6
CHAPTER 6 – KNIGHT TAKES QUEEN
"Looks like it's already on the move!"
"Then we're not a moment too soon," Piet replied to the officer. "Move in to intercept. Zam, open a comm channel. Let's see if we can get their attention."
The woman at the comm station saluted and went to work as the rest of the bridge crew continued making preparations for the imminent landing. Squall and his retinue stood in the middle of it all, eyes trained out the cockpit windshield to the Lunatic Pandora. The massive monolith had already been visible well before they'd crossed over the Esthar coast. Closer it drew as the Ragnarok zoomed through the air to meet it head on.
"And here I thought we had another day or two," Laguna muttered.
"Seifer's never been a patient one," Quistis explained.
"Or even a sane one," Zell added in.
"How I'm hoping you're wrong," Edea piped up from the side.
Despite the turbulence, she maintained her balance well. Her eyes remained transfixed to the Pandora, the longing brimming in them unmistakable. Just as evident was her determination. Though Squall shared his comrades' skepticism, he wasn't yet prepared to steal away the faith which had brought her all this way.
I guess only a mother could still hold onto hope right now…
"Pandora, do you copy?" Zam spoke into the receiver. "Pandora, this is space shuttle Ragnarok requesting permission to board. Do you read me?"
Seconds passed with no response. Onward they sped, easily into transmission range by Squall's estimate. Larger and larger the Pandora steadily grew. Despite further attempts however, radio silence was all they were met with each time.
"How do they expect to make the exchange if they're not even going to let us in?" Rinoa wondered as she anxiously ambled about the bridge.
"If they don't wanna open the door for us, I say we make one!" Selphie proclaimed. "This ship's got that huge cannon on the front and all."
"Let's call that our Plan B," Kiros gently dragged her back down to earth. "Zam, you're sure there's nothing wrong with the frequency you're using?"
"I've tried a few different ones already, Commissioner," she said. "They're just not picking up."
"Such incompetence!" Odine scoffed, stroking his goatee. "And this is precisely why you don't put children in soldiers' uniforms. Really, Mrs. Kramer… you must tell me what was running through your mind when you decided on that one."
Squall, peeved by the jab, directed his eyes to Edea. To his surprise, she was already looking his way. Her gaze abruptly pivoted, as if out of embarrassment. She then shook her head as if to imply he should pay it no mind, and reoriented her focus on the Pandora. Begrudgingly, he did the same; Odine's rudeness was the least of all their concerns for the time being.
Seifer… what are you playing at?
He couldn't imagine his rival's lack of action were owed to incompetence nor complacency. There had to be something more at work. He scanned the monolith up and down as they pulled alongside the fore, eyes peeled for any sign of an incoming bombardment. Though Odine had insisted the Pandora's exterior was equipped with no heavy weaponry, the aerial mechs Seifer and his knights had escaped with after the battle at Galbadia Garden remained unaccounted for. Only as another officer shouted out did he realize the ship's radar would be a better asset than his eyes.
"We're picking up a cluster of bogeys off the Pandora's northeast side!"
"Must be the welcoming committee," Laguna groaned.
"Veers, move us in!" Piet commanded. "Weapons stations prepare to engage, but hold your fire until I give the word. Zam, keep at it."
"Rodger!" the crew responded in unison.
"It's… almost time, isn't it?"
Squall turned in response to the timid voice. Ellone lingered by his side, her anxious eyes darting between him and Laguna. Though the two of them had gotten her up to speed with the plan the night before, the revelations they'd all become privy to around the conference room table continued to gnaw away at him. He could barely bring himself to look her in the eyes now. If not for the knowledge of whose consciousness truly resided behind their gentle green stare, then surely for withholding the answers she'd sought for so long.
No, get a grip on yourself. It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, she's still Ellone. She's still Sis…
"Yep," Laguna said. He stepped forward, putting a smile on his face a hand on her shoulder. "But no worries, okay? Everything's going to work out just fine. You can do it, Ellie."
What on the surface might have seemed another empty platitude on his father's part was now gospel to Squall's ears. Things would work out for them. Laguna believed it. Ultimecia believed it. And so did he.
"You'll be fine," he promised. "We'll make it through this. You'll see."
Ellone beamed back at him and nodded her head.
That smile of hers sure is divine, at least.
"Look out there!" Rinoa cut in; she clapped her hand down on his shoulder and redirected his attention out the windshield again.
Following her line of sight, he just barely picked out the swarm of hover mechs buzzing around a ways off. More easily discernible was the hefty circular mass of metal trailing below; its wing-like appendages protruding from either side were every bit the giveaway he'd been hoping for, even before Piet gave the order to enhance magnification on the central display.
