved. Dax held him pinned down to the ground by his throat and all his struggling accomplished nothing. Dax squeezed harder, and Zell felt his own pulse hammering in his eyes.

"Hold still," Dax said. He raised his other fist and, almost casually, brought it down across Zell's cheek.

The blow to his head didn't register with Zell at first. He was aware that, one moment, he was looking at Dax's face and the next he was looking to the side, but he didn't feel the impact or any pain until a few seconds later. Then the side of his face blossomed in a rush of agony and heat. Zell kicked and groaned and Dax struck again. And then once again.

By the third time, Zell was almost unconscious. He felt something fall from his mouth and land with a gentle clatter on the floor. He saw it was a tooth, and he blinked.

(Oh… he's…)

(… He's gonna kill me.)

Zell realized then that his body had gone almost totally limp. His struggles had ceased. The battle around them raged on, but Zell's mind had gone somewhere distant and fuzzy. Not a pleasant place—or a happy one—but somewhere better than where he currently was.

Dax raised his fist one more time and punched Zell right on the center of his chin. Zell felt his jawbone realign itself in his skull, and everything faded into a murky blur. He wasn't totally unconscious, but he couldn't put any thoughts together and he lost control of his body.

A few seconds later, he could feel himself being moved, then he was aware that his torso was above his head, and his legs were dangling loose behind him. He felt pressure on his stomach and in a loop encircling his waist. He was swaying gently from side to side. The floor was moving above his head.

(… I uh...)

(What?)

A part of him figured out that he was slung over Dax's shoulder, the same way Dax had carried Xu's unconscious body out of Timber. The sounds of the battle were fading away, and beneath him the floor kept moving on.

"Where…" Zell said—or tried to say. His brain and his mouth weren't working well anymore and he wasn't sure if the word got out.

Whatever the case, Dax didn't answer him. He continued up a brief set of stairs—Zell felt Dax's hard shoulder ram uncomfortably into his gut with each upward step—then across and down another set. Through Zell's blurry vision, he could see more bodies on the floor beneath him, as well as a couple of robots.

Distantly, he was aware that some of these robots were not laying on the ground in pieces, but were standing up, remaining perfectly still as Dax passed by them. This seemed significant to Zell, but he couldn't figure out why.

Dax stopped at a door. He knocked with a specific pattern then paused. The door opened, and he carried Zell inside. He went a few steps in, then released his grip, allowing Zell to drop to the floor. Zell didn't even have the presence of mind to protect himself as he fell, and he landed hard on his shoulder and hip and suffered another hit to his skull. The bright lights returned in his eyes, and he felt a wave of nausea creep up his gut.

(Oh, man…)

He gagged, then choked, but nothing came up. Above him, he could see Dax shove a thick metal rod through the handles of a set of double doors, barring the doors from being opened from the outside.

"Did you kill him?" a female voice asked. It sounded familiar, but Zell couldn't form the connections in his mind and remember who it was.

"He's alive," Dax said. "Look, see?"

Dax used the toe of his shoe to roll Zell onto his back. A series of bright lights directly above him blinded Zell, forcing him to groan and squint. He tried to cover his eyes with his hand, but his arm couldn't find his face and he ended up weakly throwing his arm across his chest instead.

"You broke his jaw," the female voice said. "You were supposed to make sure he could still talk."

Dax crossed his arms. "You got magic. I figured you could fix it."

The woman sighed. A shadow moved across Zell's vision as she leaned over him. He felt her hand on his chest. There was a humming energy in the air as she pressed her magic down into him. Soothing relief shot up and down his body, but then was redirected away from his torso and sent exclusively up into his head, then concentrated around his jaw. He could feel the bones shifting as the magic popped everything back into place. Another burst of magic was sent up into his brain, easing the feelings of pressure and disorientation.

His eyes began to clear, and he saw Mireya and Dax standing over him.

