King's Heart (part 11 of 31)

The World’s End

“And that’s it for my report. Dollet is safe from Galbadian invasion.” Squall tried not to break down hysterically. He had just lost Rinoa and Quistis. It was his fault that they were gone. Zell, Selphie and Irvine had found him lying half buried and unconscious. The mayor of Dollet smiled and nodded.

“That’s good news. The town’s citizens and I thank you for your help.” He replied. “You may leave whenever you wish.”

I have to go report back to Cid…protocol…

Cid’s gone. He’s gone back to the orphanage.

That’s right…with Adel. Which means we can search for Rinoa.

And Quistis.

Right…His thoughts were unorganized. He was still in a daze and having the his love taken away from him only served to make him more unstable.

“Squall, man…come on. We’ve got to go look for them…” Selphie nodded.

“That’s right. We’ve gotta go save them.” Squall sighed and pulled himself together and agreed.

…

…

Quistis groaned as she awoke. It was cold, it was wet and she was leaning against uncomfortable brick. She opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the dark. Her head hurt as well from when she was knocked out. She brought rubbed her hands together for warmth but her attempt was feeble and generated very little. Where had they locked her up, a freezer? She huddled closely and looked around. All feeling left her when she saw Rinoa lying very still on the ground across the room. There was a small pool of blood surrounding her head.

“Rinoa!” She hissed and crawled over. The movement made her head dance with pain but she ignored it. As soon as she touched the poor girl’s arms, she withdrew her hands. They were icy cold which offered little comfort considering that it was too dark to tell whether or not Rinoa was even breathing. “No, no hon no…” She whispered. She looked around in the dark for anything flammable. Unfortunately, there was little but concrete bricks. She cursed and then came up with a solution. She tore of a good length of her skirt and took off her boots. Her feet were instantly greeted by the cold but she disregarded it. She had another pair of both her skirt and boots.

“Fire.” She whispered. A few sparks flew from her fingertips but it was enough, setting aflame the two articles of clothing. In a matter of moments, the immediate area around the flame grew warm. She held Rinoa close, hoping that both body warmth and external flame would waken her. Rinoa let out a little whimper. “Oh Hyne…Rinoa wake up!” She hissed desperately. “Come on, don’t die. Don’t you dare die, Squall wouldn’t like that at all.” She fought back her own tears of worry. “Come on…snap out of it…”

“Quisty…?” She whispered as her eyes peered through the darkness.

“Yes, it’s me…come on…” Rinoa shifted her position a little.

“Where are we?” She asked. Quistis shook her head.

“I don’t know. I’m assuming that we’re somewhere within Galbadian territory but I’ve never heard of any prison cell like this.” She replied getting a good look around again. There was barely any light and there were no windows either. Instead, it was solid concrete, giving her the impression that they were underground. Rinoa struggled to sit up.

“You’re not well enough. Who knows what they did to you.”

“Gee, thanks for giving me images of me being experimented on but other than a really, really bad headache, I feel normal.” She accomplished her goal and stared at the fire. “Quisty? Are those your boots?” She laughed sheepishly.

“It was the only way to wake you. Hyne…Rinoa you scared me. I thought you might’ve been dead.” Rinoa gave a weak smile.

“I hope Squall and the others come and save us.” She whispered. Quistis laughed.

“Don’t worry, Squall’s practically dead without you. If he doesn’t come chasing after you, the others will just to snap him out of it.” Rinoa instinctively reached for her necklace only to realize with a jolt that…

“Squall’s ring! It’s gone!”

…

…

Xu awoke with a start, nearly falling off the edge of her bed. She held her head gently, trying to soothe the ache that was beginning to form. She had had disturbing dreams like that before, ones where she and Quistis were together. It bothered her but no so much as the fact that she enjoyed them.

“It’s over now.” She hissed to herself. “She doesn’t want you.” What was even worse was that the dream ended before anything really serious happened. In her dream, Quistis would appear to want her as well but would walk away and then she’d wake up.

“Damn it…” She cursed, flinging off the covers as it got too hot for her own liking. She sighed and drew the curtains up a bit. They had to have gotten back. A team like theirs would’ve dealt with the problem long ago. Don’t be overreacting she thought. They’ll be back soon. She sighed and lay back on her bed, covering her eyes with an arm. Quistis…

…

…

As soon as Quistis was sure that Rinoa was safely back in the world of the living, she stood up and walked over to the door. She peered outside at the darkness. There was no one, no guards, nothing.

“Rinoa…I think we’re alone.”

“They took Squall’s ring!” She said in disbelief. “They…why?”