"There's Adel!" Laguna exclaimed. "They're moving her away from the Pandora!"
"But why?" Quistis wondered.
"Maybe they're looking to meet us halfway?" Selphie threw out.
"Seifer being considerate?" Zell spat. "Yeah, that's a good one!"
"Perhaps there's another faction at work here," Kiros said.
He gestured to a brimming luminescence in mid-air just beside the mechs. It swelled rapidly, just as any GF summoning Squall had ever seen. The creature which eventually burst into being was, stunningly, just as familiar. The gleaming yellow bird-like creature beat its wings to stabilize itself, and then went on the attack. It swooped by the mechs to the rear, colliding with several in mid-flight. The rest scattered in response. The Guardian Force turned as it passed, loosing a bolt of lightning directed at another small cluster. Most were quick enough to evade, leaving only two behind to be engulfed by the blast; their turbines overloaded and combusted within seconds, leaving the pilots barely enough time to eject with their parachutes.
"Friendly fire?" Laguna wondered aloud.
Squall knew better. He recognized that creature, beyond any doubt; without its power, he never would have breached the holographic barrier into Esthar in the first place.
"That's Raijin's GF!" he announced to all.
"No shit!" Zell gawked in amazement. "So, you're telling me they've got Adel?"
"I had a feeling they'd come through in the end!" Selphie exclaimed, pumping her fists.
"Piet!" Squall shouted up to the commander. "Those mechs hauling Adel have got to be our friends. Is there any way we can get them aboard?"
"With the tomb?" he replied incredulously. "Not a chance. That thing won't fit through the airlock."
"It's probably not a good idea to slow down in the middle of a firefight, anyway," Kiros said. With another gesture to the ongoing chase, it became apparent what a risky venture it would be; the enemy mechs had opened fire on the lightning bird, sending missiles whizzing through the air at it.
"Lucky for us, this ship was built for this kind of thing," Piet replied, disengaging the magnification. "Veers! Bring us in over top! Panaka! Show 'em how we do things back on the moon!"
On cue, Veers punched it forward. They sped up, Squall stumbling to retain his balance. He grabbed onto Ellone as he noticed her starting to fall, holding her in place. The Ragnarok zoomed in, swerving around the summoned creature in mid flight and atop the mechs. As they approached the front of the pack and dipped down, one of the dragon-ship's taloned appendages extended out. It reached down and snatched hold of the tomb just as the ship passed over.
"Nailed it!" the officer named Panaka exclaimed.
"Excellent job!" Piet lauded his work. "Veers, reduce speed and head over to that plateau. Let's get them aboard."
Squall finally released his hold on Ellone as the ship settled. She looked to him with gratitude. And beyond that, the same love he recalled ever so faintly from their days together at the orphanage.
Hyne be damned, you'll always be 'Sis' to me.
"Shuttle Freya!" Piet called over the nearby intercom. "Circle back around and draw the enemy fleet's attention. Shuttle Tyr, I want you on the Pandora. Keep your eyes peeled for any inbound reinforcements."
"Well, isn't this just the ideal turn of events," Odine mused to no one in particular. "With Adel in our possession, this should be the perfect opportunity to unfreeze and kill her before she can fully reanimate. Fate has smiled upon us this day, indeed."
For however well the operation seemed to be proceeding thus far, Squall kept his optimism in check; the hardest part was still to come. He turned to Rinoa, shooting her a glance he hoped would communicate all he feared to verbalize. She returned it with a resigned nod; she was prepared, and perhaps even had been for longer than him. He then turned to Ellone. Likewise, she showed no fear.
"I'm ready," she assured him. "No more running away for me. As long as you're with me, Squall, I know I can do this."
"You can," he said to her. "You will. Now, let's move. Come on, everyone!"
He spun on his heel as the Ragnarok began to descend. Out of the command deck and down the corridors to the loading bay he flew. The SeeD platoon stood at the ready upon his arrival, all holding fast to their safety grab-handles; should their luck continue to hold as firmly, their involvement would prove a superfluous if still welcome precaution.
"Listen up!" he announced. "My squad and I will disembark. The rest of you are to remain on standby here until called upon. Be prepared to roll out at a moment's notice. Understood?"
"Sir!" they all saluted him.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Laguna muttered into his ear. "If Adel wakes up, I'm gonna want all the firepower we can get on hand."
"Better to see what we're dealing with first," he insisted. "The situation's not too clear. It could even be a diversion. This way, we can re-board and take back off quickly if things go south."
