Chapter 6: Road to the Evil Sorceress I

[stardust]

/Hey, aren't you going to go after Jaime?/

Vanesse looked at Jaime worriedly. She looked so resolute. Maybe she should be like that too and try to be a little bit independent. She didn't want to admit that fighting beside Jaime or Deo was like being in her comfort zone, she gotta learn to stand somehow.

Jaime's tougher than you think, she can handle it. Vanesse thought. "Hey Jaime!! Come back quickly, okay?!" she hollered at her.

~*~

Stardust watched as Jaime disappear from the hallway. There were still no signs of the DotNAs so she could only guess that Mr. Kinneas was doing a good job.

"What's that?" Squall's jaw clenched at Jun's words. He pulled himself up and leaned on the hallway, a bit dizzy. "If that's the case, then we shouldn't stand here idly." He looked at Zell and the girls. "Let's go. Weiss is no doubt going to kill them if we don't get there in time."

Stardust could only nod.

~*~

The group reached the end of the hallway, and a throng of living veins and arteries swathed the sturdy double door of Squall's office. The vessels looked like moving vines, ready to attack if someone dared to approach.

[Polaris Lyn]

Polaris stared down at Weiss, expressionless. "Who said I was mocking you?" she asked after a moment, her voice perfectly reasonable. "I was just stating the truth. You're a troublesome man, and this is a troublesome situation..." and Polaris clenched her jaw when she felt her back meet flesh-- she was going to be absorbed, and Gemma wasn't doing much to help-- "and if you're expecting me to be a damsel in distress, I'd rather you cut off my head right now; at least I'd be spared the agony of seeing you for much longer."

Common sense told Polaris that it was a VERY bad idea to piss Weiss Jong off, but if Polaris had learned anything from Blaze, it was that common sense made life less fun to live.

And she didn't have long to live, so she might as well have fun while she was at it.

[Myacu]

It seemed that Polaris had already accepted her fate. Then again, if Gemma had found the exit sooner, they would now not be entangled in a writhing mass of bloodied veins, about to become absorbed into a GF's heart.

But she refused to quite now. Because of there was anything Gemma Ridean could do best, it was think.

Weiss's words repeated themselves over and over in her brain.

Anima-Mundus...

A creature that thrives on the flesh of the living....

Sacrifice...

Gemma wondered what demon could possibly spawn from such beginnings...and yet...its heart...his heart was right there in front of them...Can a beast live without its heart?

Nearly immoblized by the coiling arteries, she mananged to turn her head and spotted her flail, thrown aside in the corner of the room, only too far away to retrieve.

...an organism's heart will fail if dropped below 35ºC....

With deep concentration, she prepared herself to cast a Blizzaga spell ---

And then...it was as if someone had choked off the oxygen to her head. She felt dizzy...nothing was materializing from her fingertips. Her junctioned magic was completely sealed off.

She heard a sickening laughter.

A voice whispered.

"Silly girl...You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"

[Blaze Sanaku]

Blaze sliced at a few of the veins and arteries decorating the commander's door to clear out room for the doorknob. They spewed blood and regrew at a rate twice as fast as before.

"Don't ..you ...have ...the key ...to... your ...office, Commanderr?" Blaze asked Squall breathlessly in between swipes.

Squall fished through his jacket, found the key, and jammed it into the keyhole. As soon as he had unlocked the door Blaze pushed past everybody and rushed inside. Her breath caught inside of her throat at what she saw.

Blaze turned back to tell the others but at that moment a tentacle snatched Blaze's arms. So Blaze screamed.

---
I hope the edit is okay, Ash!! >.<

-Ani

[ST]

Blaze's scream caught Weiss off guard and he quickly turned around to see Squall's group at the front door.

"Well, well, well....are you girls lucky or what..." He looked at Gemma and Polaris through the corner of his eyes.

"Weiss, hand over the sword!" Squall quickly ran inside and wielded his gunblade. Catching the sight of the two girls about to be devoured by the heart, he quickly charged at the DotNA leader and clashed sword with him.

Zell quickly sprinted inside. "Quick! One of you free those two girls while Weiss is distracted!" He pointed at Gemma and Polaris.

