LEGACY

CHAPTER SIX

Quistis brandished her flail at the massive T-Rexuar, attempting futilely to dislodge the lump in her throat. "Seifer!" she tried to scream, but was drowned out by the beast's unearthly roar. She closed her eyes and made contact with her GF. ("Siren, junction sleep to Status Attack,") she commanded mentally. ("And do it quickly.")

Siren complied; wordlessly, Quistis noted. Mere seconds later a surge of energy passed through her fingertips and into the whip that she had so tightly in her grasp. From its hilt to its tip, the weapon became engulfed in an ominous yellow hue.

She snarled, and lunged herself at the T-Rexuar, trying furiously to distract it from Seifer's prone, bleeding form. "Over here!" she shouted, hurling her flail against the monster's tough flesh. With this it whipped its head around, enraged, eyes widening and focusing on its new prey. That's right, follow me, she urged quietly, beginning to quickly back up. She whipped the creature again, drew forth another roar.

In one motion it leaned forward and clamped its two jaws together, mere inches from Quistis' nose. She backed away, tried whipping it again. And again. She searched desperately in the monster's features for any sort of tiredness or fatigue, any sign that her Sleep-junctioned weapon was proving effective.

It was still enraged.

("Siren, how many Sleeps do I have stocked?") Her telepathic words were filled with urgency.

The T-Rexuar lunged at her, this time determined to swallow her whole. "Float!" she commanded at the last second, and easily rose above the predator beast, now writhing below her in rage and hunger.

Your weapon has a ten percent chance of inducing Sleep, Siren replied quickly.

"Damn," she breathed, mentally berating herself for her lack of preparedness as she landed in front of it again. She narrowed her eyes, then ran straight at the monster, ducking and sliding at the last second. Her Haste-augmented motion seemed a blur, even to the T-Rexuar, and put her a mere ten feet away from Seifer.

The T-Rexuar seemed stunned, confused. Where had she gone?

Quistis used these few seconds to her advantage. Pushing a few sweaty strands of silk-blonde hair from her eyes, she knelt down beside the fallen gunblade specialist, feeling for his pulse, trying to ignore all the blood. Blood. Oh Hyne there was so much blood…

But there it was, the steady pulsing of his artery against her fingertip. Seifer Almasy was still tenuously holding onto life, and Quistis was not about to let him fall.

Hyne bless Cid, she thought, reaching for the her communicator-- one of the many that he had supplied to the Six and other prominent faculty members of Garden following the Ultimecia Affair. They were meant to be used only in cases of life and death, of dire emergencies. Cases like this. Her fingers trembled as she struggled to recall Irvine's student ID number. Was it… 43-36… or 43-26? 43-36 or 43-26? She vaguely remembered Irvine giving a whole spiel about his ID number. "It all adds up…" he'd say.

There. 43-26. She did the math in her head, and smiled at his twisted sense of humor.

The T-Rexuar whirled around, in desperation, hunger… and unfettered rage. It's tail connected painfully with her back, sending her flying into a nearby tree and smashing her delicate communicator against an adjacent boulder. She grimly took note of its shattered components out of the corner of her eye, before leaping to the side to avoid another attack.

The whip connected again. The monster wasn't fazed.

Again. It clawed blindly at her. She grit her teeth, gripped the whip as tightly as she possibly could. Again…

It stopped in its tracks, shook its massive head. Its eyes rolled back into its head, and its knees went limp. The overwhelmingly large T-Rexuar monster slowly crashed to the training center's floor, which rumbled in protest.

Quistis wasted no time. Blood flowed freely from Seifer's gaping chest wound. She needed something to stop the bleeding, she needed to call for help... Help. But the infirmary was on the other side of the Garden, and her communicator was in pieces beside that boulder…

A thought dawned on her. She threw herself to the floor beside Seifer's still form, began blindly pawing at his blood-soaked trench-coat. And there it was. Of course Seifer had been issued a communicator of his own. She opened it up, punching in Irvine's Student I.D. on the blood-slick keypad, and praying that he had his communicator on. It was only a few moments before a weary-sounding male voice responded. "Yeah?"

