Kindred Spirits Part Six: Kindred
Spirits
The answer was right on the tip of Kai Hallen’s tongue.
Buried somewhere in the reams of data that he had collected over
the past twelve hours-the files on the mission in Deling City, the attached
studies on GF that were appended to Quistis’ psychological reports, even the
medical data on Casey Wellon that he had hacked for his own education-was the
answer to what Aileen was. Even as Aileen made her rather frightening
pronouncement that she had merely been toying with them, and that her true
power was twenty times greater, it nagged at Kai. Somewhere in here, he
thought, looking at the computer, is the answer. The trick is to find it before
she kills Quistis, Eric, and Aiko. He was absolutely terrified that he was overlooking
the obvious, and it was going to cost someone their life. "Easy,
Kai," he told himself, "think like that and someone will die."
He rose to his feet and began to pace the length of the boat's control area,
trying to find what he sought. It’s the GF, he thought, all of this bears on
the GF. But why? For the sake of the others, Kai knew that he had to find it
out, and fast.
Aileen exploded towards Quistis and Eric, covering the distance
between them in less time than it takes to tell. She kicked Quistis in the ribs
hard, simultaneously slashing at Eric with a stroke that he parried, his arm
going numb from the impact. Eric managed to return the stroke, but Grieving
Angel only found air. Aileen was now behind Quistis, who was still falling
backwards from the kick. She aimed a strike at Quistis’ back that looked to
break her spine, yet she-and Eric-had once again underestimated Quistis. She
turned her backward motion into a neat head-over-heels roll, and Aileen’s sword
just missed. Quistis cracked Save the Queen at Aileen’s right knee and managed
to topple her. Aileen did not wait around; she bounded to her feet, landing on
a catwalk on the side of the communications tower. She raised her right hand
and unleashed a series of rapid fire pulses at them.
"Oh, damn," Quistis heard herself say as she dove to
avoid the first barrage. The blasts hit the ground behind her and exploded with
the force of a hundred piledrivers, throwing her forward. She wasn’t certain
where Eric was, but she hoped he would join in if he was able. She hit the
ground and, hoping that Aileen wasn’t immune to status spells, cast Blind
towards her.
Aileen staggered backward, a second group of pulses that were
aimed their way now blasting the edge of the cliff opposite of her. Eric accelerated
toward her from out of nowhere, Grieving Angel raised over his head. Aileen
somehow managed to raise her sword, yet Grieving Angel smashed through it,
shattering whatever it was composed of, and buried itself in her shoulder. Eric
withdrew the blade and gave her a backhanded blow that knocked her to the
ground below.
Quistis closed on her, hoping to end it, which was when Aileen
turned toward her, lying on her back, and caught her with a blast of power. Her
Shell held-barely-yet the force of the blow sent her flying back at the tower.
Eric appeared, again from nowhere, and caught her in his arms. Aileen, now back
to her feet, sent a bolt of energy their way that made the very air boil. Eric,
still holding Quistis, leaped away, but shrapnel from the resulting explosion
tore into his back. He dropped Quistis and spun towards on Aileen, Grieving
Angel flying from its sheath like silver lightning, just in time to meet
another energy bolt. He managed to deflect it, sending it soaring into the
hills where it detonated with a force that shook the area. "She’s not
kidding," Eric panted, out of breath from his exertions.
"I noticed," Quistis said. Seeing blood through the
tears in his jacket, she told him "You’re hurt."
"Tell me about it later."
She cast a Curaga spell on him as Aileen stopped her attack and
wagged a finger at Eric. "You know, that sword of yours is making things
problematic. It’s well equipped for defending my attacks."
"Sorry for the inconvenience," Eric called.
Aileen smiled. "I’m sure you aren’t, swordsman. However, you
are making it hard for me to kill Quistis, and as you just demonstrated, I’m
not up to your skills with a blade. So I think I’ll find you a playmate. After
all, it’s just her I want to kill myself. So long as Lord Urizen receives your
blade, the manner of your death is unimportant."
"I’m sure that hurt your feelings," Quistis quipped.
"I was hoping for the up close and personal death."
Aileen raised her arms to full extension from her shoulders, her
eyes glowing red with malice and power. A red-orange aura filled the air around
her, the ground cracking, and small rocks began floating into the air.
"This is an aspect of my power that you have yet to face, kids. You’re
gonna love this." A shape appeared beside her, surrounded by her aura,
indistinct, possibly humanoid judging by the silhouette. Aileen focused her
power, eyes closed now, as the shape wavered for a moment, then began to come
into focus. Eric and Quistis stood wary, wondering what was coming for them
this time.
For her part, Aileen was strangely pleased. What she was trying to
accomplish here was a talent that she wasn't certain she possessed; it was a
talent that Urizen had told her was inherent to the Annointed, and some of the
lesser Dominions, and he had often compared her to those. She focused her power
on the sub-etheric plane, becoming a conduit, the opener of the way, and
summoned the Minion. It took form beside of her, an entity that stood some nine
feet tall, hugely muscled, its grey skin covered with diamond shaped plates at
the shoulders and over the elbows and knees. Its bald head was nearly
featureless; the eyes narrow white slits, the mouth a line that was almost a
sketch. In its hands it held a sword, similar to the one she had generated,
only this blade was seven feet long from pommel to tip and weighed perhaps five
hundred pounds. It took a step forward and roared, in as much rage as pain.
Drawing the Unformed to this world is not pleasant for them, she thought.
"Say hello to an, ah, associate of mine," she called to her foes.
"He's a native of where you sent me, Quistis, and he obeys my every
command." She snapped her fingers and pointed at Eric. "Minion, make
him dead. And bring back his sword, for Lord Urizen." It raised its monstrous
sword and howled wordlessly, then it lifted one hand and a wide beam of power
raced towards them. The explosion drove Eric away from Quistis, forcing him
away from Aileen, towards the cliff that led to the road back to Dollet.
