Chapter 6: Road to the Evil Sorceress I

[Myacu]

Bicker bicker bicker....it seemed that would be the only thing she would hear while working on this mission.

Sighing with exasperation, Gemma smiled apologetically and whispered a quiet "Thank you" to the girl who had cured her. Head bowed, it seemed as if the poor girl was trying her hardest to block out the angry comments aimed directly at her by Blaze and the others.

<Well it seems like you've joined the ranks of a happy bunch.>

Gemma frowned. She knew what she was. She was a SeeD.
A mercenary. They were an elite group that was simply hired by the highest bidder to kill. And in such a field, orders were to be followed or else people die.

Sure, that was what it said in the handbook.


But Gemma had always been a romantic. A part of her believed in the compassion of SeeD---those long hours spent training and honing their fighting skills, were all so that SeeD could save and underserving victim from harm.


Gemma sadly laughed.


This was her first major mission...and yet she hadn't expected its members to be so callous...so cold-hearted. Maybe she was just as naive as Vanesse.


"Now we move on. I don't want to hear any jargon from here on."


Fortunately enough, Commander Leohart had finally put a stop to their fighting. Raising a glove hand, he motioned for them to follow them down the dimly lit hall.


Grinning lopsidedly, Instructor Kineeas looked at her, "Well I guess we'd better do what the man says."


Gemma nodded and quickened her pace to catch up to the commander.

Suddenly while walking, Gemma heard a strange sound, almost like a hiss. Immediately whipping around, she turned to find Polaris standing still behind her. At a first glance nothing seemed to be wrong.


Taking slow steps towards her, Gemma peered directly into Polaris's eyes.

"Polaris? Are you alright?"


Something wasn't right. The expression on her face...her jaws were clenched...like something had snapped within her.


"Polaris!"

[Polaris Lyn]

"Polaris? Are you alright?"

Someone was talking to her, someone very far away, someone unimportant, Polaris waved away the incessant voice as she struggled not to just summon Obsidian upon them all, these worthless idiots wandering around...

"Polaris!"

Polaris blinked, found Gemma staring at her with a worried expression on her face.

Enemy. Fool.

Polaris smiled, gentleness poisoned by hatred, invisible to everyone. It was a fake smile hiding a shadow, and Polaris' voice, when she spoke, was a tranquil whisper, silken words barely breaking the air.

"Oh, Gemma...sorry. Whenever Infinity starts talking I just tend to zone out, you know?" A breathless chuckle. "And I don't know when to stop." She looked up, her smile faltering, "And I guess I zoned out too long. We should get going."

She gave Gemma a final small smile before moving past the other girl, turning away as the smile vanished and that empty look came in her eyes again.

What an idiot.

[Blaze Sanaku]

"They're not at fault."

Blaze's fingers twitched slightly when she heard Commander Leonhart say those words, complete with his "I am a commander glare." If he wasn't drop dead gorgeous and about twenty times more powerful than she, Blaze would have slugged him for that comment.

Irvine and Zell followed Squall, leaving the girls just standing there. Blaze hesitated, then walked past everybody else without a word.

It's not MY fault that they all made a stupid mistake. They just can't handle when I'M right and THEY'RE wrong.

[ST]

Barely a few steps after all of you proceed down the hallway with the Commander in the lead, you could feel the floor vibrate a little, followed closely by an explosion erupting somewhere in the vicinity of the elevator.

"Take cover!" Zell yelled instinctively flattening himself onto the icky ground.

The flesh walls jiggled from the impact, some bits loosening from the ceiling and dropping down onto the ground, and on some unfortunate heads.

"Eww...as if it wasn't disgusting enough already." Jun stopped talking, horrified when she felt one of the fleshy bits droop onto her hair. She swiped it off quickly. "Argh!! What the hell happened?"

As you turn to look towards the elevator, you can see half of its carriage buried onto the level below, while the other half still visible on the second floor.Evidently the elevator has been damaged from the explosion.

[Polaris Lyn]

"Well," Polaris said into the quiet, "looks like we're stuck up here."

She rose to her feet----when the explosion happened she had dropped down instinctively----and made her way over to the elevator, checking it. Yup, totally busted. Dimly she could hear gunshots. And something's happening down there.

She jogged back towards her team. "We're definitely not going to be able to get down," she reported to the Commander. "And it sounds like a fight's broken out down below."

Squall nodded grimly. "No other direction left to go, I guess," he muttered. "Any objections to just moving on forward?"

[Blaze Sanaku]

Blaze could hear gunshots and explosions happening underneath her. The sounds of war. She wished she could be down there where the action was, instead of standing around on the empty second floor where all you could hear was the steady thump of a heart.

"Don't worry, I'm calling backup for the first floor. I've already sent out a distress signal to all of the seeDs currently on missions. They are to report to Balamb immediately. It worries me that they haven't gotten here yet." Squall muttered, mostly to himself.

"You know what would be funny.. if the guys were down there," Blaze smirked to Polaris. Her smirk immediately changed into a poker face when Squall turned to face them.

"Let's go," he said.

[ST]

You follow the Commander silently as the beating of the heart grows louder and louder with each step. The thudding is so loud that your entire body can feel the vibration, a feeling smiliar to listening to the beat of a drum.

thuTHUMP.. thuTHUMP...

Squall suddenly stops. "We can't afford to make any more mistakes and open a wrong door. Fighting another monster will only slow us down. We need to decide which way to go," he shouts over the noise.