"Hell!" he said, when the fog over his mind lifted. He sat up and scuttled backwards awkwardly. His arms and legs didn't seem to work right anymore. Mireya had healed his jaw and helped with his head injuries, but he still wasn't one hundred percent cured. Zell pushed himself along until he bumped into a chair that was mounted to the floor and could go no further.

Mireya got to her feet. Dax looked down at Zell and sneered.

"Shoulda joined up with us when you had a chance," Dax said. "But no. You had to be an idiot."

"That's enough, Dax," Mireya said. Dax snorted.

(So… they're not gonna kill me?)

Now that he thought of it, Zell realized that if Dax wanted him dead, he could have easily snapped his neck at any time. And Mireya wouldn't have bothered to cure him if she didn't have some purpose in mind. Obviously, they were planning something, and Zell was a pawn in the middle of it.

(Great.)

He looked around. His vision still blurred at the edges, but he realized that he, Dax, and Mireya were standing at the back of the G-Garden auditorium. The row of red seats surrounding the central podium and the stage were a sight indelibly marked in Zell's mind after his battle against Matron.

"Come here," Mireya said to Dax. "There's something I need you to do."

Still grinning, Dax moved over to Mireya's side, standing a couple of paces from her.

"What's up?" he asked.

"How are your junctions organized?" Mireya asked. "What kind of elemental protection do you have?"

"Ah, just the basics, you know?" Dax said. "Fire, earth, ice. Some status protection too."

"Nothing against lightning?" Mireya asked.

"Not really," Dax said. "I got lucky before. Not many people tried to zap me with lightning."

"Good," Mireya said with a nod.

Then she reached out one hand and fired a bolt of lightning into Dax's chest. Dax's eyes flew open in shock as his body was hurled backwards into the wall of the auditorium. Zell flinched in surprise. Dax coughed and choked and looked down at himself, his hands gently touching a burnt circle on the front of his shirt. His legs wobbled, and his arms were shaking.

"I wanted a loyal idiot," Mireya said to him. "And you performed serviceably in that regard. However, I could have tolerated a little more foresight on your part. Perhaps you would have lived longer."

She fired another blast of lightning, this one twice as strong as the last. Zell was blinded by the flash and had to turn his head aside. Dax screamed through clenched teeth then, when the spell ended, he dropped to his knees and fell lifeless on his face. Mireya looked at his body dispassionately.

Zell angled himself away from Mireya and glanced at the door. The metal bar holding it shut was not locked in place in any way. If he could get there and pull it out, he might stand a chance of escaping.

Mireya caught him staring at the door.

"Settle down, Zell," Mireya said. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have already done so."

Zell leaned back against the side of the chair and focused on Mireya. She had taken off the top of her SeeD uniform, leaving on her white undershirt. The shirt was torn in a couple of places and stained red and black with blood and ash. Her hair, normally neat and trimmed, was frayed and tangled. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, then pushed up her glasses on her face.

Zell looked around, hoping to find a way out of the situation. At least a dozen Galbadian robots were stationed around the room, motionless, seemingly standing guard.

(Why aren't they doin' anything?)

"So…" Zell said to Mireya. He took a deep breath.

(Don't think I'm gonna make it out of here alive.)

"Why'd you bring me here?" Zell asked.

"You specifically?" Mireya asked. She leaned against the side of one of the chairs and crossed her arms. "I didn't. Dax is the one who chose you. I merely ordered him to bring me a SeeD—preferably one with strong ties to Quistis and the Headmaster. And he brought you, which was a decent enough choice, all things considered."

"Why?" Zell asked.

"Because I needed to single out a SeeD, and I couldn't do it myself," Mireya said. "I knew you all would be looking for me, and as soon as I revealed myself, you would have turned all your attention on me. Dax however, was a little more inconspicuous. And if he got captured or killed then that would be no major loss, seeing as how I was planning to kill him anyway. I needed a SeeD to talk to alone for a few minutes."

"… To talk?" Zell asked. He frowned.

(What would she wannatalk about?)

"Yes," Mireya said. "Like I said, I'm not planning on killing you. At least, not if you cooperate."