Quistis rolled to avoid the fire of the explosion, unable to see Eric, feeling
the wind of the monster's passage as it attacked. She called Eric's name and
wasn't shocked when Aileen appeared in front of her. "Oh, Quisty, when you
call a guy's name you need to make it more breathy. He'd love it if you did it
in his ear. Of course, you'll be dead before you can."
Quistis hauled off and punched Aileen squarely in the nose, as
hard as she could. She would have liked to have been rewarded by some sort of
sign of injury, blood or something, yet Aileen just took it. She merely slapped
Quistis across the face, a blow that hurt more than any Aileen had delivered
yet. Quistis fell back, barely conscious, yet she still managed to cast a Quake
spell at point-blank range. Maybe this will slow her down, she hoped. The
ground rose up in a tumult beneath Aileen's feet, waves of force hammering into
her. Quistis landed on her feet just outside of the zone of influence of the
Quake spell, which caused Aileen to fall to her knees. She looked up at Quistis
and grinned, amazingly enough. "You have drawn a lot of magic, haven't
you? A pity it won't save you."
"Well, a girl can dream, can't she?" Quistis asked. She
cracked Save the Queen against the ground threateningly. "You still want
to fight me, Aileen?"
"Naturally," Aileen replied, rising to her feet, energy
glowing around her fists. "Were you hoping I'd say otherwise?"
"Like I said, I can dream."
Aiko had clambered into the front seat of the RMP car,
"accidentally" catching Fullar in the ribs with an elbow (the better
to voice her displeasure with him) once Eric had left. Fullar was watching as
explosions rose into the sky around the tower, at a loss for words. He looked
at her and managed to say "What are you all fighting, Miss Hayashibara?
What is going on here?"
"About your typical Saturday night for SeeD," she
replied. She was enjoying the increasing realization that was coming to Fullar,
that maybe, just maybe, there were things that the RMP should stay out of.
Mostly, though, she worried about Eric and Quistis as well. "Can't you
drive any faster?" she complained. Worried about Quistis, she thought, now
that's a new one. My rep would be shot if anyone heard about this.
Fullar rather suddenly jammed on the brakes and shouted, "Get
out!" at Aiko. She looked out the windshield and saw two glowing blurs
racing down the road at them. She grabbed her combat staff and managed to get
clear of the car an instant before the two forms blasted past, the force of
their passage knocking the car end for end. Aiko leaped back to her feet and
spun to watch the two combatants-and her keen vision could discern that
whomever it was that had gone by, they were fighting-as they fought their way
up the side of the hills, out of sight. "Damn," she said, awed. She
had a pretty good idea who one of the fighters was, and she wished Eric well.
Before she could make an attempt to follow, a new series of explosions rang out
from below. She and Fullar had reached the cliffs above the entrance to the
tower, she saw as she ran forward, and saw Quistis, doing her best to avoid
another fusillade of energy attacks from Aileen. Fullar came up beside her and
cried, "What is going on here?"
Aiko sighed and cast a Sleep spell on Fullar, who fell over to the
ground. With any luck, she thought, the other RMP goofs with him will worry
over him so much that they'll stay out of the way. She gripped her staff
tighter and, cursing a blue streak, jumped over the edge of the cliff,
unwittingly following a trail that Selphie Tilmitt had blazed during her field
exam in Dollet.
Aileen had managed to catch Quistis off guard and now held her by
the throat, one handed, cutting off her air. "You know, this is not a
dignified way to die, Quistis," she said, condescendingly.
"Sorry I'm not-dying well enough for you," Quistis gasped.
She concentrated and cast a Firaga spell at Aileen, taking some of the brunt
herself. Aileen fell back, clutching at her face in as much surprise as
anything else. Quistis lay on the ground, trying to catch her wind, as Aileen
shouted incoherently. "Why won't you die?" she asked Quistis
rhetorically. She raised her power again, meaning this time to incinerate
Quistis.
Which was when Aiko appeared, scoring with a beautiful flying kick
to the face that had all her strength behind it.
Aileen, caught off guard by the attack, flew the distance between
Quistis and the tower in a heartbeat. She smashed into an area already damaged
in the battle, wreckage falling on top of her. "YES!" Aiko shouted,
"I am the girl!"
Quistis got to her feet, breathing heavily. She could discern
Aileen within the twisted metal, flames from the explosions that the battle had
caused licking at her. Somehow Quistis doubted it was over, but it was a
breather. "Thanks," she said to Aiko.
"Don't mention it, unless you can get me bumped up to SeeD
level seven and get me a pay raise. Where's Eric?"
For answer, a series of globular explosions rang out over a
half-mile distance in the hills around them. "He's fighting something
Aileen summoned, some kind of monster. Just how strong is Eric?"
"Strange time to ask that, the middle of a fight."
"I might not survive this fight, Aiko."
Aiko was forced to acknowledge that Quistis had a point. However,
she had no good answer for Quistis. "I don't know how strong he is, hon.
Just hope it's strong enough."
Aileen had finally made a mistake, Eric thought as he avoided the
shots that the Minion was hurling his way.
The monster seemed perplexed that he was avoiding or deflecting
all of the attacks that it threw at him, which was not all that surprising; as
a SeeD, Eric had only seen a few people move at the speed that he was currently
moving-Squall and Seifer were among them-and never over this kind of distance.
Squall and Seifer were capable of it, but their training lacked. Eric swung
Grieving Angel at a ball of energy, sending it soaring into the sky, and then
he closed on the Minion, his sword glowing with force. The Minion met his
attack with a thundering parry that shook the ground, then both of them went at
it blade to blade, moving so fast that few alive could see them. Eric planted a
kick into the Minion's side, but paid for it as the creature opened a palm and
fired a ball of energy at him. Eric got Grieving Angel up, the kinetic energy
of the attack driving him backwards. The ball threatened to beat his defenses,
but with a shout he managed to hurl the attack back at the Minion. The Minion
speeded up, avoiding the attack, and reappeared behind Eric, it's huge weapon
raised for a killing blow.