“Rinoa! We’ve got more important things to worry about right now.” But it bothered her too. Why would they merely take Squall’s ring? She tried to remember what was special about it. It was his Griever ring…Griever…was the same beast that Ultimecia summoned. Could it be that they had already found Ultimecia? She shook her head. No. If that was the case then they wouldn’t just go after the ring, they’d go after Seifer and the memories that he had…or Adel and her powers. And if they had Ultimecia, they wouldn’t have taken them hostage.

“Quistis…what do we do?” She whispered. It was as if they had taken Rinoa’s strength when they took the ring. Quistis fought back the urge to slap the girl silly. It was a ring, granted, a potentially powerful ring that if in the wrong hands, specifically Ultimecia’s, could bring destruction and utter chaos upon the world, but she had to pull herself together.

“Rinoa, now is not the time to fall apart. Squall would rather have you safe in his arms without his ring then dead with it.” She reasoned.

“But…”

“Rinoa! Get a hold of yourself! We’ve all been through worse situations. You’ve been controlled by Ultimecia and you never let that get in your way. You want to know why? Because that idiot loner gave you strength, not his ring. Now I want you to stand up and be strong. Help me think of a way out of here.” Quistis was not in the mood to baby anyone. Her head hurt, her feet were cold and Rinoa’s whining was not helping matters. Rinoa sniffed and nodded, getting to her feet. “But there’s no one here…why do I have a bad feeling about all of this?”

…

…

Xu was about to fall asleep again at her desk when the phone rang. She groaned and rubbed her temples.

“Hello, you’ve reached Balamb Garden, this is Xu here, may I help?” She asked as nicely as she could.

“Xu? Hey, it’s good to hear from you.” Zell’s voice came loud and clear.

“Zell? What are you doing? Don’t you have a mission?” Xu asked, her voice changed from friendly to worried.

“Yeah…um…listen…it’s a long story. The Galbadians are at it again but what ‘it’ is we don’t know. We’re going after them on our own.”

“Why?” Xu demanded.

“Well…um…they, they kidnapped Rinoa and Quistis.” Xu dropped the receiver and sat stunned. “Xu? Xu? Hey, you there?” Quistis…she thought and stood up. “Xu! We need transportation. If you could pick us up…” Even though she heard, she disregarded it. No…it can’t be…how could they capture you?

“Xu!” Nida stood in the doorway. “Hey, what’s wrong with you? Someone’s on the other line.” He strode over and snatched the receiver from the ground. “Hello?”

“Nida, is that you? So glad. Xu’s not replying so hey, man, do you think you could pick us up and give us a lift? We just need a lift, no need for the Ragnarok see?”

“Ok. Where are you?” He asked.

“Um…train station near Dollet. You think you can pick us up as soon as possible?” Zell was surprisingly calm for such an occasion but he was too stressed out to worry.

“Sure thing. I’ll have the engines started right away.” He said and put the phone back down. “Xu? What’s wrong with you?” He asked. She shook her head.

“Nothing…it’s nothing. I just need to…” She couldn’t think of any excuse so she just pushed past him and walked into the elevator, feeling so nauseous she could’ve passed out. Of all the people…why you?

…

…

Zell sighed and put the phone back on the hook and turned to regard Selphie and Irvine who were standing there, looking at him expectantly.

“They’re coming so I’ll assume they’ll be here in about a half an hour.” He replied, rubbing the back of his neck. Selphie sighed.

“You’re obviously handling this well.” She noted. Zell gave a small smile.

“Yeah…well, Miss Trepe is a stronger person than any of us. If anyone can stay alive as well as protect Rinoa, it’s her. I have faith that she’ll be fine once we find her.” He replied optimistically.

“Glad to know Quisty has people who hold her in such high standards.” Irvine chuckled. “But Squall isn’t faring to well.” He turned and looked at Squall. He had his shoulders slumped forward on the bench and his head in his hands, mentally berating himself for being so weak that he couldn’t even protect the one who mattered most to him. “I can’t say I blame him.”

“Squall will be fine once we swoop in and rescue the two damsels in distress!” Selphie cheered slightly, trying to brighten everyone’s mood.

“Where do you think they are?” Zell wondered.

“I dunno, they left so soon but I’m guessing that Squall’s going to have a talk with the Galbadians.” Irvine said.

“Deling.” Squall interrupted. “If anyone has information, it’s General Caraway. If not, we can interrogate one of the Galbadian soldiers but I’m sure the General will help us since it’s Rinoa that’s missing.” He stood up. I can’t mope. I have to be strong to rescue her. Everyone stared at him as if he were unreal. He shrugged it off and turned it around, unfazed by their rudeness.

“Um…ok…Deling it is.”

…

…

“Firga!” Rinoa shouted. A few flames leaked out of her palms but it was more akin to a Fire instead.

