Chapter 6: Road to the Evil Sorceress I

[Myacu]

Hoisting one arm over her shoulder, Gemma dragged the commander's limp body over to the side, propping him up against the wall. Immediately, the commander's head lolled over to one side. Knowing that this would cut off circulation to the head, Gemma sat down beside him, gently holding his head up as the commander slept. With one hand and a towel, she wiped off the thin beads of sweat that matted his silvery hair and forehead. Fortunately, his breathing was now consistent. All they had to do was wait for Polaris to return.

She remembered what Polaris had said.


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


Looking at her watch, Gemma frowned when she saw that four minutes had already gone by.


She'll be back soon...just a little longer...


She checked on the commander's condition. He still hadn't regained consciousness. She was searching for a Cure, about to cast, and then---


Why don't you runaway?


For a split second, Gemma froze. Shaking it off, she continued her work.



Just run away. Save yourself...You're good at that....anyway...



It was cruel voice, dripping with malice and hate. It was as if someone were whispering to her ear, it was that close. She looked at the commander for an explanation, who was still out.


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


The words beat into her head over and over. Save yourself...you're good at that...anyway....the voice kept taunting her.


And then a piercing scream echoed out from the blackness of the hallway that ripped through her.


Polaris.


There was no time to mull over whether or not to help. She had to act now. Swiftly, she casted Shell, Reflect, Protect, and Reagen on the commander. The defense magic weaved together had combined to form a purplish sphere around the commander.

No one could touch him now.


Grabbing Paleruin from the floor, she lifted it onto her back. She turned to the commander's body and whispered, "I'll be back."

And sprinted into the darkness.

[Blaze Sanaku]

"Get out of here!! You need to find Squall! Now!" Irvine yelled when he saw Zell and his teammates show up. "I'll catch up!"

"You heard him, let's go" Blaze urged.

"No! Follow them!" Mitch ordered his soldiers. He blocked one of Irvine's shots with a protect spell before yelling again, "I said FOLLOW THEM!"

Mitch's soldiers snapped to attention and ran after Zell and the girls. One final gunshot is heard as everyone rounded the corner of the hallway but nobody stopped to see what had happened.

[ST]

Eeee XD Postage! *happy tears*
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Polaris

"The living Balamb Garden is a he?" you say. The look on Weiss's face doesn't change. He begins to move, his eyes locked on you. For one second there, you thought something sparked inside his pupils. The fire spell dancing on his hand continues to flicker as he closes in the distance between the two of you. You can hear his boots sloshing on the slimy flesh that was once a concrete floor but there's something about his stare that clearly spells out wariness.

"Did you want to find out?" he asks you, the smile on his face getting fiercer. "You seem rather...indifferent...to the fate of your comrades." He stops merely a couple of feet from you. At this range, you can easily attack him with your axe, too easy if you think about it. "I expected a more expressive reaction," his tone seems to take advantage of the state you are in right now. Suddenly, you try to move, but to no avail. Your body won't obey you at all. You find yourself standing in front of the DotNA leader vulnerably, eyes fixed on his, and absolutely paralyzed.

"I'm disappointed," he says to you softly, his fierce smile getting softer. Weiss lifts his hand to touch you.

Gemma

You run into the darkness the seems to stretch on forever. Until finally, you reach the door to Squall's office. Live blood vessels run on it like vines, and thick red liquid oozes on the surface of the door as if it were crying. You hear the crazy beating of the heart, pumping faster than ever, and it dawns on you that you finally found the heart. Polaris must be inside!

Pol & Gemma

The smile on Weiss's face faded as he sensed someone's presence on the door. He lifted his eyes off Polaris and glanced at the door. He straightened up. "What do you know..." The Fire spell on his hands flared brighter. "You SeeDs are brighter than I thought." Without any warning, he shot the Firaga spell on the door triggering it to explode. The vacuum of the explosion sucked Gemma inside the room, and in a bizarre way, the destroyed door reverted back to normal. Gemma slammed hard on Polaris's back and the two were thrown flat on the slimy floor. At that moment Weiss's control over Polaris's body dissipated and the room grew pitch black once again. There was no sign of Weiss anywhere near them anymore though the beating of the heart continued.

Polaris and Gemma were still pushing themselves up from the floor when they heard slithering noises advancing towards them. The darkness in the area made it impossible to tell what it was, but one thing was certain, the noises were headed towards them. A lightsource of any kind would be really good right now.

[stardust]

Stardust's jaw clenched at the sound of the gunshot but she continued to move forward. Commander Squall and the others were on the third floor just beyond that staircase.

As they grew nearer to the third floor, sounded louder than it was on the second floor. "Judging from what we got, the heart definitely is in the third floor." Stardust equipped Ciceronian as soon as she saw the dark hallway waiting for them on the next floor.

[vanesse]

Vanesse looked at the other girls and Zell. "That's the thing that we wanted to tell you about! Wherever the heart is, that's where Weiss will be. We heard from the DotNAs earlier," she stated with a serious face as they ascended the stairs. "This is just a feeling I got, but Commander Squall, Gemma, and Polaris might be in danger right now...if not, then how come they didn't come back to our meeting place?"