[waterlily43]

Ahh...just edit if anything doesn't go according to plan >.< Hehe.
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"What the hell...?" Jun quickly followed the Commander inside, rushing for Polaris and Gemma at his order. They were raised in the air by several tentacles, rapidly being sucked into something , she didn't know what, and didn't have the time to analyse.

Where the hell do I start first? She swung her gaze between the two wildly. Polaris appeared to be closer to being sucked in, her back literally touching the flesh wall.

"Somebody get Gemma!" Jun yelled, frantically hacking away at the tentacles entrapping Polaris' legs and torso with a bone-fracturing grip. The ones entangling her arms were far too high to reach physically, and the wall was too slippery to act as leverage for a jump. She never thought she would wish for a Float more fervently than now. And even as she hacked at one tentacle, it was immediately replaced by a regrowth within the next second.

"Dieeee you sons-of-alien-octopuses!" Jun growled, her hair plastered against her face with splattered blood from severed tentacles. She narrowly escaped a straying tentacle attempting to coil around her leg with a swift and violent bash from Tien Nu's sheath.

Chopping away blindly doesn't work! I've got to try something else!

"Ultima" She cried, her voice cracking with exertion. Please, let it work let it work! Jun prayed as the ball of crackling energy hurtled towards the tentacles holding Polaris captive. It was dangerous, it might hurt Polaris as well. But what else could she do?

Screeches pierced the air as the tentacles started dropping in quick succession, the Ultima severing the arteries and veins from the heart and hindering regrowth for a few seconds. One of Polaris' leg and arm was free, but the other half still wrapped by some stubborn tentacles clinging for dear life. Her teammate looked like a broken marionette...but Jun knew she was far from one.

Wait...if I remember correctly...she can wield a sword as well as that battle axe of hers.

Jun ran up and thrust Tien Nu's hilt up at Polaris' free hand.

"Use this!! Cut yourself free!"

[Polaris Lyn]

"Use this!! Cut yourself free!"

Polaris smirked as she moved her left arm to grab Jun's sword, I knew I liked you, Kuroki.

A graceful sweep with the sword soon had both her legs free, and Polaris worked on her caught arm while trying to prevent more veins from trapping her. Crazy sons of bitches... there!

And she fell, nearly stumbling but managing to catch herself, and she moved, quickly and efficiently, scooping up her fallen war axe with her right hand as she twirled the blade expertly with her left, offering the weapon back to Jun, hilt first. The minute Polaris was sure Jun had possession of her sword again, Polaris pivoted on her heel, war axe glinting in the dim light, and she swung.

Her axe bit into the meat of the pulsing organ that had almost consumed her.

Let's see if Adel's little baby can live without a heart.

[ST]

"Awesome job, Polaris!" Zell hollers at her and prepares to charge as well.

"The heart!" Weiss suddenly exclaims, and for the first time, his composed face becomes coated with frustration. "SeeDs!" he roared as a strong amount of force pushes everyone back away from the heart. The arteries and veins cover the entrance shut, and there is no way out. Weiss hurries beside the heart and places his palm to where Polaris's axe pierced. He glares at the group as the arm-sized cut heals itself thus stopping the profurious bleeding.

"I welcome you to my territory," he hisses, staring at the heart with the Trinity sword in his hand. In a blink of an eye, a sensation spreads all over the area and this time, not only your GF abilities but your magic abilities are cancelled. "I believe you haven't seen the extent of what I can do yet." Sarcasm and false emotions are nonexistent in Weiss's tone now, only pure anger. Weiss closes his eyes and recites an incantation.

"I don't like this," Squall says and stands in front of the girls, Zell standing beside him.

Out of frustration, Stardust takes this as her cue to shoot an arrow when Weiss finishes his chant and hits Gemma, Jun, and Polaris to the ground.

"Your GFs are mine," Weiss whispers harshly and creates an image of a blue dragon, a female nymph, and a dark-haired angel in front of him.

"Impossible," Zell blurts out, clenching his jaw. Sapphire, Calypso, and Obsidian, eyes glassy and cold, hover menacingly in front of the SeeD. Just like the entrance, a thick wall of arteries and veins surround the heart. It looks like defeating Weiss is the only way to get to the heart now.