(Oh, now I get it.)

Zell had seen enough movies and read enough books to know how this scene typically played itself out. The villain—in this case, Mireya—was going to offer him some sort of deal. Perhaps a reward, or a threat, or something to coerce him to help her.

But he instantly made up his mind to refuse whatever she offered. There was nothing that she could give him that he wanted, and nothing that she could threaten him with that he feared. He would gladly die or be tortured before he worked to help Mireya.

(Bring it on.)

Zell shook his head. "No. Nuh uh. Whatever it is, I'm not gonna do it. And you can't make me."

He crossed his arms.

"Hmph," Mireya said. "Perhaps I should have asked Dax to bring me a SeeD who was a little less loyal to Quistis. Oh, well. Nothing I can do about that now."

Zell watched her. She gazed calmly around the room, seemingly indifferent to everything that was happening. Through the door, Zell could still hear the sounds of the battle inside G-Garden, and from above he could hear missiles continuing to fall. One of the largest battles in years was taking place, and Mireya seemed almost bored by it all.

"You know, you're pretty calm about all this," Zell said.

"I've accepted my fate," Mireya said. She looked at him. Her eyes were unreadable. "One way or another, this is the end for me. I've made my peace with that."

"Tch," Zell said. "So? No one gives a damn about whether or not you've made your peace. After everything you've done? You don't get to be calm. You should be terrified."

Mireya shrugged. "I imagine you would expect me to feel more remorse for my actions. I'm sorry, but I don't."

(She's nuts.)

"Not even for Dax?" Zell asked. He pointed a finger at Dax's body on the floor. "Wasn't he, like, your right hand man? And you just killed him! Like he was nothing!"

"My right hand man?" Mireya said. To Zell's disgust, she actually had the audacity to smile. "Him? Nonsense. He was too stupid to be my second in command. No, a man named Len was my most trusted supporter. You remember him, I'm sure. He had red hair and fought with a pair of fencing foils."

(Oh… him.)

"I remember," Zell said, leaning back against the chair. "That was your guy, eh?"

She nodded. "Dax was just the muscle in our operation," she said. "He was useful for intimidating some of the weaker-willed students, but aside from that he was more of a burden than anything. The world is better off without him, I assure you."

"I can't…" Zell said. He shook his head and balled his hands into fists. Once again, anger boiled within him. "You're so… so damn CALM! What the hell? You just… do you know what you've done? And you're acting like we're talking about the fricken weather or sports highlights or somethin'!"

Mireya shrugged. "I'm being honest with you. Perhaps this is the first time that I've been completely myself around another person. To tell the truth, I don't care much about anything. I never really have. I don't love anyone or anything. Not my parents, not anyone at school. No one. I know the emotions I'm supposed to be feeling at any given moment, but only theoretically, the way you know about cities you've never been to or foods you've never eaten."

She looked away.

"I don't think I've ever confessed that fact to anyone before," Mireya said. "Whenever I'm around other people, I usually at least try to act like I'm normal. You may be the first person to have the privilege of seeing me for who I truly am."

Zell snorted. "Some privilege."

(And really, she doesn't seem much different.)

"You've always been an emotional thinker, haven't you, Zell?" Mireya asked, her cold eyes landing on his. "I admit that I don't know you too well, but you've always seemed rash and impulsive. I wonder what that's like… to be guided by your emotions. To feel so strongly about something that you're willing to shout at me like you did a few seconds ago."

Zell chewed on his lip.

(It's not that great.)

(I make mistakes.)

(Sometimes I wish I was more logical…)

"If you're tryin' to make me feel sorry for you, it won't work," Zell said. "I'm way, WAY too angry to ever forgive you."

"Because I tried to take over SeeD?" Mireya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well yeah, but you sliced Ami nearly in half," Zell said. "You almost killed her!"

"Ami?" Mireya said. She frowned. "Which one is that?"
"You don't remember?" Zell asked. The anger was almost overwhelming now. "Cute girl with brown pigtails. She had a staff and you snuck up behind her and slashed her across the back!"