Quistis nearly screamed into the contraption. "Send medical aid to the Training Center, North immediately!" she ordered. "There is… there is a student here with a near-fatal wound…"

Irvine's eyes widened. "Another victim?"

Quistis swallowed a lump in her throat and shook her head vigorously, her eyes growing moist. "Don't ask questions. Quistis out." After turning it off, she snarled and threw it into the nearby clearing. Her knees gave way and she collapsed to the earthy floor, her head in hands, beside Seifer.

Why had he done that? Invited the T-Rexuar to kill him? What could possess him to seek death as he had? Unless…Was he…? Quistis felt a shiver run down her spine as the possibility impacted her like a ton of bricks. Was Seifer still tainted by Ultimecia's spell?

Was Seifer Cid's killer?

~~~~~~

The infirmary had always been one of the more pleasant locales of the Garden. Dr. Kadowaki's friendly- motherly treatment, and it's easy, quiet atmosphere were always welcome to Garden's students. The key word here was "relax". It was a place where anyone could go to rest, recuperate, and recover.

Today it was cold, sterile, and unfriendly, and Squall wanted to get out of it.

But Seifer was beginning to show signs of consciousness after 4 hours of inactivity, and Squall had a few questions for him. Quistis sat in a nearby seat, staring off into space and wringing her hands uncomfortably. Selphie and Irvine were seated off to the side, Selphie laying with her eyes closed against Irvine's shoulder. Seifer's signs of life may have gone unnoticed, if Squall had not been staring critically at the injured teenager's face. "Seifer." It was more to alert the others than provoke any sort of response from him.

Seifer's lips formed a weak grin. "… Puberty boy," he managed stiffly, his muscles moving with as much resistance as an old man's.

Quistis had stopped wringing her hands and looked up. Squall scowled and stepped toward Seifer, the slow clomping of his boots the only audible sound in the room. "How are you feeling?"

Another weak grin. "I feel absolutely nothing," he joked.

Quistis jumped in. "Yes, the painkillers have a tendency to--" She slapped a hand over her mouth when Squall gave her a grave look, and then turned back to regard Mr. Almasy.

No one stirred for a few tense moments. "What's up, Seifer?" Squall said finally, though he lacked any sort of camaraderie, and everyone in the room could feel it. "What were you just doing?" Blank expression. "In the training center."

Dr. Kadowaki quietly entered the room, closing the door shut behind her without a sound. Quistis stepped forward, her arms crossed nervously. Seifer offered no response.

Squall continued. "Quistis says you were just standing there in front of the T-Rexuar, like you wanted it to … well… kill you. Why?"

Seifer's eyes traveled to the ceiling as he began to take slow, deep breaths. Still no response.

Dr. Kadowaki stepped up so she was right beside Squall, and the two were bearing down on him. Squall tried for a more direct approach. "Why'd you try to kill yourself, Seifer?"

Seifer's eyes closed, small drops of sweat suddenly apparent on his face. "Seifer?" Squall felt all hopes of this matter being resolved shatter. Perhaps Seifer was Cid's murderer… perhaps Seifer was the perpetrator all along. But whatever the hell was happening, it was obviously bigger than themselves.

*flash*

"Time… it shall not wait."

*flash*

"He told me, 'Death is only the beginning'… Life is infinite. And death, death is only the beginning to an eternity of life."

*flash*

"Kurse all SeeDs… Swarming like lokusts akross generations…"

*flash*

"I…I'll kill you all…" Rinoa was shouting to everyone assembled in the lobby.

*flash*

"Seifer." Squall's voice was trembling now. "Seifer, why'd you do it?"

Seifer's head began twitching slightly, his eyelids still shut.

"Seifer… Seifer, why'd you try to kill yourself? Why'd you try to kill yourself Seifer?" Dr. Kadowaki put a placating hand on Squall's shoulder, just as Quistis stepped forward to shush him. Squall took a deep breath and tried to let himself relax, unclenching his fists, breathing normally…

Seifer's eyes suddenly fluttered open, to everyone's surprise. Squall instantly went on the offensive. "Why'd you do it Seifer."

Seifer said nothing for a few moments, simply letting his eyes take in all the people present. Squall… Dr. Kadowaki… Quistis… Selphie… Irvine…

"You're all going to die," he finally said.

The temperature of the room seemed to plummet, as Squall felt a shiver race down his spine. "Seifer stop being stupid," he said, shaking his head and beginning to breathe heavily again.

"You all hold a very special place in my heart…"

Quistis gave a little gasp.