"This is as far as you can go," Weiss states, holding his chest. "Time to die!"

Sapphire lets out an unearthly roar and spits an inferno at the whole group.


-------
If I described the GFs wrong, please correct me:( Yay, ebilness to the bones >D>D

[Polaris Lyn]

Polaris let out a harsh groan of pain and fury, the empty feeling in her head adding to her anger.

You fucking bastard... that's my GF you've got up there...

And a wall of fire blazed in front of her, and Weiss was shouting angrily, and his voice just pissed her the FUCK off.

"Oh, HELL NAH," she hissed, her body battered and bruised and beaten, and her all-encompassing anger fueling her, and a surge of paramagical energy powered her next attack.

Limit Break.

MASTER HEPHAESTUS--

And she swung down, her axe sinking all the way to the HILT into the meaty floor, and the comets came, chunks of rock from some paramagical plane-- because Limit Breaks were not hindered by time or space, they could be activated anywhere.

The first of the larger comets hit Jun's GF, Sapphire, right in the face.

The attack rained down mercilessly, and Polaris was screaming, her voice raw and her throat hurting, screaming all her anger and frustration at Weiss, YOU STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY GF, YOU CAN'T TAKE ANYONE ELSE FROM ME YOU DUMB FUCK--

The GFs took the brunt of Polaris' attack, their Health Points slowly depleting, and they didn't die, but Polaris was up for it again, her health was low and if Weiss attacked her she would knock out, but she would do another Limit Break before he could even bat an eye.

She pulled her axe from the ground when her Limit Break ended, and she realized with a sick sort of satisfaction that the stolen Guardian Forces looked a little more roughed up than before.

And the dumbstruck look on Weiss' face?

That was the icing on the cake.

[Gemma Ridean]

Thrown across the room by Weiss's incantation, Gemma felt the same familiar dizziness wash over her.

You bastard....you've taken Calypso...

Visciously grabbing Paleruin off the floor, Gemma raced towards the heart, when suddenly her body erupted into flames. An indescribable pain racked her body, the heat cutting deep into her flesh.

Then she froze. Through the smoke and her watering eyes, she could make out the dark, wispy form of Calypso slowly rising above them all.

Her health was rapidly dropping, and she felt the energy from her Limit Break spark within her. However, she couldn't bring herself to attack her own GF, one that had protected her countless times in the past.

The inferno had burnt out. All that remained were burning embers scattered over her clothes.

Still, she remained motionless.

Suddenly, Polaris dashed forward, swiftly unleashing her Limit Break upon the former GF's. Gemma's heart twinged with a pain, as she watched Polaris swing her menacing axe through Calypso.

But she knew that her GF would infect all of them, even herself. Weiss was her master now.

It looked like she would have to follow suit. Summoning her limit force, the crimson light beamed around her.

Red Tide


Three golden orbs materialized above her head. One hovered towards Jun, the other to Polaris, and finallly the last one slowly descended upon herself. All three SeeDs were illuminated with the same pulsing light.

Aura...

Gemma quickly downed an X-Potion, and tossed two more to Jun and Polaris.

With the loudest voice she could possibly muster, she yelled, "Take out our GF's!"

[ST]

o.o *looks at Pol and Gem* Weiss, honey, now you've done it. XD
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Everyone

Prior to receiving a damage, Sapphire rampantly assaulted everyone with breath of fire keeping them on constant move without a chance to retaliate. Amidst the fire assault, Calypso hovered above and blew a kiss over everyone, resulting to a momentarily thick fog. In an instant, extreme nausea and poison overwhelmed everybody as the mist dissipated.

Obsidian could be seen standing near Weiss like a loyal servant. It would be really dangerous if Weiss let him attack next.

"Are these...things you call guardian forces really that important?" Weiss spoke. "Let's see how important they are to you when you kill them forever." He motioned to Obsidian. Emotionlessly, Obsidian joined Calypso and prepared to deliver his powerful attack. About to cover the entire area in darkness, Obsidian hesitated and froze momentarily.



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I put nausea instead of confusion XD I think that's better than not having total control at all.