Mireya nodded. "Oh. Her. She was one of the people locked in the infirmary with us, wasn't she?"

"Yeah!"

"Now I remember," Mireya said. "I wish I had known that you cared so much about her. I would have factored it into my plans. But… in retrospect, I doubt it would have changed much."

(I wanna just STRANGLE HER!)

"You… you just…" Zell said, shaking in anger. The scene flashed before his eyes again and again: Mireya bringing her sword across Ami's back. The spray of red blood. The look of helpless shock on Ami's face. The way she fell, almost totally lifeless to the floor.

"… And you don't even care," Zell said, almost inaudibly. He raised his voice. "You barely even remember!"

"You're right, I don't care. Not in the sense that you do. But I do have principles," Mireya said. "I believe in things like right and wrong, good and evil. Just because I support my values with logic rather than emotion doesn't make you any better than me."

"Logic?" Zell said. "The logic of a fricken maniac, maybe. Man, I am gonna laugh when the rest of SeeD comes in here and takes you down."

"You'll be kept waiting for quite some time, I imagine," Mireya said. "Quistis' priority is going to be securing the school's controls. After she finishes the fight in the main area, she'll move up to the higher levels. She has no reason to come to the auditorium just yet."

Zell didn't answer.

(Damn it…)

(… She's got a point.)

"But that's not a concern right now," she said. "Let me tell you why I brought you here."

"Go ahead," Zell said. "I'll just tell you to go to hell."

(Let her talk.)

(Let her waste more time.)

"First, I think I should start by putting aside our respective loyalties for a moment," Mireya said. "In fact, let's disregard the past entirely. Let's pretend that you and I are two random SeeDs who never met each other before."

"Tch," Zell said. "I wish I'd never met you."

Mireya sighed and flicked a small lightning spell across Zell's body. He twitched, his nerves lighting up in pain. When he finally stopped shaking, she spoke. "Just because I want you alive doesn't mean I'm not willing to hurt you. Keep your outbursts to yourself until I'm finished talking."

"Grk…" Zell said.

"Good," Mireya said. "Forget everything that's happened so far. Forget about your friends, your classmates, your allies, your family. Pretend you're a SeeD with no particular attachments to anyone except to the school that is your home. Now imagine that a sorceress comes to your school and threatens the very nature of its existence. Imagine that she is so powerful that she can literally blast apart entire sections of the school at will. Now imagine that this terror—this monster—is not only allowed in the school, but is actually dating the Commander! Holding hands with him in the hallway. Eating lunch with him in the cafeteria. Treated as a higher ranking SeeD, and given unique privileges that no one else can have. And what's worse, imagine that you know, beyond any doubt, that if the sorceress were to attack the school, the Commander would take her side. Imagine that."

Zell glared at her, but didn't say anything.

"Everyone says that she's fine," Mireya said. "She's safe. She loves the school and everyone in it. The sorceress will never hurt anyone. Unless, of course, a time-traveling sorceress from the future spontaneously possesses her. Then she can no longer be held accountable for her actions. Then she's a victim and we should feel sorry for her and protect her. Can you even imagine such a scenario? It shouldn't be hard, since that's the current state of Balamb Garden and SeeD. We've let a wild animal roam free in our halls, and we hope that she won't eat anyone. It's absurd."

"Rinoa's not like that," Zell said.

"Rinoa's not like that," Mireya said tonelessly. "Edea's not like that. That girl—what's her name?—in the yellow dress. She's not 'like that' either. But yet Edea assassinated President Deling and tried to bomb Garden into oblivion. And now she's in charge of the children at our school, shepherding them like a foster mother. The girl in the yellow dress isn't like that, yet she attacked the students and blew up the quad. If those two aren't 'like that' then I truly fear the day when we meet a sorceress who is 'like that.'"