For however determined Fujin and Raijin had seemed, Squall knew too well the fervor with which they'd previously followed Seifer. That determination could have just as easily spiraled back into blind loyalty. Esthar had received no word from them, nor even about them since they'd been jettisoned aboard the Pandora. Seifer had refused to back down in the interim. Provided they'd failed to convince him, he'd have presumably had them detained and imprisoned aboard the station. And so, barring some miraculous escape, it stood to reason they might have defected to their friend's side once again. Moreover, who could say who the other mechs hauling the tomb along with them belonged to?
The boarding ramp lowered as the Ragnarok touched down fully. Just across the plateau idled the containment unit. To his delight, Adel's body indeed remained standing in place within. Two of the mechs had landed already, with another pair still descending. Raijin's toned musculature leapt out at him even from afar. The other pilot presently on the ground wore a charcoal Galbadia Garden uniform. He instinctively engaged his GF sphere as the man unbuckled himself and stepped out onto the flattened terrain. As he came running their way, hand waving, the single hole he'd failed to account for in his logic became all the more clear; perhaps a miraculous escape for the duo had been in the cards after all.
"About time you guys got here!" he shouted at them.
"Irvy Kinny-poo!"
Squall jumped as Selphie went bolting past him. She raced in to meet Irvine head on, and tackled him with an intensity even greater than the hugs she'd given him and Rinoa upon their return from space. Their prolonged embrace however was no different.
"I was just wondering when the cavalry was gonna show up!" he called over her shoulder. "And hey, Rinoa! You're awake! And looking good!"
Stay in your lane, slick…
"A lot's happened," Squall spoke up as he moved in. "Way too much to fill you in on right now. Good news is, you're in the right place with the right cargo."
"All in a day's work," Irvine modestly replied as he released Selphie. "You really should be thanking Fujin and Raijin, though. Never would have made it out of there without 'em. Or Biggs, over there."
Certain he couldn't have heard correctly, Squall turned his attention back to the other mechs settling around the tomb. Raijin was already making his way over to Fujin, herself in the midst of unbuckling. The final one was piloted by a Galbadian soldier, plain as any other; despite the standard blue uniform he'd been demoted to months earlier, Squall couldn't think of any other who'd be so eager to throw a wrench in Seifer's scheming.
"It's great to see you're all okay," Quistis interjected. "We'll have to save the catching up for later, though. We have a plan to carry out. First, we're going to have to release Adel from her stasis."
"You're joking, right?"
The sharpshooter's face turned white as a ghost at the proposition. His reaction was understandable, even sympathetic from Squall's standpoint. He'd never have gone along with it himself were there any other way.
"Afraid not," Selphie told him. "But it's okay. She's not gonna wake up as long as we keep this away from her."
She procured the holy GF, holding it up between their faces.
"I… don't know about that," Irvine said, directing his stare past her to Squall and the rest. "And I'm gonna say you'd better keep all your spheres away from her."
"Why's that?" Zell piped up.
"Just trust me on this one. A lot's happened on our end, too."
"Well, that shouldn't be an issue!"
All eyes turned to Odine as he strode forward to the front of the crowd. Whether or not Irvine knew who he was, his expression spoke well enough to his befuddlement; who wouldn't have been surprised by such a peculiar looking man taking charge, shorter than Selphie but for the rigid strain of hair protruding from his head?
"Only Sorceress Rinoa need come into close proximity with her," he explained. "Once she absorbs Adel's power, those spheres will all become hollow, anyway. The energy within them should dissipate and transfer to her along with the rest."
"Sorceress… Rinoa?" Irvine repeated in confusion.
Squall still lingered on the assertion pertaining to their GFs. He unclipped the sphere from his belt and brought it up, staring into its exposed inner casing. Regardless of the energy's adverse effect on their memories, it had been of great use to him and his friends over the course of their escapades thus far. They certainly never would have overcome Edea's magic without that of the spheres'. How then were they to stand a chance against Ultimecia in the time compressed world?
"Hey, what took you guys so long, y'know?!"
Raijin's interruption wrested him from his concerns. He and Fujin came strolling into the fray, looking no worse for wear then when Squall had been separated from them at the Esthar border.
"Oh, you know, typical end of the world business," Zell smarmed back. "So, I'm guessing your buddy wasn't willing to listen?"
"He's… lost his way," Fujin said. "I just don't understand how he can still allow himself to be the sorceress' lapdog."
Neither Zell, nor anyone else gathered upon the plateau mustered a response. For Squall's part, and doubtless all his other friends in the know, he was speechless; had Fujin actually just spoken two full sentences back to back?
Move over, time compression, Rinoa, Ellone, and the rest…
"I can tell you why."
He turned back to Edea. Whether or not she knew they spoke of her, or even if Fujin and Raijin knew who she was, she didn't seem to care. Her eyes looked upward to the skies ahead.
"And it's my duty to tell him why he must stop this at once," she continued. "Listen well. The moment of truth has arrived. For him as much as you two."