Up ahead are a dozen classrooms, the FH dock, and the stairs leading to Squall's office, Xu's office and the roof of the Garden.

[stardust]

Stardust chucked one final glance to the direction of the burning elevator behind them before trudging along with the three men. The beating of the heart started to become louder as they moved forward giving Stardust a bad vibe about it all.

"We can't afford to make any more mistakes and open a wrong door. Fighting another monster will only slow us down. We need to decide which way to go," Squall shouted over the noise.

"Isn't the entrance to the FH dock the main reason why we came here in the first place?" Irvine said dismissively.

"I think we know that, man," Zell answered Irvine. "But this half-assed blood pumper is just driving me nuts!" He looked around. "Whaddaya say we go to the roof instead?"

"Sir, I think it might be a good idea to try checking out the offices. They are one of the most vulnerable spots here in Garden." Stardust suggested.

"There's nothing important to find in the office but papers," Squall responded, lurking his gaze for the source of the noise.

"Uhm..well..."

"Aww shucks, don't let the commander bring you down. He's just stressed out over Rin--"

"Shut up, Irvine." Squall frowned at the cowboy and addressed the girls. "Fine. Since all three places are within a short distance from each other, we might be able to separate into three groups---just for a very short while." He paused. "Irvine will check the FH dock, I'll go check the offices, and Zell will look at the roof....Now, who wants to come with who?"


-------------------------------------

[Polaris Lyn]

"You know what would be funny.. if the guys were down there." Polaris didn't really care much for Blaze's useless blather anymore, but she obediently smirked back at the other girl before listening absently to the other conversation between the Commander, Zell Dincht, and Irvine Kinneas.

Splitting up...

Polaris' mind drifted briefly over possibilities, but she was already speaking, her soft, carefully-modulated voice carrying to the three men.

"I'd like to accompany Commander Leonhart to the offices."

[Jaime and Jun]

Jaime's glance flitted between Irvine, Zell and the Commander, undecided whom to follow. But then given the choices she had to admit the FH dock seemed most possible. With another fidgety glance at Van, she spoke hesitantly.

"I'd...like to follow Mr. Kinneas to the FH docks." She said, inching slightly towards the ponytailed SeeD.

"Hah... my pleasure. And just Irvine will do." Irvine graced her with a suave smile, which seemed to be affixed permanently as he turned to the other girls. "How 'bout the rest of you ladies?"


"Umm...guess I'll go for the roof then. " Jun said uncertainly. Now she wasn't so sure her earlier assertion about the FH dock being less easily assessible was correct. But damn if she was going to be the first to see herself proven wrong.

Besides we can't all go to the FH dock first. What if there's something else awaiting at the other places? There needs to be adequate backup for each different area.

{Convenient excuses eh. But if there're really Dotna troops coming from the dock don't you think they should be met with the most resistance?} Sapphy answered with a blah tone but her mind was set.

"Great!" Zell flashed a grin. "Anyone else taggin' along? We ain't got much time."

[Myacu]

Seeing themselves ordered to divide into seperate teams, Gemma couldn't help but feel a little sullen.

Didn't I suggest that from the beginning? But no...whatever Commander Leonhart says is gold..

Speaking of the commander, Gemma felt the tiny stirrings of worry begin to flutter in the pit of her stomach. For some reason, she felt unnerved that Polaris had been so eager to be on his team. Polaris...she seemed like a nice girl. But after what had happened just a few minutes before, Gemma couldn't help but distrust her a little.

No...you're on the same team. Nothing's wrong with Polaris, you're just overreacting.

In order to convince herself even further, Gemma quickly spoke up and said, "Commander Leonhart, I'd like to join your team as well."

[Polaris Lyn]

"Commander Leonhart, I'd like to join your team as well."

Polaris turned to the girl who had spoken. Ah, of course. The new blood. Smiling serenely, Polaris said, "Glad it's you coming along and not Infinity," in a low voice.

I'd love to see you in battle. I think you'd break so easily..

---

Danng, this chick is freakin' schizo...*shakes head* XD

[vanesse]

Vanesse's eyes jumped from Commander Squall, to Mr. Dincht, then to Mr. Kinneas. They did go here to check out the entry for FH dock, and besides, Jaime had already decided to go with Mr. Kinneas...so...

"Wait for me Jaime," Vanesse said, briskly walking to where Jaime was and stayed beside her. "I'm coming with Mr. Kinneas too."

"All riiight," Irvine drawled, turning his gaze back to Squall and Zell. "I guess we're all set here now." He then looked at Blaze and Stardust. "Unless one more lady wants to squeeze in?"

[Blaze Sanaku]

"I'll go to the roof with Jun," Blaze spoke up before Stardust could open her mouth. The last thing she wanted to do was go with Squall. She couldn't afford to mess up in front of him.

"Well, we have an even amount now. Infinity you're free to choose any group you want," Squall said.

[Polaris Lyn]

"I'll go to the roof with Jun." Blaze sided the with the swordsmaster and Polaris raised an eyebrow with a small smirk. Should've known that her stupid little schoolgirl crush would sabotage her from spending time with the Commander.

Stardust was taking entirely too long to make up her goddamned, pink dye-infested mind. Polaris glanced away and placed a hand on her hip, absently listening to the sound of the heartbeats. It was eerie, and yet...

...it's like being in a womb, she thought dimly. Strangely, it feels safe...

Obsidian stirred restlessly in her mind. < You know... > he began.

Polaris ignored him. Having a GF moonlight as a conscience was damned annoying.