"You don't get it," Zell said. "It's because—"

"Yes, the sorceress from the future," Mireya said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Zell scowled, but he knew he couldn't say anything without getting another shock. "Ultimecia. I read Squall's report on the subject. I know about your trip to Esthar and the Lunatic Pandora and your time in the future. I know about all that… and I don't care. Regardless of your explanations, sorceresses have repeatedly proven themselves to be unpredictable and untrustworthy. An organization like SeeD would have to be insane to allow such creatures into the school. And yet we have. Therefore, our leadership is insane. That's the logical assumption."

"So… that's what this is all about?" Zell asked. "You did all this because you hate sorceresses?"

"Yes," Mireya said.

"Then why am I here?" Zell asked. "I'm not a sorceress."

Mireya paused, gathering her thoughts. "I have been working on my plans for years now. Since before I even became a SeeD. When I was still a cadet, NORG had already approached me and I had begun recruiting allies, learning about the school, and planning my operation. And now, because I was forced to play my hand early—the same thing fate that befell NORG—I was defeated. If I had more time to recruit followers, I probably would have gained control over the school without a fight."

Zell started to speak, but Mireya talked over him. "But then, to make matters worse, not only was I forced into action prematurely, I was also forced to become a sorceress. I am well aware that my plans are now ruined beyond redemption. Everything I have worked for is gone. Even if Quistis completely pardons everything I've done and accepts me back into the school, I will never be trusted again. I will never be able to assemble a core group of followers. I will not be able to bring about the change that the school desperately needs."

"The school doesn't need to change," Zell said.

"Yes it does," Mireya said. "As long as SeeD continues to fraternize with sorceresses, it is only a matter of time before we are ultimately destroyed by those same sorceresses. But you don't understand that. And perhaps you never will. You are close friends with a sorceress. You are biased, and so you can't imagine that she will ever harm the school. And to be honest, maybe she won't. But one day a sorceress will come to the school who isn't your friend, who isn't kind and generous and selfless. She will take advantage of SeeD's lax policies and destroy us from within. And by the time she strikes, it will be too late to stop her."

"That's a bit paranoid, isn't it?" Zell asked. "I mean, you're just worrying about something that might happen."

"Of course I'm worrying about things that might happen," Mireya said. "That's what a leader does. Headmaster Cid and Commander Squall and Quistis are all friends with—or in love with—sorceresses. Their judgment is clouded by their hearts. They can't see the threat that sorceresses pose to the school, because when they think of a 'sorceress' they think of Rinoa or Edea. They don't truly realize that the sorceress powers can be given to any woman in the world, regardless of her intentions or her moral fiber. Their lack of foresight will destroy the school."

Zell shook his head. "Look, if you're tryin' to get me to sign up for Team Mireya, it won't work. There's nothing you can say to make me fight for you."

"I don't need you to side with me," Mireya said. "I don't want you to be my ally. I want you to be my messenger. You are going to write the final chapter of this narrative."

"… Eh?" Zell said.

"Although my plans are in ruins," Mireya said. "I can still salvage the spirit of my ambitions. With my last action, I can so irrevocably tarnish the reputation of all sorceresses that no one in SeeD will ever trust a sorceress ever again. When I am gone, SeeD will declare sorceresses to be their enemy, as they should have from the very beginning."

(…)
"What?!" Zell asked, his jaw sliding open.

"Allow me to explain," Mireya said. "Upon obtaining her powers, the Sorceress Mireya lost her mind and attacked Garden, and then G-Garden with the intent of capturing it for herself. Luckily, the brave SeeD Zell Dincht managed to corner her in the school auditorium and defeat her, thus sparing many students' lives and ultimately bringing an end to her reign of terror." She turned to face him. "A convincing narrative, right?"

"But… that's not what happened," Zell said. He shook his head.

(This is nuts…)

"But it is what you will say happened," Mireya said. "Think about it. I will get handed over to Quistis and you will emerge a hero. I lose and you win. You'll probably receive a rank bonus after this. How can you refuse this bargain?"

"I…" Zell shook his head again. "You want me to lie to everyone?"