Squall pivoted, following her line of sight. There, just beyond the precipice hovered another incoming mech. It had broken off from the pack still engaged with the Esthar troop transport off in the distance. It descended hurriedly to meet the plateau. The pilot had barely cleared the edge before he threw off his safety straps and leaped out, landing on the surface with a thud; the mech followed suit behind with a far more raucous and weighty one.
His haggard, disheveled appearance spoke clearly enough of the hardships endured since their last meeting. His head of blonde hair, once neatly trimmed, was now mangled and unkempt. The frayed, tattered hem of his grey jacket blew limply in the morning breeze. Though the Hyperion's blade still shimmered in the sun as he drew it out, its edge looked far duller than Squall had ever seen it; he likewise doubted any maintenance had been performed on its blown apart trigger grip since their battle at Galbadia Garden. And yet, despite it all, the vitriol in his eyes remained unwavering. They abruptly swiveled to Selphie, and more pertinently, the gleaming sphere she held in her hand.
"Give that to me, now!" Seifer demanded through gritted teeth.
"You're in no position to be making demands," Squall told him point-blank. He stepped forward to the head of the group, sweeping his hand out across the more than dozen of them gathered.
"I've… still got plenty of Matron's power in reserve!" he threatened, holding his free hand outstretched. "More than enough to make quick work of all of you!"
"No, you don't," Edea calmly called his bluff.
On cue, she stepped forward to stand beside Squall. Seifer's enraged expression immediately softened at the sight of her. Within seconds, it metamorphosed into confusion, and then, open-mouthed shock and awe.
"M-Matron?" he stuttered. "What are you… why are you with…?"
"That power is no longer yours to command," Edea continued, unabated. "Nor is it mine. It rests with Rinoa now, as does the fate of this world."
Seifer nearly lost his grip on the gunblade as the tension drained from his body. He straightened himself up, letting his arms fall to his sides. He only had eyes for her; the look in them now resembled that of a scolded child.
"Seifer, listen to me," she pleaded. "This has to stop. All of it. There's something you need to know. When you met me in Timber… I was being possessed. The Matron you've been following all this time, the one who ordered you to raise that giant thing from the ocean and bring Adel down to earth with it… was another sorceress controlling me. I don't want any of this."
Still, he said nothing. Still, he stood motionless in place, but for his head dipping down to the ground.
"Please, Seifer. You're being used by her, just as I was. Think of everything you've done. All the destruction you've caused. And for what? Is this really what you think I'd want? I would hope I'd raised you better than that."
"I… I don't understand," he finally said, clenching his free fist. "It wasn't you? Then who… what am I supposed to…?"
He trailed off, lost in his own disjointed thoughts. Squall pitied him to a degree; in an instant, the cause he'd sworn himself to, for which he'd kept pushing onward all these months had unraveled, leaving him with nothing.
Just let this get through to him…
"It's time to stop this," Edea reaffirmed. "Right now. Call off your troops. Have them send that thing back to the bottom of the ocean where it belongs. And then, once we've dealt with Adel and the rest of this, maybe there can be a chance for-"
"Hold it!" Fujin suddenly cried out.
Squall turned his head to her. She was already bolting back across the divide to the containment unit before he could ask what was the matter. And then, he saw it: Biggs stood beside the unit's control panel, in the midst of pushing a series of buttons on its display.
What is he doing?!
"Hey, what the hell?!" Raijin reacted next. He took off on his friend's heels the next moment.
"Wait, guys!" Irvine shouted after them. He fumbled over his shoulder for his rifle, but stopped as he realized there was no use; the two already stood in the way of Biggs. "Shit! Everyone, get rid of your spheres! Throw them on the ground, now!"
He forcefully ripped Selphie's out of her hand and tossed it away in the direction of the tomb. Squall wasted no time in doing the same; seldom if ever had he seen Irvine this worked up. He looked back in time to see Quistis and Zell follow suit. Rinoa, Ellone, Laguna, Kiros, Ward, and Odine all kept their eyes affixed to Adel. Among them, only the doctor seemed to maintain his composure; the rest all looked frightened out of their minds.
On the other end, Biggs struggled to wriggle his way out of Raijin's chokehold. With Fujin's assistance, the muscled youth dragged him back to the control panel. To Squall's dismay, it was too late; Adel's body had begun glowing within the tomb's translucent shielding.
"Guys, just drop your spheres and get away!" Irvine yelled. "Hurry!"
The one fleeting moment it took for Raijin to take his attention off Biggs was all the leeway the soldier needed to slip free from the hold. He bolted out of his grasp, circling out towards the edge of the plateau. Before either Fujin or Raijin could follow however, disaster struck. Two bolts of sizzling energy erupted from Adel. They shot out at the duo, striking both of them in the back.