“Anti-magic barrier…but it’s quite old.” Quistis said thoughtfully. The one in the D-District was much more powerful. At least here they have some effect…if a weak one.” We must be somewhere ancient…and the dungeon hasn’t been well kept so I’m assuming that the Galbadians threw us in here because they have no where else to put us…She thought. I’ve never heard of a prison like this…must’ve…been discovered recently…Quistis was too deep in thought to realize that she was swaying from side to side. Rinoa however turned around in time and saw her falling.

“HYNE!” She yelled, running and catching her.

“Huh?” Quistis looked around, utterly dazed, unaware than she could’ve fallen and hurt her head even worse.

“Quistis! You’ve got a really bad fever!” Rinoa announced, putting her hand on her forehead. “You can barely stand!”

“What are you talking about? I’m stand…” Her voice died away as she realized that Rinoa’s outstretched arms was the only thing keeping her off the ground. She smiled sheepishly as Rinoa lowered her. “I guess so…” She laughed a little, hoping to dispel the worry that was dominating Rinoa’s features. The brunette nodded. “Just a little rest ought to do it.”

“Ok…but you’re overworking yourself.”

“We need to get out of here, right?” Quistis pointed out. She slowly and with the support of Rinoa, got to her feet.

Use it. Hyne again. Then you’ll prove to yourself that you are destined to lead Ultimecia into her power. Quistis shook her head. She had all but forgotten about the voice with all the events going on. Use it! It was as if someone had seized her body. Her arms flew out in front and a dark mass of crackling energy formed at her palms. It grew larger with a sharp jolt, sending Rinoa reeling away.

“Quistis?!” She yelled.

“Hold on!” Somehow, she trusted herself and let the mass of energy fly. The anti-magic barrier did nothing to stop or diminish the power and it collided with the door, sending the metal twisting in on itself, the noise grating and painful. Within moments it was nothing but a rolled up ball of steel.

“Was that your blue magic?” Rinoa asked, getting to her feet.

“I…I don’t know, Rin.” Quistis replied then promptly fainted.

…

…

Xu bit down on her nail as they approached the station. She wanted answers and she wanted them now. Was Quisty ok? What had happened? Quistis…

“Hey look, there they are.” Nida pointed out, setting the Garden down. They waited a few moments before the elevator went down. Xu could’ve jumped down there and strangled the answers out of them. Instead, she waited patiently until they came up.

“What happened?” She asked calmly, restraining the panic and anger that threatened to boil over.

“Take us to Deling.” Squall ordered. Without questioning his orders, Nida prepared for take off again.

“Answer me!” Xu asked again, this time more firmly. She glared hotly at Squall who sighed.

“We were ambushed. Galbadian soldiers ambushed us. The entire ‘attacking Dollet’ thing was merely a ploy to draw us there. They kidnapped Rinoa but Quistis was there as well and they took her too.”

“That still doesn’t explain why it happened. There were six of you there! How could a measly bunch of Galbadian soldiers defeat the six famed people who killed Ultimecia and saved us all?” Xu roared, finally losing her temper.

“Xu, I’m not here to report to you.”

“I want to know! Quistis is a very important friend to me!”

“Xu…”

“Basically,” Zell cut in. “There were a lot. I mean, they knew about us and they planned it awful well. Besides, the three of us split up and they just had a whole army there to fight us. There was no way that we could’ve taken them. They just kept coming.”

“Have you contacted the Galbadian military? Galbadia Garden? Anything?”

“Hence why we’re going to Deling.” Squall snapped irritably, not feeling at liberty to discuss this with anyone. Xu gave a frustrated yell and walked away.

“I’m coming with you.” She hissed. Everyone looked at her in confusion. “I’m tired of staying here doing meaningless paper work. Now, I want action too, I want to help save them.”

“Fine!” Squall shouted.

“Fine!”

“Ok! Everyone’s fine!” Zell said with a nervous cheer. Squall and Xu shot him a glare that could’ve killed him in place.

Squall quickly approached the large door to the mansion, shoving it open and working his way past the guards without so much as a second glance. The guards, however, were not impressed. One particularly tall and lanky one put his hand on Squall’s shoulder and stopped him.

“Hey, you can’t just barge in here without having an appointment. We’ll need you to step out…” Before the guard could even register movement, Squall grabbed the guard by the arm and swung him into the nearest wall.

“Hey!” The other guard yelled, bringing his sword up. Squall regarded him with dark eyes that made him step back and consider whether it was worth it to stop him at the cost of his life.

“You do NOT want to mess with me.” Squall hissed. The guard, stupefied, let him go without another word. After realizing that his life had hung dangerously on the balance of life and death, he leaned against the wall for support, feeling weak and slumped down to the ground. Zell and the others came charging in.

“Hey man, um, have you seen like a guy come through here. He’s got brown hair and he’s usually wearing a jacket and um…” Zell stopped short, surveying the damage that Squall had done in such a short time. There was a man lying with his back against the wall, upside down and unconscious. “Ok…nevermind.” They stormed through the open doors to General Caraway’s study. The guard took of his helmet and rubbed his face.