Eric blocked the attack blindly, Grieving Angel going over his
left shoulder and catching the blade of the Minion's sword with his. He whirled
and struck at the Minion with a blow that caused it to stagger backward, giving
Eric a moment to go for the kill. He focused the power that was his/Grieving Angel's,
blue-white fire rising from the blade, and he swung the sword in the direction
of the Minion. A wave of power rushed towards the Minion, enveloping it in a
cocoon of lethal force. It swept past the Minion, uprooting trees and hurling
rock and topsoil into the sky before detonating. Eric covered his eyes with one
hand, the shock wave of the explosion pounding him. You messed up, Aileen, he
thought. I was born to kill things like this.
The smoke cleared, and Eric was a bit surprised to see the Minion,
battered and bruised yet still standing. Held too much back, he decided as the
Minion moved to attack again. Am I scared of my power?
As Quistis and Aiko watched, Aileen forced the metal that
imprisoned her away with a wave of her arms and leaped free. She wore only a
few scraps of the blue dress, burns covering most of her body. She glared at
them and as she did, her flesh repaired itself, and new clothing-a male SeeD
uniform-wrapped itself around her. "She's regenerating herself,"
Quistis said in awe. "How can we beat her?"
Aileen raised her arms over her head and began to laugh.
"That's just it, you can't, can you, Quisty?" Rapid fire beams of
energy began raining from her palms, and both Quistis and Aiko retreated, their
fear giving them the agility to climb the steep cliff behind them in a series
of leaps that stretched yards at a time. They reached the top of the cliff and
were hurled forward by a series of blasts. "You know, Quistis, I'm
starting to really dislike your friend," Aiko called.
Aileen appeared at the top of the cliff, and Quistis let her have
it, casting Meteor at her. Just to be sarcastic, as the meteors began to strike
around Aileen, Aiko cast a simple Blizzard spell at her. As Aileen defended
Aiko's spell, the meteors that Quistis had summoned began to pound her. Aiko
and Quistis retreated further down the hill, past the RMP officers that were
trying to revive the sleeping Fullar. Feeling a bit of sympathy for him, Aiko
cast Dispel on him as they passed. "I'd leave, gentlemen," Quistis shouted
as the Meteor spell sent destruction falling on Aileen. She hoped that would do
enough damage to slow Aileen down until Eric returned-for one thing, Quistis
was down to her last two major attacks, and neither was one she really wanted
to use. And for another, if he came back, that would be because he had
survived.
Aileen did not wait for the Meteor spell to finish before she
rushed them, scattering Fullar and his officers like tenpins and heading at
them. "Oh hell," Aiko said, raising her staff, "she's coming to
kick our asses."
Aileen went for Aiko, throwing a wild haymaker punch that Aiko
blocked with her staff, the impact sending shivers up her arms. Aiko tried to
remember everything that Quistis and others had taught her about the tactics of
two people fighting one, and made sure Quistis had avenues of attack as she
stepped up to Aiko, striking with her staff. Aileen blocked blows that, backed
by her junctions, could shatter stone, with her forearms. Quistis joined in,
approaching Aileen at an angle, Save the Queen slicing the air. Aileen avoided
the attack, which was just a feint to allow Aiko the chance to attack. Her
staff met Aileen's ribs as she moved to dodge Quistis, and the impact was
frightening. Quistis added a shot from her chain whip that took Aileen from the
opposite side from Aiko's attack. Aileen took a step back, staggering for a
moment, and then she grinned at them. "Sorry. Just admiring your teamwork.
It was so lovely," she sneered. "I'm through playing, Quisty."
She moved at full speed, already kneeing Aiko in the stomach when
she could be seen again. Blood came from Aiko's mouth along with her breath;
Aileen chopped at Aiko's back, driving her into the ground. Quistis tried to
cry out Aiko's name, but Aileen appeared in front of her, elbowing her in the
face. Quistis felt her nose shatter, and she nearly lost consciousness; Aileen
kicked her across the jaw, putting her down. "Poor little Quistis,"
she mocked, "I've broken your pretty face. Your boyfriend will be very
unhappy." She bent and lifted Quistis by one hand. "Isn't this where
we always wind up, Quisty?" she wondered, clenching her fist, energy
surrounding her hand.
Kai was of two minds as the battle raged.
On the one hand, he was terribly worried as he listened to his
friends as they battled helplessly against Aileen, actually hearing the
explosions through the hull of the boat. On the other, though, he was lost in
thought, scanning the data he had gathered with a mechanical precision, trying
to find the thread that bound all of it together. My friends will not die
because of me, he thought.
When the commo board called for his attention, Kai answered it
practically on remote control, merely mumbling "Hallen here," as an
answer.
"Hallen, it's the Combat Master. We're en route, what's the
situation?"
Oh, Kai thought, now you're coming. You let Quistis talk you into
going after Aileen nearly alone and now you're coming to save her. Great.
"It's bad, They're fighting the enemy right now and getting their butts
kicked. What's your ETA?" As he waited for an answer, he paged through
more data, and for once made a mistake, accidentally calling up the medical
recording that he had gotten when Aiko had tried to summon a GF earlier. The
computers always recorded the earbead data, so he had the entire summoning
sequence, the gentle curve that marked the alignment part of the summoning…
…And it all hit Kai then, avalanching into his mind with such
force that he felt he was going to faint. "Oh my God," he thought,
bending over his computer, "I know what Aileen is."
Eric and the Minion were battling blade to blade again, their
battle uprooting trees and sending flashes of light leaping into the night sky.