"No!" Irvine screamed, falling to his knees.
Squall watched on in horror as the two likewise toppled over. They writhed on the ground, fully enveloped by the energy from head to toe just as Adel, their agonized wails carried to him on the wind.
"What's happening?!" Selphie shrieked.
"I see," Odine mused from the rear. "Now that her energy has been allowed free reign, it will naturally try to draw back in any other scattered remnants of itself in the vicinity. Your friends' immediate proximity to their spheres presents a problem, however."
"Then what's going to happen to them?!" Quistis asked frantically.
"Screw it, I'm going in!" Zell volunteered.
Squall jumped in to cut him off as soon as he took the first few steps forward. He threw out his arm in front of him, and directed his attention back to Adel. Another several bolts shot out from her, this time latching onto their discarded spheres strewn across the plateau's rocky surface.
"She's absorbing their energy," Rinoa gasped. "Which means…"
No sooner had she gotten the words out, Adel's body visibly twitched. Her eyes blinked the next. And then, her arms lunged forward, tearing through the tomb's sealant; the material visibly flexed and stretched against her might, but could not hold. She punched through, grabbed hold of either side, and ripped open the swathe of drapery. With a mighty leap, she descended from the containment unit's center and landed on the ground.
Only now, standing level with them, did her sheer size become apparent to Squall; he reckoned she might have been even taller than Ward, never mind any other woman he'd met. Whether her body's dimensions were natural or the work of some magical incantation, her muscular physique was all the more intimidating to behold. Her wicked, grinning face was no different. Most unsettling of all however were her eyes; they shone the same eerie yellow he'd seen before in Edea's, proof beyond any doubt that it was not Adel in control of her own body.
"At last!" she snarled with her hands held high.
"Shiiiiiiiiit!" two men shouted in unison.
Squall glanced back to see Laguna and Zell, side by side, staring up at her with mouths hanging open. Besides them, the entirety of their entourage stood by in stunned silence. Even Odine looked on edge; apparently the reality of seeing his former superior resurrected was tougher to take in than he'd anticipated.
"And what a perfect audience gathered to witness my revival!" she reveled in their reactions. "A job well done, my loyal knight. You have made your matron proud this day!"
Seifer stared up at her in a state of total bewilderment. He took his eyes off her for but a moment to look at Edea, and then back. The agony of betrayal was etched upon his face for all to see. There was no longer any room for doubt.
"You… you're not Matron!" he stammered.
His entire body shook like a leaf all the while. Adel's smile faded, to be replaced by a scowl as she picked out Edea from among the group.
"I should have known," she muttered, giving up the act. "Of course it would come to this in the end. But what does it matter now? You've served your purpose all the same."
"It was me, Your Eminence!"
Squall diverted his attention to her side. Biggs came strolling up, his head bowed to her in reverence.
"Your so-called 'knight' was getting cold feet!" he boasted. "He was about to leave you trapped in there, but I stepped in and made it all happen! Please, I beg you: allow me to serve in his place in your coming regime! I'll obey your every command! And together, we will-"
Adel seized him by the scruff of his uniform without warning, and lifted him off his feet.
"Out of my way, you worthless scum!"
With power beyond even what her muscles would have suggested, she flung him away like a rag doll. He went flying clear off the edge of the plateau and downward, screaming his lungs out all the way.
"Holy fuck!" Irvine yelped.
The marksman finally drew his rifle. Squall knew full well the weapon would be next to useless against a sorceress. Even then however, it would likely do more than his gunblade now. With his GF gone, he doubted he could even manage to get in close enough for a clean strike, much less land one.
"You too are of no further use to me, you foolish little boy," she mocked Seifer again, stepping forward. "But worry not. Your precious Matron will follow you shortly. So, just stand still, and accept your-"
Squall saw the attack coming out of the corner of his eye; it flew at Adel in a flash of pastel lavender, knocking her away before she could unleash her own. He reeled back towards the Ragnarok along with the rest of the group. By the time they'd gotten to a safe distance and he turned back to look, he still couldn't make heads or tails of the newly arrived creature. It was even taller than Adel, and easily every bit as muscular, but clearly another species despite its bipedal stature. The two stood locked together in a struggle session, each vying to push the other off. Ultimately, despite being the underdog at a glance, the sorceress had more than enough power in reserve. She flung the purple entity away with even greater strength than she had Biggs. It flew across the plateau just the same, albeit not nearly as far; it stopped just shy of the edge.