[vanesse]

Vanesse struggled to pull herself up despite the status ailments that were inflicted on her. Inside, she was more hurting for Polaris, Gemma, and Jun. If that were to happen to Paridge, she was going to lose it too. Though she was surrounded by friends, there really wasn't anyone who knew all her troubles other than her very own GF.

Unexpectedly, Obsidian paused and it just gave them a perfect opportunity to retaliate. Turning to Polaris, Vanesse became mute when she remembered what Weiss had said. Did he really mean that? But what could they do?

"Let's disperse! Now's our chance!" she shouted instead.

[Blaze Sanaku]

"We don't NEED GFs or magic to kick your ass!!" Blaze screamed through the GF's to Weiss. His eyes locked with hers.

"I told you before, girl, that I don't need GFs or magic to defeat you either. I just took it away from you all to make it an even fight." Weiss waved his gunblade carelessly in the air. "After all, it didn't seem fair. All of you guys against just me. Plus you took away my best GF so taking three of yours seems like a fair exchange. Am I wrong?"

"One on one, just you and me!!" Blaze spat back. She could taste revenge on the tip of her tongue. If it was the last thing she did, she was intent on getting revenge. Nobody shot her in the gut and got away with it.

Weiss just laughed and Obsidian snapped out of his hesitation and flew directly towards Polaris. Blaze sprinted after the GF and lunged on his back, throwing him off course. She grabbed onto one of his wings, which was struggling to beat free of the lunatic riding him.

"I'll rip it off, I swear," Blaze harshly threatened the GF.

[waterlily43]

Jun's body was racked with pain, the physical pain mingling with the hurting inside. It was one thing to have Sapphy forcibly ripped from her without any warning whatsoever, and another to see her GF attacking them...she knew if he had any consciousness left his high sense of pride and honour would just be killing him now.

Calypso inflicted all of them with a poisonous fog, and Jun acutely felt the loss of her junctions as the status effects started to kick in. But her fury guided her to stand up, using Tien Nu as support for her jelly legs.

"Weiss Jong..." She spat his name out as if purging poison. "You just have to resort to stealing other people's GFs to do your battle don't you?! Is that because your'e scaaared of facing the SeeDs YOU COWARDLY EXCUSE OF A BASTARD!"

Weiss' glance flitted from Blaze to Jun. He gave out a little laugh, lowering his head before nailing Jun with his gaze.

"I simply enjoy seeing what you would do without your trusty GFs. And the agony on your faces is gratifying, to say the least." His tone was goading, his face twisting with a smirk that she wanted nothing more but to scrape off with the tip of Tien Nu.

Weiss flicked his arm and Jun spotted Sapphy moving from the corner of her eye. He was preparing for attack, she was too familiar with his style to not recognise that.

No Sapphy! She cried mentally,sprinting towards her GF and faced him with a desperate look. His eyes stared back coldly, unresponsive to her plea. She leapt up, grasping his tail and attempting to hoist herself onto the dragon's back. Sapphy thrashed about, trying to fling her off but she managed to climb up to the base of his neck. She brandished Tien Nu her arm shaking and pausing halfway.

"I know you'd rather be killed than be forced against your will Sapphy..."

She steeled her shaking arm, and swung Tien Nu towards his scaly neck.

A wave of deja vu hits her.

What...?

[stardust]

Sapphire's roar the moment Jun stabbed his scale sounded like thunder. There was ringing in her ears, and the confusion Calypso cast was distorting her aim. Shakily, Stardust was trying to get her aim right on Obsidian, seeing that Blaze was successfully interrupting his fast movement. There was just one thing running on her mind, and that was to kill everything that was standing on their way. She would definitely kill Sapphire, Calypso, and Obsidian.

"Just hold him!" Stardust shouted at Blaze, locking on her target with five arrows generated on her Ciceronian. "NOW!" And she let go! The charged arrows dashed past Obsidian's body, delivering a critical damage to the angel. The GF thrashed with pain that it flew crazily in attempt to pry Blaze off his back. Despite the damage he received, it still wasn't enough to bring him down.

Stardust clenched her jaw. She could keep this up forever, until the GFs were down. And that was when the poison kicked within her body. She felt her health diminishing little by little. They just had to finish this battle quickly!

If only Diwata were here...damnit! Sprinting, she generated more arrows in attempt to hit Calypso.