Neither fighter had gained an advantage over the other, which was not what Eric
wanted. Quistis and Aiko need me. Eric sent a series of strikes at the Minion,
who parried each, but Eric's intent had changed. He drove the Minion back
towards the edge of a ridgeline, his attacks with a specific design. If my
father was right, he thought, the Minion is designed for combat, almost
mechanically. So with any luck…the Minion's feet reached the edge, and Eric
thrust straight at its chest, driving it backwards. As he had hoped, the Minion
stumbled and fell backwards down the side of the ridge. Eric sheathed Grieving
Angel and, in a heartbeat, generated his beam attack. The beam hit the Minion
square on and drove it into the ground, a gigantic globular explosion following
the impact. Eric reached out with senses that his father had trained him in and
did not sense the Minion. "Well, what do you know," he whispered,
"it worked." Eric looked across the valley, seeing the light of
energy blasts racing towards the bridge that led out of Dollet. "How did
they get there?" he asked. Then it hit him, and he smiled. "Aiko, you
really are getting into the spirit of things."
Aileen was ready to end Quistis' life when a familiar crack rang
out and something embedded itself in her shoulder. She turned and nearly
laughed when she saw Allin Fullar standing there, a smoking handgun of
Galbadian manufacture in his hands. "Oh, dear, the RMP. Are you going to
arrest me, dear officer?"
"If I would I could. But I'm not going to let you kill those
girls, monster."
Aileen tossed Quistis over her shoulder and faced Fullar fully.
"Silly man, I am immortal now. And you are just a man."
"Perhaps. But I have my duty."
"As do I." Aileen lifted a hand and built her power.
"Say your prayers, little human." She fired a ball of energy at him;
however, just before it hit Fullar, someone jumped at him, pushing him aside.
She turned to see Aiko, standing next to where Quistis was regaining her feet,
holding Fullar by his shoulders. "I thought I had finished you, you
bimbo," Aileen snarled.
"Eric isn't the only one with secrets, or surprises,"
Aiko said. "And it takes a bimbo to know one." A greenish aura
surrounded her and the others, and Aiko grinned. "I hope that this
works…Flash Teleport!"
The aura seemed to collapse into the air, Aiko, Quistis, and
Fullar not so much disappearing as being pulled into where ever the aura had
taken them. Aileen stared, stunned, at where they had been. "Wow, cool
trick. Is everybody hiding their power from SeeD now?" She focused her
senses on the disruption that Aiko had ripped in the fabric of reality and
tracked it to the end-not too far away. "I'm coming, little bimbo. Don't
you worry."
Aiko, Quistis and Fullar appeared at the end of the bridge that
led back to Dollet, and at once Aiko swooned and nearly fell over. Quistis
supported her and asked, quite logically, "What did you do?"
"My little secret. Flash Teleport. It's how I met Eric-his
father was one of the people that trained me in it." Aiko stepped away
from Quistis. "I never told anyone about it because it's dangerous to
use."
"That may be, but hiding things like that isn't going to go
over very well with Squall." How much are they hiding from us, and why,
Quistis thought. "You and Eric have a lot of explaining to do."
"Kinda figures that you'd worry about protocol when I just
saved our lives." Aiko pointed into the hills; a thunderbolt of red was
racing towards them. "Well, I saved them for the moment." she
admitted. "Here she comes again."
Quistis made a decision. "Aiko, Fullar, get going. I'm
running out of tricks to use." She turned and began to run across the
bridge, letting Aiko and Fullar go in front of her. As Aileen neared, using her
power to levitate herself, she began raining bolts of power on them. "Get
to the other side," Quistis yelled, not that they needed any
encouragement. As she reached the halfway point of the bridge, she stopped to
face Aileen. Her former friend landed on the bridge, arms crossed. "Well,
that was clever of the little tramp," Aileen said. "I didn't think
SeeD had a teleporter."
"Neither did I." Quistis closed her eyes and reached
into her supply of magics, finding the one spell that she should not have, the
one Squall had drawn from Ultimecia in the future and had given to a few SeeDs,
among them Quistis. She only could cast this spell twice, and she hoped it
would be enough. She cast the spell silently, and a haze, like that from
gasoline, filled the air. Aileen felt the power building and, with the closest
thing to fear that Quistis had heard in her voice yet, asked, "What are you
doing?"
"My secret, Aileen." Quistis brought her hands in front
of her and called the name of the spell that she hoped would bring this battle
to an end. "Apocalypse!"
Incomprehensible forces hit Aileen then, rending the very fabric
of reality itself. They had barely survived this spell in the future-it had
been a near thing-and Quistis hoped that the fact that Aileen was not aware of
it's existence would keep her from being able to mount a defense. Aileen
screamed in agony, the spell fracturing her very being, until finally her power
was unleashed in one monstrous blast. Quistis turned and ran, feeling under her
feet the bridge shudder as it began to collapse in both directions. The bridge
fell into the river below in sections, Quistis on the last section as it began
to fall. Not quite ready to die, Quistis jumped, Save the Queen whipping out
and catching an outcropping of stone. She swung back into the side of the cliff
with an impact that caused her to see stars, and she nearly lost her grip. The
sound of the bridge falling was enormous, huge blocks of concrete smashing into
the river below. Oh, man, am I going to get it now, she thought. We'll be in
debt for decades paying that back. She felt the whip's hold on the outcropping
slip, and she thought that it would be ironic to die on the heels of Aileen.
Aiko removed the irony from the situation by grabbing the whip
with both hands and pulling. "You know, you could put those boots of yours
to good use and help," she remarked sarcastically.
"Wise ass," Quistis replied with a bit of affection,
using her feet to climb the riverbank.
"I understand it now," Kai said to Squall. "It's
the thing that we constantly overlooked that is the key."
Aboard the Ragnarok, Squall rubbed at the scar on his forehead.
"I'm lost, Hallen. So cut to the chase."
"Sorry, sir. We were so worried about the fact that Quistis
was hiding something, or so we thought, that we forgot the other victim here.
Casey Wellon."
"Yeah," Selphie cried, "poor little Casey. That
Aileen girl attacked her first."
"I don't think that's the case at all, Miss Tilmitt,"
Kai interjected. "Squall, sir, did you ever find any sensor evidence to
indicate how Aileen gained entry to
"No, we never did. I was thinking that she used some kind of
stealth tech, but obviously not."