Before she could fully recover, a bolt of lightning blasted at her from the direction of the tomb. With a swipe of her hand, the electricity ricocheted off and struck the hefty metal structure, sending it skidding back but slightly. There, just beside, stood Raijin's GF, wings proudly extended out on either side. Squint as he might, Squall caught no trace of the man himself standing anywhere in the area. So had Fujin disappeared, for that matter. His visibility was obscured once again as the purple creature came charging back in for another attack.
"Are those two…?" he asked Irvine hesitantly.
The sharpshooter turned to him. Where words failed, his fraught expression was confirmation enough.
I don't believe it…
"Commandant!"
He spun around. A cluster of SeeDs descended the ship's boarding ramp, all but the head of the pack captivated by the ensuing battle.
"What's the situation out here?" the leader asked. "Is… is that really…?"
"Get back up into the ship, now!" Squall ordered with all the intensity he could muster.
To his relief, they obeyed. Had Fujin and Raijin truly transmuted into the creatures contained within their spheres, so would any other SeeD carrying one be at risk. He desperately hoped the duo would be returned to their original forms upon Adel's demise. He held no optimism for the prospect, however; he recalled what Selphie had told him of the twin dragons' fate. Whatever the end result, he refused to let anyone else take that risk. There was only room on this battleground for the two of them to face Adel down.
Not even you, Rinoa. Please, have some sense and just stay out of-
He turned back in time to see her charging into the fray. His eyes bulged. His jaw dropped. He prepared to call out to her, when he noticed Quistis already on her tail. Though it troubled him as much to see her being dragged into the middle of things, he could at least count on her to drag Rinoa back out. And then, she broke off clear in the opposite direction from her, circling around the confrontation.
No! Quistis, what the hell are you doing?!
Adel stood with her arms crossed before her, fighting back against the torrent of high speed air Fujin's creature unleashed upon her. She stabilized herself, and then slammed her fist into the ground. A quake erupted, several magnitudes greater than any he'd seen Zell produce. It tore through the rock en route to the purple giant dead ahead. The gust died down as it leapt out of the way, leaving the rampaging rock slide to go rolling off the plateau into the open air.
It was then Rinoa struck. A blast of glistening white energy shot from her hand, hitting Adel right in the chest. She roared in agony, and turned her attention down to the fledgling sorceress.
"You!" she snarled in surprise.
The blast had even caught Squall off guard; Rinoa had exerted so little effort in conjuring the holy energy, as though she had Selphie's years of experience and training under her belt.
"I don't know how you made it back down here," Adel sneered, stomping forward. "But you'll wish you never had once I've-"
Another lightning blast cut her short; the bolts shot out from behind, licking at her sputtering figure as they danced through the air. Yet the yellow bird creature was still far across the plateau; it desperately flapped its wings, vying to take flight. To Squall's disbelief as much as Adel's as she spun around, the energy had exploded out from Quistis' body. She stood just behind, arms outstretched, the electricity dying down as she lowered them.
"How… how did she…?" Zell stammered.
Squall was just as dumbfounded; he'd clearly seen Quistis chuck her sphere into the open, allowing its energy to be siphoned. There was no way she should have been able to cast spellcraft of any element anymore, let alone one he'd never seen her conjure before.
Rinoa hurled another two handfuls of holy light at Adel before she could make her counterattack. The sorceress shrieked as they hit her in the back. And then, as if divine judgment itself had seen fit to seize the opportunity, yet more lightning rained down from the sky upon her. Squall looked up to see Raijin's creature finally airborne, blasting bolts down as it arced out over the edge of the precipice. Fujin's lingered just underneath, generating a miniature whirlwind; the whipping air provided ample breeze to keep the lightning monster afloat. Squall couldn't help but smile at the sight. Even now, the two were prepared to stick by each other.
Furious, Adel quickly swatted away whatever incoming lightning strikes landed too close. She then cast one arm to the sky. A faint but noticeable darkness abruptly crept onto the scene at her command. High above, a cluster of dark portals had opened in mid-air, eclipsing the sun. Squall flinched as something shot out of one, falling fast to earth. And then another. Within seconds, a full blown meteor shower came barreling down atop Fujin and Raijin. They diverted inward back towards the plateau, but the dimensional tears Adel had opened were too widespread for them to clear the radius in time.
"Take cover!" Laguna shouted.
Squall followed his lead along with the rest. They rushed behind the boarding ramp and beneath the Ragnarok's belly for shelter. Whether or not the ship would be sufficient to protect them, he hoped it wouldn't matter; so long as Ultimecia still needed Ellone, she wouldn't dare risk putting her in harm's way. There was no such assurance for Rinoa; she promptly booked it out of the line of fire to their side. Down the meteors rained all the while, their trajectory focused on the approaching monster duo. The two were soon caught in the cosmic hailstorm. They dipped and dove, swerving to avoid each incoming one. Ultimately however, there were too many to contend with; one came slamming down right on top of them just as they cleared the ridge. They plummeted downward and crashed onto the rocks along with it.