[Polaris Lyn]

Yes~~~~ posting!
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Gemma was a small girl-- but damn was she heavy!

Polaris pushed the other SeeD off of her just as the slithering sounds came, and she scrabbled along the slick meat floor, grasping blindly for her weapon. She accidentally grabbed Gemma's hair-- "Sorry, Ridean," Polaris muttered, immediately letting go-- and *there!*

Her hand fell upon the slick, metal handle of her war axe, and Polaris pulled it to her, testing the weight-- *it's alright*-- and then she remembered Gemma and the strange sounds heading towards them.

*Light-- I need light--*

Polaris summoned forth her magic, tired and sleep-deprived, but fueled by icy determination, and her Support-Mag flared into a bright corona of sun-orange, illuminating her body like a flare and rivalling Weiss' powerful Fire Magic in radiance-- but only at a short range. Everything else farther than a foot away was still drowned in darkness, as if the shadows were a blanket. She felt the healing magic dance through her veins, and a fresh surge of adrenaline shot through her, and she blinked, rising to her feet and pulling Gemma with her. Polaris moved the other girl behind her-- *keep her safe, she needs to be able to get back to the Commander just in case.*

"Stay back, Ridean," Polaris commanded expressionlessly, knowing she wasn't ranked high enough to order the other girl around but not really caring and inching Gemma towards where she guessed the door might be... perhaps a good hack with her axe-- or maybe Gemma had some Attack-Mag on her or something--

And the slithering noises grew louder, but Polaris wasn't focused on that, she was focused on--

"Weiss."

Her voice was calm, unwavering. She knew he was there.

"Don't keep me waiting, Weiss."

Polaris made sure Gemma was completely behind her.

There was no telling what the DoTNA leader would do.

[ST]

Pol and Gemma

The light of Polaris's Aura serves as your only light source for the moment, illuminating not more than a foot away from your position. As soon as Polaris's ends her words, a surge of tentacles burst forth from the darkness and you have approximately 2 seconds to react!

[stardust]

They had just passed Xu's room when faint explosion coming from below was heard. Stardust stopped.

"What was that just now?" she said, looking around at the other girls and their two superiors.

Vanesse dismissed it as soon as she saw someone ahead. He was sitting against the wall, the moonlight beaming from a large hole slightly above him illuminated his brown hair.

"Is that....the commander!?" she exclaimed, pointing at him.

[Polaris Lyn]

Polaris' eyes narrowed.

"Ridean, get back!" she ordered-- the other girl's Flail wouldn't really help against tentacles-- most likely Gemma's weapon would get tangled by the long limbs and Gemma would be pulled into the heart, *and that's not something we want.*

The first tentacle whipped forward, unbelievably quick-- and Polaris matched its speed, her axe whistling through the air, and the razor-sharp blade cut through the slick meat of the tentacle, severing it in a spurting, bleeding mess--

*Dammit!*

Polaris stepped back, forcing Gemma to retreat behind her, they were almost at the door-- *shit!*

The second, third and fourth came high, low, and left, and Polaris swung, twirling her war axe expertly, and she stepped forward, into the attack, the silver of her blade catching the light of her Aura magic in arcs of golden light, the reflections of light moving over the tentacles, *there's no end to them!*

"Ridean, find the exit!" Polaris shouted, still advancing, hoping that Gemma wouldn't get offended and find the Hynedamned exit, there was no time to apologize, even if she wanted to...

And Polaris felt a harsh blow to her left side, her breath catching in her throat and she felt something go wrong, *cracked rib?--* and then something wrapped around her middle, squeezing--

"Nng... aah!" Polaris winced, the tentacle around her ribs squeezing, her cracked rib breaking-- *if it squeezes any tighter, that rib's going to puncture my lung--* "Ridean!" Polaris shouted, trying to swing her axe and remove the tentacle around her body, "where's that EXIT?!"

[Blaze Sanaku]

Blaze's eyes widened and she rushed up to the figure Vanesse was pointing at.

"It is the commander!" Blaze's eyebrows clashed together, "how could Polaris and Gemma just leave him here like that?!"

Zell came up behind Blaze and quickly felt for a pulse. "He's alright, but he's unconcious. Does someone have a pheonix down?" he asked the girls.

[ST]

>] *ebil ST cackle* Chit chat time XD
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Polaris and Gemma

Gemma runs out of time! The tentacles have gotten to her. Unable to shield off the tentacles, they coil around Gemma's hands, waists, and feet, rendering her immobile. Polaris's condition isn't enough to defend against them as well, and she ends up in the same condition as Gemma. Their weapons topple on the ground, following a clapping of hands from someone behind them. At that moment, the presence of their guardian forces fades. The tension at the moment becomes reminiscent of the first time they met Weiss.

"You girls got spunk...I'll give you that," says Weiss from the darkness. The tentacles hold the two girls firmly and lift them in the air, the beating of the heart getting closer and closer to them. "Unfortunately, play time's over." He pauses. "But...in consolation, why not I let you in on something, hmm? Since you're all going to be "one" with him as well....I'll tell you about this...masterpiece Sorceress Adel created." The fire spell that he was harnessing moments ago flares back to life, and the form of Weiss becomes visible. "How about it?" His face shows sincerity, but the flicker in his eyes is nothing but morbid.