"A small price to pay, really," Mireya said. "I hope you realize that this situation could have gone much worse for you. But here I am, basically handing myself over. In fact, you don't even have to lie. Not directly, anyway. Just agree with the story that I will tell. I'll spread all the lies, and you can just nod and play along. This is the best arrangement you will ever receive in your lifetime."

"I still don't get it," Zell said. "… Why do this?"

"Because," Mireya said. "I was the most vocal anti-sorceress student in the entire school. Yet, mere moments after becoming a sorceress, I seemingly lost my mind and went on a rampage through all of Garden and G-Garden. If someone like me could be driven mad by the sorceress powers, then it could happen to anybody. The students will put together the pieces and realize that Garden can never trust sorceresses again."

"But… you're not crazy," Zell said. He shrugged and glanced to the side. "At least, not in that way."

(She's still plenty crazy.)

Mireya sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. "You don't understand the concept of a lie, do you? I'm going to martyr myself for my cause. Paint myself as the villain and allow myself to be imprisoned or killed or exiled or whatever else Quistis has planned for me, all in the name of protecting SeeD from sorceresses. I would say that's a rather noble sacrifice on my part, but I'm sure you would disagree."

"I do disagree!" Zell said. "That's… that's crazy! If you wanna turn yourself in, then just do it! Look, I'll walk you to Quistis and hand you over! Done and done!"

"But handing myself over freely won't work," Mireya said. "It makes me appear sane and rational. No, I must appear to be unreasonable right until the very end. I must meet my fate screaming and clawing and fighting. I have to become a monster, and monsters don't negotiate. Monsters don't surrender."

"You're insane," Zell said. "Abso-fricken-lutely insane."

"I don't care what you think about me," Mireya said. "Will you do it?"

Zell shook his head. "No! Never! And I don't care if you zap me again! I won't do it!"

Mireya shook her head. "You're too loyal for your own good. But even loyalty can be used against you." She took a breath and met Zell's gaze. "That girl you like, the one with the pigtails. Ami, you said her name was?"

Zell blanched.

"She's alive, I presume?" Mireya said. "You, in all your ranting, never mentioned anything about her dying."

"… She's alive," Zell said. "She's in the infirmary now."

(Wait!)

(… Damn it, I shoulda said she was dead!)

(Stupid, stupid, stupid.)

"I can find her," Mireya said coldly. "I can finish what I started."

"DON'T YOU EVEN!" He jumped to his feet. His head swam and nausea pitched his stomach, but he was too enraged to care.

"You have two choices, Zell," Mireya said, staring him down. "Either you can tell the world that you beat me in a fight, or you can force me to actually play out that fight. But if you take the second option, I will do everything in my power to make you suffer for that choice. I will kill you. I will kill your girlfriend. I will kill as many of your friends as possible. I know who they are and I know their names. They won't be able to stop me. And only then—when I've destroyed as many of the things you love as possible—will I allow myself to be beaten and captured. Either way, the end is the same for me. It's all a matter of how many people must die before we reach the conclusion. It's your choice."

Zell's legs grew weak and the anger and the energy drained from him. He sat down hard on the floor and stared vacantly into space.

(She'll do it.)

(I know she will.)

"I don't get it…" Zell said. "Why can't you just… I mean…" He shook his head. "Rinoa and Selphie. Tomomi and Matron. They're all good sorceresses. They're good people. You could be like them. You could protect Garden with your power. If you really cared about Garden you could… I don't…"

He trailed off, allowing the distant sounds of battle to fill the room.

"I wish I could," Mireya said. "Believe me when I say that I have considered that option. I've never cared about anything as much as I care about Garden, about SeeD. I don't think my emotions are perhaps as strong as yours, but there's definitely something there. I want to protect Garden. Wanting things is… unusual for me."

She paused for a second, then continued. "But I've realized that it doesn't matter how good or evil I am. Eventually there will come a day when I must hand over my sorceress powers to another person. And there is no telling what the recipient would do with my power. Maybe she would be a good person and use the power wisely. Or maybe she wouldn't. It's impossible to know. The same goes for all other sorceresses in the world. It is safer, in the long run, for SeeD to have no dealings with sorceresses. To completely sever all ties with their kind."

