Opening Pandora's Box

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

Characters: The captured SeeDs and all those coming to the rescue
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: A rescue is mounted
Location: The Garden
Date: August 30, 1804; shortly after the Garden lands and Rinoa leaves to attack
Warnings: None that I can think of, but I'll edit if anything comes up.

The Garden had stopped. That was the first thing Squall noticed. Where they had stopped, he had no idea, but the engines had fallen silent, and presumably that was a good thing. In that it meant maybe - just maybe - someone would attempt to break, to stop everything before it got worse. Before... before Rinoa hurt any more people.

He doubted that would be the case, but ... he had to hope, almost. Had to hope that there was someone coming, had to hope that things would be as alright as they ever were with Ultimecia involved. And yet, there was some small part of his mind yelling that it wasn't fair, that he'd barely had enough time to begin to get used to this new world and here he was forced into a situation that was his worst nightmare. He didn't want to have to deal with this.

But he had to. For his people, and for all those strangers who knew him. He had to end this, before anything worse happened.

So with that in mind, he gathered together what dregs of courage he could, and made himself ready for what was to come, idly roaming around the little room that he'd all but memorized, looking for something he could use. Some small way to break out - not that he'd expected either of them to leave him something, but hey. Maybe he'd overlooked something. Maybe, and that was what his world had come done to. Maybes and hopes.

Comments

Rescuing Squall

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

As soon as the Lunar Whale landed, Rydia headed toward the Garden at a brisk pace. She wasn't so foolhardy as to charge ahead by herself, but felt the urgency of this mission keenly and wanted to see it finished as soon as possible. Laguna's family was depending on them, and she knew Alexandria was under threat. They had to accomplish their goal as soon as possible.

Upon reaching the Garden entrance, Rydia paused and glanced to the others, especially Tidus. Thanks to their experience last year, they weren't completely unfamiliar with the layout of the Garden. It was time to put that knowledge to use. Once everyone was ready, Rydia continued. It was time to find everyone.

[waterblade.livejournal.com]

"Okay, so... this place is huge." And though Tidus was accustomed to technology, he still didn't know a lot about the Garden. And it had been a long time since he'd been on it... but he was probably the best guide they had access to, at least in this case. "They could be just about anywhere, but if Rinoa's possessed she'd probably put 'em in the least comfortable spot - where do you think that'd be? Dorms or classrooms or supply closets or what?"

There was a lot of ground to cover - and the blitzer shook his head impatiently, completely ignoring his own question and charging straight ahead, hopping the turnstiles and starting to run, his Skyphone switched on and latched to his belt for ease of communication, a line programmed to Rydia in effect. It was the best they could do, really. "She probably wants to keep 'em as isolated as possible, so let's get as far away from the doors as we can!"

[prez-leg-cramp.livejournal.com]

Laguna shook his head. "The amount of students is too many to keep in one place and isolated. If Rinoa overrides the locks on the classrooms, she could easily keep them in there and given that a good amount of SeeDs are probably are under her control, it would be easy to guard the locked doors."

He surveyed the area. Laguna had seldom set foot in a Garden before but that wasn't to see had hadn't done so before. Still, it was hard to remember where everything was but if he remembered right, a good portion of the halls right in front of them were the classrooms. "This school is too big, I think we need to split up to find them. Rydia, Edge you go down this hall and Tidus and I will go down this one. Does that sound like a plan?"

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Rydia nodded, all business. "That works for me. Let's meet up at the front? Use the sky phones if anything comes up and we need to team up for it. Good luck, you two." She flashed them a brief smile before nudging Edge and heading down the hallway. Her pace was brisk, but she was also careful to listen any noises beyond that of her own boots as they struck the smooth floor.

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

For the most part, the sound of footsteps was all they'd hear, as they went through the halls of the Garden. After all, most of the students had been called out to serve as pawns in the fight. But if they listened carefully as they passed on set of classrooms they might well hear the sound of something impacting with one of the doors.

Squall's foot, to be precise, although they could hardly have been expected to know that.

[prez-leg-cramp.livejournal.com]

While Laguna didn't know it was Squall's foot, he heard the pounding alright. Question was, how did he get into the room? There were no SeeDs around to steal a keycard from and he wouldn't know how to override the system. Instead, for now, he pounded back with his fist. "Who's in there?"