"No, sir. Aileen told Quistis that when she was killed while
summoning a GF, her consciousness found itself in the sub-etheric plane that
most GF come from. Her behavior is similar to that of a GF; she has
demonstrated the ability to manifest herself at any point and like Quistis
said, she uses non-typed energy, similar to GF like Bahamut. Plus she has shown
an ability to interfere with GF, first, by somehow, probably via the mind link
she established with Quistis, causing the GF-supported hypnotherapy she'd gone
under to fail."
"I guess it's good that Dr. Kadowaki confessed what had been
done to her, or we would never had found it out," Squall said.
"You can fine me later, sir. Secondly, Aiko tried to summon a
GF and was unable to in Aileen's presence. So she clearly operates on
frequencies that are close to those of a GF, close enough that she can actively
interfere with GF." Kai started to bring it home. "As you know, while
there are naturally occurring GF, such as Cerberus and the Brothers, most GF
live in the sub-ether. And once they're junctioned, even GF that begin in the
real world are stored in the sub-ether and obey its laws. They have to be
summoned to this plane through a specific electromagnetic alignment of the host
mind."
"Hallen, what are you driving at!" Squall bellowed.
"A GF has to be summoned! And Aileen behaves like a GF! SO
WHO SUMMONS HER?"
Aiko pulled Quistis back up to her feet and, caught by an impulse
that she couldn't understand, hugged the older woman. "What was that
for?" Quistis asked.
"Oh, the fact that I don't have to explain to Eric how I let
you die." She released her teacher. "Don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Oh, no, it'll be all over the Garden as soon as I can get
back to Balamb." She looked out over the destruction that her spell had
wreaked. "Wow. I overdid it."
Fullar stepped up beside of them and whistled. "I am not
authorized to deal with this kind of damage," he said in a business-like
tone.Quistis and Aiko looked at each other and then began to laugh.
"Oh, girls," Aileen's voice said from nowhere, "let
me in on the joke."
She stepped out of the thin air at the end of the bridge, again
unscathed from the attack. Quistis considered her torn clothes, the cuts and
scrapes that she had, Aiko's similar condition, and swore. What do we have to
do to beat her? Quistis heard the sound of voices murmuring, and, risking a
glance over her shoulder, saw that people were starting to fill the street,
responding to the destruction of the bridge. "Commander Fullar, I would
recommend that you get those people off the street. They're just targets for
her." Fullar nodded and ran down the street, waving his arms and shouting
warnings.
Aileen sneered. "There you go again, worrying about others.
It's going to kill you."
"Just means nothing else will," Quistis replied.
Aileen lifted one hand above her head, her power surrounding her
fingers. "Well, shall we go again? This is so boring-"
A flash of silver blurred behind her, and she staggered forward,
the blast she meant for Quistis going wild and shooting down into the river.
Eric appeared in front of her, Grieving Angel impaling her through the
breastbone. He withdrew the blade and flipped back to where Quistis and Aiko
stood as Aileen fell to her knees. "Hi," he said modestly, "you've
been using your hidden talents, haven't you, Aiko?"
"Well, I did it to save your lady's life," she chirped.
Eric blushed. "She's not my lady, Aiko. How are you doing,
Quistis?"
"Been better. She's back up again." Eric assumed his
normal stance as Aileen got up, the wound in her chest visibly closing.
Stubborn girl, Eric thought.
"You bastard," Aileen croaked, "what happened to
the Minion?"
"I killed it. You needed to pick better help."
"Maybe." Aileen's aura rose again, white-hot this time.
"And maybe it's time I used the full force of my power."
"Funny," Eric replied, "I was thinking the same
thing."
Kai, infuriating Squall and the others, had insisted that he
contact Dr. Kadowaki before he continued with his argument. She was in her
office in the infirmary, her picture coming to him via the vid-link on her
computer. "Dr. Kadowaki, you have still not found a physical cause for
Casey's coma, have you?" Kadowaki nodded. "And her readings haven't
changed, right?"
"No, they haven't. Still the same, Mr. Hallen."
Kai tapped commands into his keyboard. "I'm sending you and
Squall something. I, er, hacked Casey's records out of boredom, so one is her
brain wave scan. The second is Aiko's med readings when she tried to summon a
GF, modified. You see, I think I know what's going on with Casey."
"What are you getting at?" Kadowaki asked.
Kai rolled the dice, as this was all theory. "I think Aileen
is junctioned to Casey."
Aileen attacked again, her power a living thing that threatened to
overwhelm her foes.
They battled down the street, heading for the town square, Aileen
defending or avoiding every attack as she landed blows that threw Eric,
Quistis, and Aiko around like rag dolls. Eric, blood running down his face from
a cut over his right eye, threw herself at Aileen, Grieving Angel slashing, and
he scored with a blow that hurled Aileen through the fountain at the center of
the town square. Quistis cast Meltdown, hoping to lower Aileen's defenses, as
Aiko cast a Thundara spell at her. The Meltdown spell did its job, as Aileen
howled in pain from the relatively low level spell, and the battle continued.
Aileen accelerated, getting behind them, using raw force to drive
them down the street. Windows shattered and cars were smashed by the power that
Aileen used, and only their junctioned strength kept them alive. Quistis, from
her back, played a card that probably wouldn't work, using the Blue Magic
Degenerator. Eerie waves of what seemed to be almost solid sound played over
Aileen, yet the attack, which normally dispatched a target to another place,
failed. "Ooh," Aileen cooed, "that tickled."
"Well I had to try," she admitted. She cracked Save the
Queen at Aileen, who dodged it by sending a flying kick at Aiko. Aiko ducked
it, but she was wide open for a burst of energy that caught her in the back and
sent her rolling to Quistis' feet.
Screaming in fury, Eric closed on Aileen, Grieving Angel glowing.
Aileen caught his sword in both hands and stopped him in his tracks.
