Chapter 6: Road to the Evil Sorceress I

[Polaris Lyn]

Polpol is like hecka ebil right now! She kicks puppies!! =O

---

Polaris caught Gemma's surprised expression as the other woman turned to her, and her guarded look melted into a smile, one that stayed even as Gemma turned away and the laughter faded, to be replaced by the sounds of footsteps. How footsteps could be heard on the soft, fleshy floor, Polaris did not know, but they were pretty loud.

She lowered her weapon, stopping so that both Commander Leonhart and Gemma were ahead of her.

And she waited.

[ST]

*GASP* ...That's okay if it's puppies! As long as they're not kitties. >[
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~Squall's group~


Squish! Squish!

The hallway was curved, so they couldn't see what was coming. Squall's eyebrows met and he readied Leonhart, assuming a fighting stance. There was silence between the three as the footsteps got nearer---and nearer--and nearer. Then suddenly, it stopped.

Squall eased, but his frown stayed. "What was---" And something hit him! The force was so great that it hurled the great commander against the flesh wall, ripping it, exposing a hole where Squall's head made in contact. He slid down the wall and fell before the two girls unconscious. The outside was pitch dark and the chilly wind blew from the hole that was made.

~Pol and Gemma~

There's no time for you to tend to Squall when the beating of the heart becomes faster, and louder, as if the sound is literally pounding inside your heads. Amidst of the crazed heartbeat is a voice, nice and gentle, speaking directly to the both of you.

Don't go back.....come. the voice says. Don't go back.....come....at the end of this hallway.

The pounding becomes even more unbearable and you have to hold your head to try and shut it out---but to no avail. It's almost as if you are going insane. The words reverberate inside your head over and over, and you can't tell anymore if the voice will lead you to comfort, or something else.

I'm right here.

Don't go back....Don't go back.

The heart continues beating.

[ani]

Vanesse

Jaime helped Vanesse get to her feet, and it was very fortunate that the DotNAs hadn't noticed her stupidity yet. She fastened the strap of Black Wings around her tightly.

"Van can you go inform the rest? I'll close the door to buy us some time." That was the next thing she heard from Jaime. Vanesse's forehead creased as she watched her friend sneak up to the door to attempt to close it---by herself!

"Are you kidding me?!" she whispered harshly. "They ARE coming any second now, you're not gonna make it!" Besides, she wasn't about to leave her like this, especially if there were dozens of DotNAs ahead. They had to regroup to have more manpower. Pulling Jaime away from the door, she dragged her out of the smoke and lurked her gaze around for Irvine.

Mr. Kinneas!


Stardust

Blaze asked her what she was holding. Stardust was already holding it upright, any idiot could see that she washolding a feather. "Feather," she answered in a monotone.

"What happened there?" the pinkhead asked this time.

[Polaris Lyn]

Don't go back.....come. Don't go back.....come....at the end of this hallway.

Polaris winced silently and shook her head, trying to clear it----

I'm right here.

I...what...?

Don't go back....Don't go back.

Polaris blinked. "Gemma," she said softly, her voice hollow in the empty hallway, "wait here with the Commander. I'm going to scout ahead for a bit. If I don't come back within...five minutes, haul ass back to the meeting place with the Commander, alright?"

She hefted her war axe in both hands and looked at Gemma.

[ST]

Irvine's Team

It's too late. Mitch saw the both of you and his team of dotNA quickly surround you. They roughly grab your arms and take away your weapons.

"Well... Well... who do we have here?" Mitch slowly walks towards you with an air of cockiness surrounding him. He points his gun at Vanesse, "I recognize you two. Where are the rest of you seeD--"

A gunshot rings out into the air and for a split second you think Mitch has shot Vanesse, but looking up you realize that Mitch isn't even holding a weapon anymore. It's been shot clear out of his hand.

Another shot is heard and before Mitch can react, he has a hole through the middle of his palm. Blood leaks off his gloves and drips to the floor. He clenches his fist as a swirl of blue heals his palm.

"Irvine Kinneas..." Mitch grits his teeth as Irvine appears out of the mist. A dotNA steps foward and Irvine ruthlessly shoots him in the head.