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

Squall blinked at the returned pounding - and the voice that followed it. That was certainly no SeeD, and not at all a voice he'd expected to hear in the Garden.

"Squall!" he called back in the direction of the door. Maybe luck was on his side for once after all.

[waterblade.livejournal.com]

"Squall!" Add in another one, then, which is also probably a voice you never expected to hear at the same time as the first one. Tidus pounded on the door once himself, then stepped back and glared at it. These didn't have knobs or anything like that, so...

This was gonna get messy.

"HEY! Squall! Get back away from the door!" He didn't have the technical know-how to short circuit the electronic controls, but even a Garden door couldn't stand up to a couple of explosive attacks... Right? "Get on the other side of the room, just in case!"

[prez-leg-cramp.livejournal.com]

"'Just in case'? What're you gonna try and do?" Laguna asked, blinking rapidly and taking a step back himself.

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

Get... to the other side of the room? That was an odd request, but presumably Tidus knew what he was doing, if nothing else. Squall couldn't say it would work, but honestly, he'd take anything at this point. They could fix the doors later, once everything had been properly dealt with.

"Alright!"

Not that he had all that far back he could go, but as soon as he'd answered he moved to the opposite of the room all the same. In for gil....

[waterblade.livejournal.com]

"Something that's probably really stupid. Better get back!"

Because there was no way of knowing what'd happen with this.

Tidus stepped back to the other side of the corridor, trying to get himself out of the line of fire as well, then held up Brotherhood before him. He'd done this before, if he could just remember how...

The sword began to glow, very brightly for a few seconds, then Tidus slashed viciously at the door before them, almost seeming to launch the energy at the metal. It impacted in another flash of light, much brighter and bigger - and an explosion thanks to all the wire and other assorted electronic bits in that door. Okay, that was kind of loud.

[prez-leg-cramp.livejournal.com]

Laguna covered his face when the door and the keypad exploded. Once it was over, Laguna looked back. "You know, kiddo, it didn't need to be that flashy." He couldn't but laugh slightly before rushing inside to make sure Squall wasn't hurt by that. "You okay there, son?"

Were Raine and Ellone here, too?

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

Fortunately enough, Squall had just barely managed to avoid the explosion, mostly by all but plastering himself against the far wall of the room.

"I'm fine," Squall answered, mostly on reflex. He might have been left unscathed by the explosion, but that had simply kept things from getting worse. Seifer and Rinoa had left him alive, and mostly whole, but that could only go so far - and left to his own devices he hadn't anyway to heal himself.

Which more or less left him with a mess of bruises and various half-healed cuts, but those were survivable, right?

[waterblade.livejournal.com]

Hush up Squall, you've got a friend that can actually heal in this world.

...Okay, not that he could heal well, but anything was better than nothing.

"Squall!" Tidus followed Laguna by climbing over the rubble left of the door, not having put his sword away yet - who knew what was waiting for them. "Hey, are you al- ooookay, obviously not. Hang on a sec."

It was the one really useful change to his abilities with this world, even if it wasn't as strong as he'd like - but Tidus could at least patch someone up. He gripped Squall's shoulder in the hand not holding his sword, letting a Cura go through him to heal those cuts and bruises. Squall was the one who really knew how this witch worked - they needed him in one piece to lead this fight.

"That any better?"

Rescuing Selphie and Irvine

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

Re: Rescuing Selphie and Irvine

[boomchucka.livejournal.com]

First things first, Selphie was very annoyed with her friend and the perky brunette had every intention of letting Rinoa know so once this insanity was over with. Secondly, whoever had decided to tie these knots in her bindings really sucked at it. After enough working away at the ropes around her wrists -- and successfully rubbing them raw -- the littlest SeeD managed to loosen them enough to free herself. Of course, she'd marched right over to the door of the classroom that had become her temporary home and started banging on it, demanding release.

She was going to smack those two SeeD/cadets/whatever around until they were black, blue and several shades of purple if she had her way. Naturally, these idiots didn't seem to care about her constant banging as Selphie eventually slumped to the floor and stared at her hands. She didn't like being confined or tied up or any of what was going on, even as the Garden stopped and her gaze drifted toward the back of the classroom.

"If or when I get outta this stupid classroom, heads are going to roll!"