"I'm going to kill you all." His words came out toneless, matter-of-fact. As if it was only a matter of time.

Irvine and Selphie were alert now, a look of outright shock dashed across their features. Dr. Kadowaki reached for a sedative, but Quistis grabbed the older woman's hands and stepped past her. "Why are you saying this, Seifer? We're your family… we've taken care of you, these past few months, when no one else has…" Quistis turned her head and met Squall's urgent gaze. His eyes were wide, and he was shaking his head, gesticulating for her to stop. She narrowed her eyes and averted them, returning Seifer to her attention. "You know we'd never do anything to hurt you." Reaching over, she tenderly placed her hand over his own and gave it a quick squeeze. "…We love you." The words were bold, and possibly not entirely true for everyone assembled in the room. But as his eyes grew unfocused and sad, and his intensity faltered, it almost seemed as though her words were beginning to penetrate…

Almost.

In one fluid motion he batted her hand away and grabbed her wrist, beginning to squeeze. She gave a startled yelp in protest. "I know," he responded, his face contorted in… fear? Anger? Revulsion? A twisted amalgamation of the three? "And I love you." His grip tightened. "Don't you see? That's why I have to kill you."

Dr. Kadowaki looked quickly at Squall, who nodded affirmatively. The doctor prepared a syringe and reached for Seifer's arm--

With her free hand Quistis halted Dr. Kadowaki once again. "No, I don't see, Seifer! I don't understand! None of us do! Why are you trying to kill us? Why did you kill Cid?"

Seifer's eyes widened, his head beginning to twitch even more intensely. "I… I didn't kill him. She did!"

Squall's fists clenched. "Who did?"

"Was it Rinoa? Did Rinoa kill Cid?" Quistis would not give up.

His head's violent twitching began spreading to his entire body, Quistis' wrist still locked in his death grip. He tried to form words, but his trembling lips would not allow him to. Finally he turned his head completely to the side, his eyes staring intently ahead… straight out the door that enjoined his room with the main office. Was he trying to tell her something?

"What are you trying to say Seifer? Did Rinoa kill Cid? What are you looking at, Seifer?"

"Miss Trepe, he's going off the charts, I have to--"

"Seifer what are you looking at?!"

Dr. Kadowaki forced her way past the former SeeD instructor and injected Seifer with the sedative.

Everything stopped.

Seifer's grip on her wrist gradually loosened until it fell away.

No one said anything. The infirmary suddenly felt like a tomb.

Irvine was the one to break the silence. "So are we going to see Odine or what?"

It seemed like the most appropriate thing to say at the time. After all, what could be said? This entire situation was beyond reason and comprehension. There were too many factors, too many possibilities- and none of them were favorable. One thing was certain; they needed help. And the only person who could help them in this situation was Dr. Odine, of Esthar.

Squall glanced at his watch. "If we travel via Ragnarok we should arrive by 7:30 or 8… that would give us some time to snoop around and visit the good doctor."

Selphie beamed. "Yeah! And maybe he'll know what to do!" No one seemed to care that she was yet again stating the obvious, as there were far more important matters at hand.

Quistis held her hands up. "I'd… rather stay here with Seifer. He needs someone who cares and…" She trailed off, biting her lip.

Squall considered this for a few moments, then made firm eye contact with her. "Be careful."

The former instructor smiled slightly, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him on the cheek. "You too. Bring Rinoa back safe and sound."

"What about Zell?" Selphie piped up.

"Uhh I believe he's resting up in his dorm. Just let him be, he needs to recover…"

Squall nodded. "Maybe we can get Nida to fly us..." The trio made their last minute preparations, and they were off.

Quistis remained behind in the infirmary for another hour or so. After awhile it seemed fruitless; nothing was happening, and there were better, more productive things she could be doing.

She left his room behind, and turned around, realizing that his eyes were still staring straight out the door. Now that's a chilling sight. She turned around and realized that Matron's room was right across from his. The poor woman would have a regular heart attack if she awoke to Seifer's haunting, staring eyes. Quietly she closed the door to Seifer's room, and exited the infirmary…

~~~~

On her way to the library, Quistis nearly collided with Zell. "Oh, hi instructor," he said sheepishly.