"Amazing. I see how attracted you are to Quistis and yet hurting the bimbo
really got you mad." She tried to force Eric back, and found, to her
shock, that he refused to give ground. Aileen strained against him, the white of
her power field merging with the blue-white of his. "You-how can you be
doing this?" she asked, bewildered. Eric did not answer, just pushed her
backward with both physical strength and his field. Aileen took a blast of
energy from Grieving Angel and fell into the ground, a column of blue-white
marking the spot.
Quistis knelt beside of Aiko and saw that if she didn't act
quickly, Aiko would die. She cast a Full-life spell on her and prayed that it
would work. No one dies for me today, she thought. Aiko gasped, her eyes
opening weakly. "Quistis…what happened…?"
"Just rest, Aiko. You'll be all right."
"Thanks…" she mumbled, eyes fluttering shut again.
Aileen had survived the attack, and stood in the center of the
street, Eric before her. "I could swear your power is higher than it
should be," she said to him.
"It's as high as it needs to be," he panted. "I
will not give up, ever."
"Well, we got a problem, then, pretty boy. Because I won't
quit either." She generated a ball of pure light between her fingers, at
first the size of a basketball. It quickly grew until it was fifteen feet
across, now floating above her head. "Let's see you deal with this,
swordsman."
Quistis got Aiko to her feet and began looking for some cover.
This isn't going to be good, she felt.
"What I noticed," Kai explained, "was this."
He touched his monitor, which highlighted the thing he wished them to see on
Aiko's meds. "This is the summoning signature. Lasts maybe a nanosecond.
Now here's what I asked the system to do." He added the projection that he
had asked the computer to simulate, and a line of gentle curves appeared.
"Does that look familiar, Doctor?"
Kadowaki leaned forward and saw it at once, since Kai had
helpfully put Casey's medical record in a window right beneath it. "Oh my
goodness. It's the same as Casey's brain waves."
"Precisely. Aileen attacked Casey in order to force a
junction with her, then forced Casey to constantly generate the summoning
pattern to give herself a continuous physical presence on this plane. She has
abilities that GF either don't have or don't use, and she has some kind of
ability to link with minds. She must have used that to force Casey to
junction."
"My God," Squall breathed. "What does that
mean?"
"It means that we have to break the junction and stop the summon
pattern," Kai said. "Only…we have to destroy Aileen's current form at
the same time. If we can cut her link to the sub-ether and destroy her body at
the same time, it should kill her."
"Are you sure?" Squall asked.
"Of course not! But we have to try! Doctor?"
"Yes, Mr. Hallen?"
"You still have Casey tied to the medical network, right?
You're having real-time readings sent to you constantly?" Kadowaki nodded.
"Perfect. Get to her ASAP."
"But-Kai, we've never had to break a junction in this fashion
before. How can we do it?"
The final piece fell in. "We can't, that's true. But you'd be
amazed by all the research that Esthar has done on the subject. Research the
Masters have."
Aileen threw the ball at Eric, who lifted Grieving Angel to defend
himself. Quistis took a tighter grip on Aiko and jumped through the plate glass
window of a near-by store as a virtual river of power ran up and down the
street, destroying the stone bridges that were such a part of the local
architecture. Quistis instinctively covered Aiko with her body as shrapnel from
the explosions flew in. "Ouch," Aiko muttered, "get off of me,
Quisty, I ain't your type."
Quistis rolled off of her and, struck by a memory, laughed. "What's
so funny?" Aiko wanted to know.
"It's just that-during Squall's field exam here in Dollet, if
he had avoided the enemy by entering a civilian area, it would have been a
twenty point deduction."
"Good thing I'm a SeeD already." Aiko sat up and looked
around wildly. "Where's Eric?"
"Out there," Quistis said, indicating the smoke filled
street. "Aiko, I-I don't know if he could have survived that."
Aiko stood, a bit unsteadily, and went to the ruins of the window.
Aileen was further down the block, floating above a pile of rubble in the
middle of the street. "Oh, no-Eric!" she cried.
Aileen turned her way. "I will give him credit; if he hadn't
took the brunt of that, I would have leveled a quarter of Dollet. He was a good
soldier-and like the best soldiers, he's now dead."
Kai pulled up the files that had included the various treatments
that the Masters had gotten from Esthar and, from memory, found a file he'd
scanned in passing and opened it. What he was proposing to use was a treatment
that was meant to unlock junctions in the rare event of combat catatonia, which
was as close as they could get here. He retraced his path into the medical
real-time monitoring system until he reached Casey's monitor. "Dr.
Kadowaki, this is Kai. The treatment I want to use is electrical in nature-it
will be conducted through the monitor sensors. Your job is to check her
electrochemical balance. I don't want to fry her brain."
"Kai," the doctor called, voice only, "how long
will this take?"
"If my files are right, it will take less than thirty
seconds. The problem is it will take four minutes to download the treatment to
you. Here goes nothing." Kai sent the program, and realized that now he
had to tell Quistis and the others to hold on for five more minutes.
"You bitch, I'm going to kill you."
Aileen seemed a bit amused to hear Quistis speak in such a
fashion. "Now, Quisty, naughty, naughty. Mustn't act like you care. You
should have kissed him when you had the chance."
Quistis readied herself for her last attack, her last resort, when
behind Aileen the rubble began to quiver. The rocks flew apart in a blue white
flash, and both women were overjoyed to see Eric, alive, albeit hurt, his
jacket shredded, blood running down both arms. "You again?" Aileen
shouted in frustration. "Why won't you die? Is it her! Why are you
fighting for her?"
Eric gave her a wry little smile. " I like the way that long
skirt hugs her hips."
"He heard that," Aiko said, embarrassed.
As Eric and Aileen faced off, Quistis had an epiphany about the
two combatants. Both were refusing to be defeated, both were drawing on powers
that she suspected that they did not understand, driven by forces beyond their
control. They were kindred spirits, bonded by blood and warfare, destined for
battle. Quistis knew what drove, to an extent, Aileen. She was scared to find
out what drove Eric.