"Shit!" Irvine swore.
"Rinoa, do you think you can heal them?!" Selphie shrilled.
"How's she supposed to even get close?!" Zell shot back, gesturing to the ongoing bombardment; yet more meteors thudded into the earth all around, several the size of a person.
To their shared relief, the cosmic hailstorm ceased abruptly. The gaping rifts torn into the fabric of the world above sealed up and disappeared. Turning his gaze to Adel, Squall immediately deduced the cause: Quistis had lashed her whip around the sorceress' outstretched arm, yanking it astray. At once, another jolt surged up the line. Adel shrieked and spluttered as she was electrocuted. Quistis held fast even as she spasmed in place. Still, Squall couldn't fathom where the power she now wielded had come from. Among them, only Rinoa, who'd inherited Edea's sorceress power should have been able to manage as much.
Unless…
His burgeoning train of thought was derailed as Adel yanked hard on the whip. She dragged Quistis along with it into proximity, and then seized her by the throat with her other hand. Up she raised her to eye level, her legs left dangling in mid-air. Squall put his hand to his gunblade's hilt, and prepared to charge in. He focused his mind to call upon the wind energy as per usual, when the realization suddenly struck him: his sphere was gone. Without it, he would never clear the distance in time.
It was then, just as despair threatened to overtake him, that Quistis managed to save herself. Twin lasers shot from her eyes, boring straight into Adel's. She fell to the ground as the screaming sorceress released her, and clutched at her face. It was then Rinoa took off back into the fold. This time, Squall was content to let her go; with their adversary blinded, there was no better time to pile on the pressure. She closed in as Quistis backed away towards the group, wheezing. Within her hand materialized another blast, gleaming even more intensely than the previous few. Adel swung back around before she could let it fly.
Almost instantaneously, a glistening ball of energy, easily twice the size of Rinoa's formed in her grasp. She hurled it at her with surprising accuracy; try as she might to dodge, the blast seemed to pivot along with Rinoa, homing in on her position. A maroon reflective barrier flashed in front of her just before impact. And yet, it too proved insufficient. The shield shattered, sending her hurtling backward onto the rough, rocky terrain.
"Still naive as ever," Adel menaced as she lumbered forward. "What need have I for eyesight? Your very essence, the innate frequency of your consciousness… did you think I wouldn't be able to sense it so clearly after all the time we've spent joined together?"
Rinoa scrambled to right herself as she drew closer. Try as she might, the devastation wrought by the meteors made it harder for her to find stable footing. The blazing pyre now licking at Adel's fingers was enough to light a fire under Squall. GF or no, there was no stopping him this time. He shot out from cover. He charged straight for Adel, prepared to rend her in two. As he reached for his gunblade however, a flash of grey flew in ahead of him. He hadn't been the first to leap into action after all. And as the Hyperion pierced straight through her back and out the front of her chest, he ground to a halt; his intervention would no longer be necessary.
Adel's jaw fell open, yet nothing came out. There was no scream, nor string of enraged curses. Whether from the agony or sheer surprise, she fell to her knees, the fire energy within her grasp sputtering out. Seifer remained standing in place behind her. He held his gunblade level with both hands as she buckled. The weapon dipped down as it remained sticking out of her torso, perhaps even having punctured her heart by Squall's estimation. With a roar to shame any the sorceress herself had let loose, he yanked the sword back out, and viciously slashed it into her neck.
Squall looked on in awe as the strike connected; even without the use of the gunblade's now defunct trigger function, it sliced through with ease. Adel's head flew clean off her shoulders, her lengthy plait of red hair twirling as it soared through the air, and eventually landed on the ground a ways off. The rest of her body limply fell forward the next moment. Blood spilled forth from her severed neck, rapidly pooling at Rinoa's feet. The girl raised herself back up just in time to meet the energy materializing from the headless corpse. Up it wafted in a shimmering haze. Dutifully, she stepped forward to meet it.
"I suppose it'll have to do," Odine finally broke the stunned silence; his tone remained measured and methodical as ever. "I had been hoping to see if Adel would remain alive even after transferring her power, just as Mrs. Kramer. Without her head attached, however… well, I suppose that provided her body doesn't disappear along with it…"
Squall quickly tuned him out. His focus stayed fixed on Rinoa as the sorceress' power flowed into her. She stood perfectly still with her eyes shut as the aura continued seeping in. Only as Seifer went flying by did his attention falter. The young knight raced to the plateau's lip, where his two transformed comrades still lay in a crumpled heap. To Squall's dismay, if not surprise, they too had begun dissipating. Edea took off after him. He followed, carefully maneuvering around and in between the fresh craters dotting the intervening space.