Quistis couldn't help but smile. Zell and Seifer were the only two people that still called her "instructor", and she was pretty sure she liked it. "Zell." She nodded. "How are you holding up?"

He nodded weakly in response, and Quistis suddenly realized that he had no clue what had happened to Seifer. As gently as possible she filled him in, though she took care to leave out his uncharacteristic outburst. Zell scratched the back of his head, obviously upset at the news. "Well I was just heading to the infirmary to check on Matron again, maybe I'll stop by his room too."

Quistis smiled, reluctant to follow him back. She needed distance from this whole situation right now; some relaxing music, a good book… sleep. The thought of Seifer's blank stare alone sent shivers rocketing down her spine. "Don't spend too much time there. They need space too." She gave him another hug before the two continued on their way.

No matter how desperately she tried, she could not rid the image of Seifer staring across the hallway from her mind. It lingered, like a parasite, and there was nothing she could do to squash it-- all the while she was trying to simply relax. Why wouldn't her mind just let her forget about it? Was there something she was supposed to--?

Suddenly, a horrible realization occurred to her.

*flash*

"I didn't kill her. She did!"

"Who did?"

"Was it Rinoa? Did Rinoa kill Cid?"

Seifer turned to stare out the door, his eyes focused… across the hallway. But across the hallway was--

*flash*

The poor woman would have a heart attack if she awoke to Seifer's haunting, staring eyes…

*flash*

"Oh my God," Quistis said.

~~~~

Seeing Seifer had been disturbing to Zell, especially after the teen's complete one-eighty the other day. He had changed--for the better! What had happened to provoke him to… try and kill himself? Something wasn't clicking there, and it angered Zell beyond comprehension that he could do nothing to stop it.

As he was leaving he poked his head into Matron's room, expecting to see her peacefully sleeping form, tucked comfortably beneath the sheets…but that's not what he saw.

Zell nearly fainted. Edea Kramer was sitting up, legs draped over the edge of the cot, stretching her arms. "M-Matron!" Zell cried, growing teary-eyed with emotion. "You're ok!" She wasn't merely seated upright… Life had returned to her. Her skin was a solid flesh color, her features were customarily warm, her eyes open wide and friendly.

Edea stood, supporting herself against the wall. Zell rushed to her side and crushed her in an embrace, crying tears of joy for her well-being, tears of sadness for her husband's loss, and tears of the years lost between them… Tears from the years over a decade ago, when she had cared for him as a mother would care for her child. He buried his head in her long, onyx-colored hair just as he had done when he was four, and the world had been oh so much simpler…

She began to whisper something intently, but Zell couldn't hear her. So she began to whisper it louder. "ka….uhg… me…"

"What?" Zell could not comprehend.

The words were barely decipherable as they emerged from her lips, but Zell was able to hear their intention. "…Kill … me… Zell. Kill me."

His eyes widened in alarm. "No, Matron, I… I… don't understand…."

She tightened her embrace, and Zell could feel one of her hands start to become cold against his back. "Kill me, Zell." Her words now held far more urgency than they had seconds ago. "You won't have another chance… Kill me…"

But Zell was not given the chance to reply.

Once the ice-strike had become firmly embedded in Zell's back, there was not much he could do but stand in shock. A wave of disbelief and anger crashed over his head, as he watched the woman he called Matron melt her deadly weapon, lay down on her cot, and sink back into her coma.

He clutched at his chest… was overcome with the sheer amount of blood that stained his hands… and then blacked out entirely.

~~~

A/N: Now how's THAT for a cliffhanger?

NEXT- The truth revealed! (promise!)