"No, this one's mine!" Mitch shouts back at the rest of the dotNA. He brings another gun out of his jacket and begins firing at Irvine. Their battle has begun.

[vanesse]

"Ouch!" Vanesse closed an eye the moment Irvine placed a hole on Mitch's palm and killed one of the DotNAs. Just in that moment, Irvine Kinneas was heaven sent. Not only did he save them, he certainly lived up to his title. She caught a glimpse of the soldier holding their weapons and she looked at Jaime to make her look his way.

It was just around that time that Mitch took out another gun and began firing at Irvine.

"Like that would kill me," Irvine said with a knowing smirk. As soon the trigger was pulled, the cowboy quickly got a move on and dashed to shoot the DotNAs--especially the ones holding Vanesse and Jaime--in various parts of their body.

Once Vanesse could move freely, she lunged towards her boomerang and regained proper stance to cast a spell. A small breeze emanated from the ground she stood on, and it moved towards Mitch and the DotNAs.

"Tornado!" her voice took on a heavier pitch, and before she knew it, the smoke from the small explosion had been cleared by the large tornado, devouring the DotNAs for a crazy spin.

This should buy us some time to escape....atleast!

"Mr. Kinneas!" she ran towards Irvine, strapping the boomerangs behind her again. "Now's our chance! We gotta go warn the others!"

[Myacu]

Gemma bit her lip. She was kneeling on the floor, using her jacket to cushion the commander's head. A nasty bruise was beginning to emerge where he had slammed into the wall. Placing two fingers on his wrist to check his pulse, she was ressured to feel a steady beat, although it was faint.

And then she heard Polaris speaking to her.

"Gemma,"

Gemma could barely hear what she was saying, "wait here with the Commander. I'm going to scout ahead for a bit."

She spotted the war axe Polaris held and opened her mouth, realizing what she was about to say next.

"If I don't come back within...five minutes, haul ass back to the meeting place with the Commander, alright?"

She immediately looked up at Polaris, who was staring back at her. At first, she was about to say "no", that it was far too dangerous for Polaris to continue alone. However, she knew there was no point in protesting. Polaris was a strong-minded person and nothing could budge her once she was intent on it.

Against her own judgement, Gemma felt her mouth curve and her lips formed the single word.


"Alright."

[Polaris Lyn]

Polaris nodded, once, her face unreadable, and she turned away from Gemma and the Commander, tense and wary and guarded, and she made her way down the hall.

She vanished in the shadows.

[ST]

~Polaris~

Uneasiness roaming about inside you, you venture further in the hallway. The heart continues to beat, every step, every breath you take seem to match its rhythm--until finally, you reach the end. Ahead of you was the familiar door of Squall's office. The exterior of the door is recognizable despite number of slimy veins entangling it like thick vines. The only odd thing about the door is the mechanism that opens it--there is none, not even a handle. You stop right in front of it to examine, pressing your hand against it for a push.

It won't budge. You feel something moist in your hand, and you look at it to see that it has blood on it. Looking carefully, you suddenly notice that Squall's door is oozing blood from top to bottom, like it's crying blood or something.

Bringing your axe up, you prepare to split the metal door in two when a pale, gaunt torso of a woman literally comes out of the solid door and places her hands on both sides of your head. She pulls your face closer to hers, and you get a full view of her ashened face. Gray eyes wide and gaping, her chaffed mouth distorts into a pained expression before letting out a shrill scream that made the hairs at the back of your neck raise.

Without any warning, she grasps your head tighter and pulls you in. You pass through the door, feeling like your body has just passed through a sea of blood. Inside, it's pitch black, but the sound of the heart is much stronger than it ever is. The screech of the woman continues, and she tries to grab onto you as hard as she can, almost clawing at you. There's a force that's trying to separate her from you. She seems to be getting sucked by something, and she doesn't want to let go.


~Gemma~

You try to tend to your commander, but with the sound of the heart pounding in your head, you can barely do anything. Squall still hasn't regained consciousness.

Why don't you runaway? the voice changes, bearing a meaner, sharper tone this time. Just run away. Save yourself. You're good at that....anyway... You look at the commander's face to see if it were him. The faint voice seems so close to you--too close--like it's just right next to you.