Seifer knelt down before the mangled creatures, their bodies now fully engulfed in a swirling mist. The look etched on his face as Squall came up beside him was one he'd never imagined him capable of: one of genuine guilt, remorse, and compassion for his two dearest friends, soon to depart.
"Fujin… Raijin…" he softly spoke. "I'm… I'm sorry."
He bowed his head in shame. His hands grasped at handfuls of dirt and shattered rock on the ground before him in frustration. The tears started rolling down his face within moments. For however much animus Squall had held for him, for however many years, he took no pleasure in his reckoning finally coming to pass.
[That's all we wanted to hear.]
His head jerked back up. Squall darted his own all around in search of the voice. It sounded so close, so familiar, yet lacking any discernible texture or resonance as to be identifiable.
[Yeah. Don't worry 'bout us. You came through, y'know? At the end of it all, you're still the guy we always knew you were. That's enough for us, y'know?]
The amazement in Seifer's teary, wide-eyed stare grew ever more stark. Even Squall could hardly believe what he was hearing. Despite everything, their belief in him remained unshakable. So it had been for as long as they'd known each other. But only now, at the bitter end, did the true measure of their dedication show.
[Just promise us… that wherever life takes you from here, you'll never forget who you are again. Or the people who care about you. And that you'll never lower yourself to being someone's pawn just for glory's sake. There are more important things in life. We've only come this far because of you, Seifer. Because you're our friend. And now… it's up to you to keep going on without us. Thanks for everything, and… goodbye.]
The haze surrounding the creatures intensified, wisping up into the sky like smoke from a bonfire. With a shimmer, their bodies at last burst apart into dozens of gleaming pyres; the small flickering clusters of energy dispersed into the wind. Squall watched as they all floated away, and eventually faded from sight. It was over. Fujin and Raijin were gone.
Thank you, guys. And don't worry. I'll make sure he never forgets.
"They were prepared," Edea softly spoke. She crouched down beside Seifer, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "They came all this way, and risked so much, all because they believed in you."
He said nothing in response. Not a single muscle twitched at her touch. His eyes continued staring blankly into the distance, pining after the last flickers of his friends to be consumed by the ether. Squall pitied him; he knew too well the uncontrollable vortex of disjointed thoughts swirling beneath his detached facade. His was a wound for which no amount of Edea's comfort would suffice.
"And what good, pray tell, has it done them?"
Squall turned back around on the spot. The voice which had spoken was callous, biting, and yet undeniably Rinoa's. She stood a short ways off with one boot placed atop Adel's severed head. Her brazen posture exuded defiance to match her tone. And the yellow glint in her eyes, all the malice of the sorceress who spoke in her stead.
"What exactly did they hope to accomplish? That they would throw away their own future for the sake of his? What foolishness. For there will be no future to come for any of you. There will be only this moment. My moment in time!"
She turned her head to face the rest of the group, still idling by the Ragnarok.
"Well, Ellone?" she menaced. "The show must go on. The stage is all yours. So, don't keep us waiting!"
The girl in question bashfully stepped forward from the crowd. Her eyes flitted past Rinoa to Squall. He nodded back; for the sake of stepping beyond the bounds of their own time, into a world where they could face Ultimecia in the flesh, there was no other choice. She closed her eyes. Seconds passed in breathless anticipation. And then, the two women limply toppled over.
Ward caught hold of Ellone from behind. Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine all bolted over to Rinoa the moment she started falling. Squall prepared to move as well, when suddenly, he lost his own balance. He looked straight down. He'd stepped into a fresh crater he swore hadn't been there a moment ago. To his horror, it was expanding, growing ever wider and deeper as it sucked him down into the earth.
What the hell?!
He risked a glance back up to see the full lay of the plateau had distorted, bubbling like a pot of boiling water. None of his comrades could contend with the constantly shifting surface. Even the Ragnarok went tilting over as it sunk downward. Meanwhile, the sky looked to be faring no better than the ground. The sun, clouds, and even the Lunatic Pandora had melded together into its omnipresent backdrop, all of which appeared to sag and drip like wax from a burning candle. The world as he knew it was truly falling apart at the seams.
Down he continued sinking into the makeshift quicksand. He flailed his arms frantically for something to grab hold of, but it was no use; the surrounding rock slipped through his fingers like putty. Finally, another hand clasped onto his own. He looked up to see Edea and Seifer wading by his side.
"Don't let go!" she screamed to him.
He obediently interlocked his fingers with hers as tightly as he could, and closed his eyes as they fell straight down through the boundaries of the world.