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

"Calm down Selph, last thing we need is to aggravate the SeeD," quipped the cowboy who was tied up beside her, now was alone. He didn't have the tack to untie himself, nor the motivation. He couldn't believe he fell for something that stupid from Rinoa. He didn't know what to do or think right now. And without his phone he could warn anyone.

He felt helpless right now as he just looked down to the ground. The only thing he could do now, was wait.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

"Edge, did you hear that?" Having split off from Laguna and Tidus to cover more ground, Rydia paused and tilted her head. She had been about to head in the opposite direction, but upon hearing that banging noise began to walk toward it. "Hello?" Hopefully, it was someone who needed rescuing and not a trap....

[arrogant-flirt.livejournal.com]

Edge heard the sound as well and abruptly turned his head towards it. Pointing his finger, he asked "It sounds like it's coming from over there." He, like Rydia suspected it was a trap yet he also knew they would risk it for fear of leaving helpless people.

[boomchucka.livejournal.com]

"So? We'll kick their asses and anybody elses who tries to get in our way," Selphie huffed before wandering over to Irvine to make another attempt at untying his ropes. A frown appears on her face as she works tirelessly at the knots but doesn't seem to be having much luck. "Oh come on! How come I got out of mine but I get you out of yours?"

Giving up on the knots again, Selphie marches back over to the door, intent on making some noise. "Hey you idiots guarding the door, you better let us outta here!"

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

"I dunno, I think you're just faking so you can keep me all tied up for yourself," stated the cowboy who was trying to make light out of something as, 'Well Rinoa tied us up and has gone completely evil.'

He really could do anything but watch the perky brunette yelling at the door.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

"Selphie?!" Rydia's pace quickened as she approached the door. "Selphie, it's me, Rydia! ...and Edge. Stand back from the door, okay?"

[arrogant-flirt.livejournal.com]

Edge yelled through the door, "You didn't think we'd leave you here all alone, did you?"

[boomchucka.livejournal.com]

"No way!" Selphie replied excitedly as she scurried away from the door only to trip ass-over-biscuits over Irvine's feet. Go figure, she was always the first one tripping over inanimate objects, her own feet or in this case, one cowboy. The perky brunette sat up quickly enough though and grinned at Irvine.

"Sorry about that Irvy!"

She shot Rydia and Edge a grateful look before standing up and facing them both. "Do either of you have a knife handy?"

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

"No problem, Selph" replied the cowboy who was eager to get out of his ropes and possibly hug his rescuers. Maybe Rydia more but he wasn't focusing too much on that.

Irvine the yelled back, "A knife would be very handy for me...just to let you know."

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

In order to overcome the door obstacle, Rydia raised one of her rods and sent a powerful burst of magic toward it. The door blew open, and she strode inside. Upon hearing Selphie's question, she nodded and headed over, withdrawing a dagger fro her belt.

"Stay still, alright?" She paused to work on the ropes, treating them with more care than the poor door. "I'm glad to see you both, though I wish we hadn't had to meet like this. Tidus and Laguna are working on freeing the others."

[arrogant-flirt.livejournal.com]

Edge can't believe Irvine allowed himself to be tied up while in a room alone with Selphie. Giving Irvine a smirk, he dips his head to Selphie. "I like to think we give a little warmer welcome than this in Alfitaria...We're glad you're ok."

sorry for the late tag D:

[boomchucka.livejournal.com]

While Rydia was working on the ropes, Selphie marched right past Edge to see if those idiot guards were still around. She wanted to know where their weapons were and would be quite content to beat the information out of them. She might go down a couple notches in rank but the perky brunette didn't particularly care. They'd been betrayed by one of their own and it was leaving a bitter taste in her mouth that wasn't likely to go away for awhile.

When she arrived at the door, Selphie saw that there was a trail of blood leading down the hallway but she knew that they had bigger fish to fry. Or at least that was the plan until she saw one of them still trying to run away.

"Get back here!"

The guard looked over his shoulder and started hobbling down the hallway before Selphie began her charge. Fired up, the girl raced down the hallway, reaching the injured guard in no time before she hauled off and resorted to hand-to-hand combat to take the SeeD cadet down. She made a few choice blows to the face, stomach and groin before watching her captor crumple to the ground. Her foot tapped impatiently before she collected the rapier the croney was using.