Run away....just run away...Save yourself.

You look ahead into the shadows to wonder about Polaris when an earsplitting female cry shakes you out of your wits! Reflexively, you straighten up, suddenly finding your heart pounding like crazy.

The thought of Polaris flashes in your head, and you can't help but worry even more. The screaming fades but it continues inside your head. And then it hit you---you HAVE to do something! It's either to run all the way back to the others or go help Polaris. You have to decide, and it HAS to be now.

[Polaris Lyn]

There was a woman, and she was dead or dying or a zombie or SOMETHING, and it was clawing at her skin, grabbing her hair, and it took all of Polaris' self-control not to scream, not to drop her weapon and scream and scream and scream, because she was scared the FUCK out of her wits, and only her SeeD training kept her from snapping and going insane right then and there.

She felt the woman's hands on her face, pale and clammy, and then the woman's fingers were tangled in her hair, pulling so much and so hard that it HURT, it fucking hurt, and Polaris reached up with her free hand and tried to bat the woman away, but the woman wasn't budging, and Polaris' felt her hair nearly getting pulled out of her scalp. There was something between them, something that kept the woman from getting close to Polaris, and Polaris wasn't sure whether to be happy or wary about that.

And the woman started screaming again, earsplitting screams that nearly outdid the beating heart, and between the heartbeats and the screams and the pain, Polaris felt like she was getting tortured.

*Stop it, stop it, stopstopstopstopstop--*

And the woman pulled, HARD, and Polaris lost her footing in the slimy, slick, meaty floor, and she stumbled.

It was all the woman needed. Still screaming, it clawed onto Polaris' arms and held on tight, and they were falling, falling into darkness, Polaris was getting taken somewhere and she didn't know where, and there was screaming and the heartbeats and it was louder, getting louder, too loud to think--

*No, STOP IT! STOP IT!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD--NO!!!*

And something inside Polaris' brain snapped, and she did what the woman did.

She screamed.

[ST]

HAHAHA AWWW POLARIS XD RP MEMORY ALERT!!
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~Polaris~

Your surrounding seem to spin, and a feeling like you're about to explode is overwhelming. Why is this woman here? Why does she look like that? Why is there blood on the door? Whose blood is it? What is happening here? The questions start flooding, making everything confusing, and whatever the answer is, you can't seem to get your mind to come up with it right now. The woman shakes her head, wide eyes filled with crazed fear, and she makes one last desperate attempt to grab onto you before a force pulls her brutally away from you.

She continues to scream and is eaten by the dark until you hear her screech reduced into a throat sound, telling you that something is eating her.

You sit there, staring at the darkness, and trying to calm your heart, looking for a logical explanation of what is taking place. Amidst the woman's whimpers, a laughter resounded this time. It's a very familiar laugh, and it's coming from a man--there's no doubt about it.

"Forgive me," he says, his deep voice echoing against the walls. From the sound of it, you can tell that you are in a closed area, and the person is right across you. "We didn't mean to scare you..."

A small fire flickers in front of you, and you see a hand bearing it--a simple fire spell. Your hunch is right. The person is standing about seven feet away.

"You see," The hand moves to light something, and from the gleam of the fire, you see the woman's face again. Half of her face is already submerged into a red blob and she continues to be pulled deeper along with her body. Her mouth is already sucked in, and she can't do anything but to twitch and look at you with her manic eyes. "She's a little energetic compared to the others."

The blob suddenly contracts and all of the woman's parts that are protruding on the surface are completely swallowed. The blob continues to contract, right on time with the heartbeat, and it dawns on you that you finally found what your team has been searching for.

The fire spell on the man's hand has gotten brighter, and it illuminates the whole area before you. Right then, you find yourself staring at a twelve foot tall cardiac muscle. Weiss can be seen standing right next to it with a smile flashed directly at you. The numerous thick arteries and veins connected to the heart surround him.

"You're just in time."