“I need to get a drink…” he sighed quietly.

Squall burst through the doors, making them slam against the wall. Caraway jumped in surprise, looking over at the frustrated and desperate young man.

“I need your help.” Squall said in a huff.

“Squall? I wasn’t expecting you…” Caraway said cautiously.

“Please, you’ve got to help me.” Squall suddenly felt his knees go weak and he made it over to the couch before plopping down. The others came storming in.

“Squall! Come on, you rush off like that!” Selphie scolded.

“The gal’s right. What you did to that poor guy back there was kinda unexpected and uncalled for.” Irvine added. Caraway eyed all of them warily.

“What is going on?” He asked. Zell smiled at him.

“Good to see you again Caraway sir!” He said. “Um…yeah…it’s a funny thing…”

“Rinoa’s gone…” Squall whispered hauntingly. Caraway’s eyes shot open.

“What?”

“It’s a long story, sir.” Zell tried to explain. “We received a mission from the mayor of Dollet asking for us to investigate Galbadian occurrences near Dollet. See, they were afraid that the Galbadian military was going to spring something like what they did when they took over the communications tower. So we go and check things out. Turns out, it was an ambush and in the fray, they kidnapped two of our friends, one of them being your daughter.” The general sat down and sighed.

“I see.”

“So, like, we need your help in locating them. Whatever information you have would be great.” He heaved another sigh.

“I knew that she’d encounter this sort of trouble…I wish she had never left.” He said softly.

“Uh…sir…” Irvine started.

“I don’t know anything about what’s been going on. The troupes here have been rather quiet, I’ve heard nothing about an ambush. If they have been captured, then it must have been done by someone much more powerful than I.”

“Do you know where they could’ve taken them?” Xu asked pleadingly. He shook his head.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything. If they did take them anywhere, they would’ve taken them to the D-District but that seems a little too obvious.”

“No, I don’t think it would be there.” Squall replied. “They ambushed us for a reason, they wanted Rinoa. Someone wants her for something and they wouldn’t have taken them there.”

“Then I don’t know what to tell you.” Caraway replied. “Unless…” He stood up suddenly and strode over to his bookshelf. He leafed through the books until he found what he desired. It was an old antique map of the world.

“Woah…that thing’s ancient!” Selphie said, her eyes widening.

“I inherited it from my father’s father when he died. This is what the military used when he was a little boy. Now let’s see…” He scanned the map with his finger and then tapped a spot. “There. Come, come gather around.” Everyone moved closer.

“Woah…is that the Centra Ruins?” Irvine asked. That had been where they encountered Odin and all sorts of other fearsome monsters.

“Yes. As you may know, it harbors magical properties as does the rest of Centra. The Centra area is very, very old, therefore it has many secrets, most of them dark and powerful. If I do recall, the Ruins were also a secret lab and they experimented with creatures there. There was also an old prison where they kept their experiments and sometimes, humans as well.”

“We’ve been there though, there was nothing like that.” Irvine said.

“You’ve probably never looked below the temple. There’s a secret entrace. When you first enter, there’s a statue, correct?” Everyone nodded except for Xu, who had no insight being that she had not been there. “You need to push it aside. It should reveal a secret entrance downward. The lab and the prison have been abandoned for sometime but I have heard rumors of a new experiment so if they were taken anywhere, then I’m assuming it would be there.”

“It’s worth a try.” Squall replied. “But we need the Ragnarok.” Zell pounded his chest with his fist.

“No problem, man! I’ve got it all covered.”

“Hey! I wanna fly!” Selphie whined. “Please please please please please please?”

“Let Selphie fly!” Squall snapped and Zell, knowing not to argue, nodded solemnly. When no one was looking, he caught Selphie’s eye and shook his fist at her. She stuck her tongue out mockingly.

“Irvine! Did you see what she did?” He complained like a child.

…

…

“Quistis! Quistis can you hear me? I think someone’s coming! Oh Hyne…come on, Quistis wake up!” Quistis’s eyes opened and she saw Rinoa looking flighty and panicked. She was leaning over her, shaking her shoulders.

“Rinoa?” Quistis whispered.

“Quisty! I think someone heard the explosion! What do we do? You’re still sick after all!”

“I feel better. Come on, we’d better get out of here before someone sees what we’ve done.” She stood shakily and they broke into as much of a run as Quistis could handle. But as they rounded a corner, a blue beam shot at them, or more accurately, Quistis. Rinoa stared in horror, unable to scream. A solitary figure walked towards them.

“Stop.” He hissed and Rinoa froze, her expression one of shock. He approached the still instructor with a solemn face. Smoke drifted from her scorched body.

“At any cost, you must be stopped.”