"I'm sure you all noticed the slight change here in your Garden...right...?" He looks up at the girls. "What if I tell you we're inside Adel's ultimate guardian force?"

Adjusting to the hazy light Weiss is casting, it becomes clear to Polaris and Gemma that the tentacles coiling around them are actually veins and arteries connecting to the heart. Slowly by slowly, the heart is absorbing the veins back and soon will devour Polaris and Gemma trapped on it.

Weiss laughs and shakes his head. "Can you imagine such brilliance and power? To be able to slowly transform your beloved Garden into a vessel for the forbidden guardian force unknown to history?" He walks closer to the girls, approaching something at the base of the gigantic heart. "But there's one little twist...to be able to summon Anima-Mundus...you have to do the ultimate taboo. You know what that is, right?"

As Polaris and Gemma get closer and closer to the heart, moans are once again heard and faces of the SeeDs trying to escape the placenta-like film etch the surface of the organ. Though this is new to Gemma, it's old news to Polaris.

"That's right. Sacrifices." Weiss speaks once again, as if he's talking to a child, pulling a sword from the ground. "Nourish the heart with death and blood to satisfaction and the spirit of the lost guardian force will once again be awaken, taking all of Garden with it as one..."

The Trinity sword shines brilliantly against the orange fire as Weiss holds it in front of him. The two girls are so close to the sword, but are so far all the same. "This piece of trash and the gems will not hinder the sorceress's plans to create a new order in this...repugnant...society of yours." He shrugs. "The Defenders of our new age will take down any hindrances in her way, and will be hailed as heroes." Weiss turns his back against the two girls and steps away.

"One world, one leader...One destiny. That, is true equality." Another laughter escapes from him.

[stardust]

How do they use phoenix downs again?? >.<
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"I do," Stardust responded to Zell. Reaching in her pocket, she took out the item and threw it above Squall. In seconds, a bright light shone down on Squall and it brought him back to consciousness.

"Ungh," Squall moaned and clutched his head. "W-what happened...?" He waited till his eyes had focused and looked up at the group.

[Lil]

"Sir!" Jun stepped forward urgently. The Headmaster looked rather pale but otherwise he seemed able enough. "Miss Vanesse informed us that Weiss is at the heart!" She glanced quickly at Vanesse for affirmation before turning back to face Squall. "The girls might be in grave danger!"

"And Mitch's lackeys are after us too." Jaime added breathlessly, constantly looking back to check if any Dotna had caught up. "Mr Kinneas is trying to hold them back but I don't know if he can for long! You guys go ahead I'll lend him a hand!" She pivoted on her heel and sprinted towards the staircase. She could only hope that the Dotna had not advanced too far.

This will probably the one and only time I do something for Garden. Hyne, let it be worthwhile.

[Polaris Lyn]

"One world, one leader...One destiny. That, is true equality." And then Weiss laughed, deep and dark and completely insane.

Polaris watched him, her features serene, even though the sharp pain in her side told her that she had definitely broken a rib. She realized then-- a bit late, actually, much too late-- that she should've cast Regen instead of Aura; at least, before she got devoured by a giant freaking heart she wouldn't feel so much discomfort.

Well.. if she was going to die, anyway... die comfy.

Polaris blinked slowly, her weakened body trying to accomodate enough magical energy to cast, and she felt the rush of Regen Magic ripple through her body, weak... but working. She winced softly, felt the sharp pain in her side ebb until it was just a gentle discomfort, and when she opened her eyes, she felt better-- trapped, stupid, and very much pissed off that she had found herself in a predicament such as this-- but physically she was great.

She was also glowing again... Weiss' laughter had faded and he was eyeing her with caution... perhaps he was wondering if she had an escape plan?

Polaris blinked at him, noting his wariness...

and she smiled. Gentle and slight and disarming.

"I cast a Regen," she explained to the DotNA leader, her voice very casual. "Your speech was killing me-- literally. Had to do something to keep myself awake. You talk ENTIRELY too much, Jong."

And as if it heard her insult the DotNA leader, the artery wrapped around her squeezed suddenly, and Polaris felt her breath catch in her throat.

*Ow.*

"I think your heart's mad at me." Polaris smiled. "Maybe it doesn't want to eat me anymore."

[ST]

Weiss cast Polaris a sidelong glance. He just noticed how oddly it was of him to take his time torturing these two girls--SeeDs. "Mockery...wouldn't help, you know?" he told her afterwards. "Shouldn't you and your friend be begging for your lives right now?" He placed a hand on his pocket. "Who knows, I might have a change of heart." Resting the sword on his shoulder, he smirked, "...especially for two lovely ladies like yourselves."

Pol and Gemma

Despite the fact that Weiss is trying to conjure a conversation from you, you can't ignore the fact that in less than a couple of minutes, your bodies will be pulled inside the heart.