The loud beating of the heart becomes faster once again, and you see that the heart seems to have a lot of bumps on its surface. Your eyebrows meet when you notice the large number of half-dead, pale-looking people stuck inside the heart, sinking deeper and deeper just like how it devoured the woman. The worst thing is, you recognize several of those faces. There is no mistaking it, you see those faces everyday here in Balamb Garden itself. The heart is feeding on SeeDs!

"He said he's waiting for you too," Weiss ends maliciously, staring at you.


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Aight Bun! From here on, everything Weiss says and do is important, so if you want to talk to him or bonk him, just post it and I'll write the outcome! ^.^ Things'll get interesting now~

[Polaris Lyn]

Polpol: I wasn't scared!! I was just...acting! *sulks and pouts*
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The woman let go.

Polaris' breath hitched, catching in her throat as she stumbled, falling hard on her knees, and she MOVED, she tried to get up and MOVE, but her nerves were frayed, close to breaking, and she could do no more than fall on her back and sit up, she'd dropped her war axe, *where the hell is my war axe...?*

There were sick sounds accompanying the woman's soft shrieks and whimpers, and then there was a laugh.

It was deep, and familiar, and had Polaris been herself, she would've been on her feet with her weapon and swinging away with surgical precision.

But she sat there, her amber eyes wide and her breath escaping in gasps from her mouth, and she was scared.

"Forgive me," he said, and his voice is just above a whisper but she could hear it as clearly as if he was speaking in her ear. "We didn't mean to scare you."

A Fire spell illuminated an area, and Polaris' eyes were drawn to the gray woman, and she was being EATEN, something was absorbing her and eating her, and a soft whimper escaped Polaris' throat and she couldn't stop it.

"You see," Weiss said softly, almost gently. "She's a little energetic compared to the others." And then the woman was gone, just like that, a contraction and release and she was gone.

The Fire spell suddenly flared to bright life, and Weiss was there, standing next to the heart, looking impeccable even though he was in a fucking bleeding organ, and the heart was beating steadily. "You're just in time," Weiss said quietly, and his eyes met Polaris' and she bit back another frightened gasp, and she glanced over her right shoulder to see where her axe was.

There! It was behind her, just about five feet away--

--and then the hearbeats started quickening and she turned to look around.

*Oh, Hyne...!*

And there were people, she knew those people, embedded in the flesh, the meat of the heart, and she felt sick, sick and dizzy and she wanted to run, but her body wouldn't move, she simply slid back an extra inch along the floor and Weiss' handsome face lit up with a dark smile.

"He said he's waiting for you too."

Polaris' amber eyes flickered to meet Weiss, and she knew what she looked like to him, like a deer caught in headlights, easily killed, and her pride brought adrenaline rushing to her veins and she was a SEED, Hyne be damned, she was a SeeD and she was acting like a helpless child!

She found her voice, finally, and when she spoke, her tone was cool, detached, just a touch curious. "He?" she asked, her voice just as even and quiet as Weiss'. "The living Balamb Garden is a he?"

[ST]

Zell's team

Zell gawks at the feather in Stardust's hand.

"That's Rinoa's isn't it?" His voice takes on a higher note of urgency. "C'mon save the chit chat for later let's get to Squall and the rest! And make sure you hold on to that like yer life 'pends on it!"

Without a further glance backward, he dashes down the spiralling steps obviously expecting you to follow him.

"Well you heard the man." Jun says with a wry smile, and follows Zell Dintch down the stairs.

When you reach the meeting place, none of the other groups are there. Zell paces about muttering about the rest taking too long.

[Blaze Sanaku]

Blaze's eyebrows clashed together when they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey are those gunshots I hear?... or just that stupid thudding noise again?" she asked.

[stardust]

Creasing her forehead, Stardust glanced at the direction Blaze was looking. To her surprises, Blaze was right. Despite the faint beating of the heart, there were gunshots.

"No, those are gunshots," Stardust said, proceeding to head towards the sound. "I think Mr. Kinneas's team is being attacked." She looked back at Zell. The fire could either be from Irvine's gun, or from another person with a gun. Their team was just about to swerve on the corner when Stardust collided with Vanesse.

"Whoa!" Vanesse rolled back from her evasively and placed her boomerang in front of her by instinct.