"You just gotta trust people," Zell said. "That's all. Find someone you think will do a good job."

Mireya shook her head. "I've never been any good at trusting people. And besides." Her lips curved into a sad smile. "Could you imagine having to fight another sorceress like myself? Haven't I shown that not all women can be trusted with this power? I believe my actions today have proven my own point."

(I gotta talk her out of this.)

(I can't… I can't agree with her plan.)

(And I can't fight her either.)

"… There's always gonna be more good sorceresses than bad," Zell said.

"And where were those good sorceresses seventeen years ago?" Mireya asked. "Where were they when Adel was sailing her armies across the world? Where were they when Edea assassinated Deling and tried to bomb Garden?"

Zell looked down at the floor and said nothing.

"One wicked sorceress can change all of history," Mireya said. "That's all it takes. One person who can't handle the power. And to tell the truth, I can already feel my willpower breaking down. I keep saying to myself, maybe there's another way. Maybe I can keep the power and use it for good. I have the ability to control machines. You saw what I did to NORG's pod, and what I did to G-Garden and their robots. If I focused my energies towards changing the world… I could accomplish a great deal."

Zell looked up. Now he realized how G-Garden had been decimated so quickly. Mireya had used her sorceress powers to control Galbadia's own machines, turning one of their greatest assets into their enemy. The robots stationed around the auditorium were hers as well, metal soldiers in her new army.

(Being able to control machines…)

(… That's a scary power these days.)

"But those thoughts are treacherous," Mireya said. "I will start with the best of intentions, but eventually the power and the responsibility will begin to change me. I will make small exceptions to my rules, and those exceptions will grow and grow until I am no longer the person I used to be. Until my original dreams and my intentions are all forgotten. There are no good sorceresses, Zell. There are only those who choose to use their power, and those who do not."

"You don't know that," Zell said. "You don't know that's what's gonna happen."

"But I fear it," Mireya said. "It's a possibility. And I have never liked taking risks."

The doors banged. The metal rod in the door handles shook, but held firm. Zell looked at the doors, then at Mireya. She spun to face him.

"It seems they're here," Mireya said. "You don't have to fight me. You don't have to say anything. I will lie down on the floor before they come in, and all you have to do is let them draw their own conclusions. Believe me, Zell, this is the best outcome for everyone."

Before Zell could agree or disagree or continue the argument, Mireya stretched herself on the floor, moving her arms into an unnatural position, as if she had just been beaten down after a long, grueling fight. With the marks on her clothes and body—and Zell's beaten and bruised face—it certainly looked like a battle had been waged here.

Zell stood up. The doors began to heat up as SeeDs outside used fire magic to melt away the handles. Zell could see the metal rod begin to warp and bend as its temperature rose. He only had a couple of seconds to decide.

He tried to think logically, to see the situation from an outsider's view. But his injuries and his exhaustion and his stress clouded his mind. The only thing he could hear in his mind was the sound of his own anger, the constant thump of his righteous need for revenge against Mireya. In a flash, he recalled Mireya slashing Ami's back, Dax breaking Tomomi's neck, the two of them escaping through the hole in the ceiling of Garden.

(I can't do it.)

(I can't let them get away with this.)

The doors burst open and a dozen SeeDs rushed in. They aimed their weapons and their magic at the Galbadian robots stationed around the room. They attacked with lightning, striking down the nearest robots before they could come to life.

(I have to tell the truth!)

"Watch out!" Zell said. "She's tryin'a trick you! Mireya's still awake!"

"IDIOT!" she yelled from behind him. Mireya leapt to her feet and thrust her arm towards Zell. He had just enough time to turn around and look at her as she blasted a bolt of lightning directly into his chest.

He felt nothing when it hit him. The lights in the world turned off as if Mireya had flicked a switch, and he thought nothing more.