Aileen dove at him again, but he avoided her, kicking her in the
back as she passed. He gripped Grieving Angel in both hands. His power field
expanded, the ground shaking, as he took the greatest single chance of his
life. Father, give me the strength to do what you could not.
Aileen felt the power building and part of her cringed in fear.
The rest of her lusted to test it's force. "Ooh, baby," she
whispered, "wish I could have met you when I was alive."
Eric shaped his field into a ball around him, arcs crackling from
the blade of Grieving Angel to the ball. His face was lined with strain as he
sought to control a force no man in a thousand years had used. Quistis and Aiko
looked on in awe, Aiko thinking Eric, be careful. Eric cocked Grieving Angel
over his shoulder and said "Die, spawn of Urizen! Nova Maelstrom!"
He released the attack, a lethal strike that crossed the distance
between them and hit, Aileen using her power field to defend the attack. It
looked as if she was trying to catch the attack, but in truth her energy was
doing the work. She slid backward twenty yards, then another hundred as the
Nova Maelstrom pushed her further back. "Damn you, Eric!" she cried
as the attack overwhelmed her. The ball soared majestically down the streets of
Dollet, it's might tearing at the facades of the buildings, and soared out onto
the beach, where it finally struck, the blast being channeled out to sea, the
horizon going white.
Aiko and Quistis ran out to Eric as he fell to one knee, Grieving
Angel supporting his weight. "Where did that come from, Eric?"
Quistis wanted to know.
"It was something my father taught me. That should have done
it."
As if the universe was conspiring to torment them, Kai called
them. "Guys, I know how to beat Aileen!"
"Kai, stand down," Quistis said, "Eric just beat
her."
"For now. She'll be back. Let me tell you what's going
on." He very quickly summarized his theories on Aileen's origins and her
connection to the GF and to Casey Wellon. "We're trying to break the
junction with Casey right now, but we'll need another four minutes."
"So we break the junction and it's over?" Quistis asked.
"No. Without Casey, Aileen loses her hold on this world, but
she can re-establish it. You have to kill her as we cut off her escape route to
the sub-ether. That way her mind dies in this world."
"Geez, Kai, what do you want for an encore?" Aiko
huffed.
"I can do it," Quistis asserted. "Just pray what
you're trying works."
Eric was peering into the distance. "She's back. I can sense
her on the beach."
"Then let's go. Eric, Aiko, you hold her off. I'm going to
play my last card." She extended a hand to Aiko. "Mind doing your
secret move?"
"Sounds kinky. Let's get her."
Three minutes, forty seconds:
Aileen was waiting for them on the beach as Aiko's Flash Teleport
deposited them just at the base of the sea wall around the city. Eric and Aiko
charged, Aiko firing a Fire spell at Aileen to cover Eric's approach. Aileen,
her expression that of a cat playing with a mouse, let Eric come, using her
speed to dodge all his attacks. She punched him aside and charged Aiko, who
attacked bare handed, her staff long gone now. Still playing, she blocked all
of Aiko's attacks with dull ease and slapped Aiko across the face.
"Three minutes," Kai called to Quistis, watching the
time remaining counter on his screens.
In Balamb Garden, Dr. Kadowaki watched the same countdown run on
Casey's display.
Eric slashed at Aileen's leg from behind, severing a tendon that
caused her to put all her weight on one leg just as Aiko scored with a kick to
the jaw. Aileen recovered, part of her wondering why Quistis had sent these two
to fight for her.
Two minutes, thirty seconds:
Selphie firewalled the scramjets on the Ragnarok, desperate to
reach Dollet in the event Kai Hallen's desperate plan failed. Squall and Rinoa
watched, knowing that for now, they were helpless, and it came down to Kai's
stolen, experimental program-and Quistis.
"Two minutes," Kai called, "one minute thirty until
program activates."
Eric fell back as Aileen sent rapid fire pulses his way. He put
away Grieving Angel and responded with his beam attack that Aileen merely
batted aside. "That won't work, pretty boy." Aiko tried to attack
from behind but Aileen simply moved to the right, causing Aiko to lose her
footing. "Whoopsie, you fell down."
One minute, thirty seconds.
"Aileen!" Quistis shouted, getting her former friend's
attention. "It's time that we finished this!"
"Finished what, Quisty? You can't kill me, and all of you are
getting weaker. You will die for what you did to me, and then it will be
over."
"You know I meant you no harm, Aileen."
"One minute," Kai breathed.
Aileen laughed and hurled a blast of power that Quistis' Shell
managed to deflect. "That doesn't matter anymore, does it? I'm going to
kill you."
Quistis sighed, closed her eyes, and began to build her last
attack, one that would take half a minute to build. "Goodbye, Aileen. I
did love you so much."
"That's what they all say."
Kai's program completed it's download and activated, commands
racing at the speed of light through the monitor. Electrical pulses of specific
patterns began running into Casey Wellon's mind, their purpose to interfere
with the pattern that Aileen had carved into Casey's brain. Kadowaki watched as
the waves began to change….
Aileen felt something tug at her very being, her very essence, as
Kai counted down from fifteen in Quistis' ears. My junction-what are they doing
to my junction, she thought…
As Kai counted down from ten, Quistis, tears in her eyes, noticed
that Aileen was suddenly pale, wavering on her feet. "I'm so sorry.
SHOCKWAVE PULSAR!" she cried.
Three, two, one…
The world went white-
Zero.
Casey Wellon's eyes snapped open and she let out a squeal that
caused the doctor to start on kind. "Ouch," Casey groaned. "What
happened?"
In the last picosecond of her life, as Shockwave Pulsar destroyed
her body, her link to the sub-ether closed, Aileen howled with fury, a little
part of her realizing that here, in the real world, she was free from Urizen at
least.
Quistis could not move as her most powerful Blue Magic rushed
towards her, clearly meaning to add her life to the toll for the day. Then she
felt strong hands grab her, and pull her aside, saving her, as the attack raced
past her.
"Kai? It's Dr. Kadowaki! Casey is awake. I…it worked I
guess!" Kai let out the breath he had been holding and decided to stick to
Triple Triad for the foreseeable future.
Quistis opened her eyes and saw that she was laying beside of
Eric, who had his arms around her. Well, this feels nice, she thought, reaching
over to touch his cheek. "Eric…I think it's over," she told him.
"It had better be," he replied, "because I'm tired."
He opened his eyes, surprised at how close Quistis was to him. He rested his
cheek against hers. "Really tired."
"You saved me again. That's becoming a habit."
Eric smiled. "Always a pleasure, ma' am."
"Thought I broke you of that habit," she laughed.
From behind them, Aiko cleared her throat and said "Come on,
you two, get a room." She bent over and extended an arm to Eric, pulling
him to his feet, he doing the same for Quistis. "Please tell me we got
her."
"I hope we did," Quistis said, "for Aileen's
sake."
A constellation of lights appeared on the horizon, familiar
engines sounding, as Selphie brought the Ragnarok over the beach, switching to
the landing engines. "Hiya Quisty!" Selphie called over the earbeads
"Better late than never, huh?"
"Remind me to clobber her later," Aiko remarked to no
one in particular as the Ragnarok came in for a landing, hopefully bringing the
nightmare if not to a close, then to a temporary resolution.
Epilogue(1):
Eric was not all that shocked to find Quistis at the secret place
that some of the cadets called the Nest, looking out into the night at
It had been a busy week at the Garden since they had returned from
the war zone that Aileen had made of Dollet, on quite a few levels. On the
diplomatic level, there had been the extensive negotiations between the Garden,
Dollet, and Esthar, with President Loire finally agreeing to pay reparations to
Dollet to cover the hundreds of millions of gil in damage that the battles had
caused. On the home front, Squall had gone absolutely ballistic on the Masters
for being a part of what had been done to Quistis, and Eric had heard from
Rinoa that there had been a rather strained conversation between Squall and
Headmaster Cid over the extent of his knowledge of what had happened with
Quistis. He and Aiko had not come out of it unscathed-the abilities and powers
that he and Aiko had hidden from everyone being the root of it. Technically, by
not revealing those skills when they had first applied to
Quistis did not answer for a moment. When she finally did, she
said "I keep thinking about Aileen. Not the person we fought, but my
friend. She's why I come up here, you know? I was using this place to remember
her by. I'm afraid that all I'll ever remember of her is the monster, not my
friend."
Eric took a place beside of Quistis. "Your friend died in
"You're right on both counts. So, Eric…I haven't seen you in
a couple of days. What's up?"
He decided to be matter of fact. "Aiko, Kai, and me have been
assigned to the Esthar Contract. Four months or completion of contract. We
leave tomorrow at 0530 hours."
"Oh." Quistis was not sure how she felt about that.
"Who were you assigned to?"
"The Sixth. Seifer Almasy's command."
Quistis smiled. "You under Seifer's command. That should be
interesting."
"I imagine it will. Listen, Quistis…" he searched for
the right words, and could not find them, so he tried the direct approach.
"Things got confusing last week, mixed up and emotional. But I felt
something, some kind of attraction, and I kind of hoped you did too."
Quistis smiled. "I did feel something, Eric. What, I'm not
sure. It was all so sudden, and I really could not trust what I was thinking
then. But there was something."
"All right, well, here's what I want to say. Four months is a
long time. I, well, I don't expect you to wait for something that hasn't
started yet. But, if there's still something there when I come back, is that
okay?"
Quistis found she liked this side of Eric, so unsure and so human.
"Of course it is, Eric." She leaned against him, putting an arm
around him. "I'm going to miss you, Eric."
"Me too." He put an arm around her waist, feeling her
warmth against him. " I'll be careful down in Esthar."
"I would expect nothing less from my best student." She
looked into his eyes. "0530 is pretty early. You need to get some
rest."
"I know. I had better go."
"Before you do…" Quistis took a breath to steel herself.
"Would you kiss me goodbye? If that's all right?"
Eric did not answer, he merely did what he had wanted to in
Dollet, and kissed her, a light, simple, beautiful kiss. Quistis returned it,
then stepped back. "You had better go before we convince ourselves to do
something too soon." Eric nodded, and got in a quick kiss before he left.
Quistis turned back to the night, flush with the emotions stirred by Eric's
kiss. Before she could get too contemplative, she heard Aiko, her voice coming
from the training center entrance, say in disbelief, "Oh, man, you actually
kissed her. You big goof!" Seifer, Quistis decided, needed a healthy dose
of luck with Aiko heading his way. Inspired by the words that Eric had said and
more importantly by his kiss, Quistis tried to think about her friend, in the
place that she had chosen to do so years ago.
Epilogue (2):
In the endless space of the Void, Urizen listened as his rival,
Los, berated him for his failures.
Urizen technically outranked Los in the orders of the Dominions,
yet, under the Great Mother, dissent such as this was tolerated and encouraged.
"I can not believe that you wasted your time with that hybrid
Aileen," Los complained. "Her very existence was a scar on the Void!
And she was limited by a broken need for revenge!"
"Los, have a care. My plans are not affected by this, they
are enhanced. We have scouted our enemy, probed their skills, and we know more
now. And as an added bonus, we drew the Killing Hand into the field of battle.
The Order is waiting for us."
Los drew his spiritual form up proudly. "You can paint this
as a victory, Urizen, yet you know that it does not serve the cause of the
Great Mother in any way. She would punish you if she were here."
Urizen laughed, a sound that sent nails running down the back.
"The Great Mother is not here, Los. That is our problem, after all. Once
she is freed, you can tell her of all my failings. Now leave my sight."
Los could not answer that argument, for it was true. "Very
well, Lord Urizen. For the Great Mother!"
Los disappeared into the Void before Urizen could reply. "Yes,"
he hissed. "For the Great Mother. For
Urizen's laughter filled the Void.