There was no point in questioning the idiot when they were unconscious as she poked her head around the shattered doorway with a devilish grin on her face. "Well... we don't have to worry about the guards at least."

You're sorry for your late tag? CHILD PLEASE!

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

"Trust me the feeling is mutual Rydia, I hope our SeeD didn't cause too much of a problem for you," stated the cowboy who tried as much as he could to help with Rydia's cutting.

When the ropes were gone, the cowboy jumped up and looked at both Edge and Rydia stating, "Thank you both for helping us...but I don't think we're out of the woods yet." With that Irvine looked at the door and dashed to catch Selphie. Course by the time he got there he saw what she had done and stated, "Remind me never to get you angry...ever."

Rescuing Ellone and Raine

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Sometime after Rinoa's "visit", Ellone had managed to free them both from their restraints using her magic. Something that Raine was still not at all comfortable with. But with the amount of torture the girl had endured, it seemed a petty point to harp on, especially when Elle insisted she wasn't a sorceress.

Raine had other worries too.

Ellone's injuries had been extensive and in her desperation to do something for her adoptive daughter, Raien found she had a talent she wasn't aware of. Healing magic. Fear bubbled up in her at the first show of it, which came more out of instinct than any true understanding of what or how it happened. It terrified her. Look what horrors magic had wrought on her home, her family... on Rinoa. She would never forgive Rinoa for this.

Horrifying as the magic was for her, Raine persisted in bathing Ellone in as much of it as she could, then resting until she felt capable again. There were so many injuries on her, that even after all this time, they were only just starting to vanish.

So huddled on the floor together, she stroked Ellone's hair and sighed. "I'm sorry, Elle. I can't do anymore right now. Just a little rest first."

[winhillstime.livejournal.com]

Despite the pain and trauma Rinoa had put her through, Ellone was certain, absolutely to the core of her being, that she wasn't ultimately responsible for what she'd done. Or was doing, whichever the case was at that point. It was hard to tell since the Garden had stopped moving.

Elle felt her head swimming, more so after she'd used her magic to sever their rope bindings, noticing with a far-away sense of surprise that someone was casting healing magic on her. Something registered that the only other person was Raine, but her tired mind was only partially processing what that meant.

"It's okay," she murmured, shaking her head as she held onto Raine as best she could. "I'm just... I'm glad she couldn't hurt you or the baby."

If anything had happened to them... Hyne, she did know what she would have done. She couldn't lose Raine again.

"How are you feeling?"

[prez-leg-cramp.livejournal.com]

Laguna had been near frantic when he reached the last of these rooms. So far, he hadn't been able to find them and it was making his heart beat frantically. He couldn't stand the thought of losing either of them. The very fact that once the Terra battle was over, he could very well lose Raine all over again but both of them?

Laguna couldn't do it. He knew he couldn't. Not this time.

He rounded a corner and nearly ran into another SeeD. Whipping his lance out, he slammed the butt of it against the side of the cadet's head, knocking him out before he could make a call. Luckily, there was no one else in the area. Fishing the key out of the pocket of the kid, he slid it across the pad and waited for the door to open. Once it did, he let out an explosive sigh of relief.

Dropping his lance, Laguna ran inside and slid to his knees, taking them both into his arms and holding them tight. "You're both alright," Laguna whispered, a weight lifting from his chest. Ellone was noticeably injured, but alive. And that was the most important part.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

"I'm..." Raine couldn't even finish the sentence. She might normally insist that she was fine, but in this case, it wasn't possible. Nothing was fine or okay about this trauma and they both knew it. "I'm not hurt." Unlike Ellone. Which infuriated her all over again. That vile, betraying hussy.

The sound of the door being opened again sent Raine's heart leaping into her throat. Another round of torture or were they being killed off? She started to angle herself to protect Ellone, when she spotted Laguna. A cry of joy came out and next she knew, he was holding her. Holding them.

Clinging to her husband, Raine buried her face in his shoulder and began to weep. All the fear and outrage couldn't be bottled up anymore and came out in a stream of tears. "Laguna, you're here. I knew you'd come," she mumbled between choked sobs.

[prez-leg-cramp.livejournal.com]

"Easy, easy, honey," Laguna rubbed her back before gently letting her go. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. However, we do need to get out of here."

He went back to Ellone and swiftly gathered her into his arms. "Hold tight, sweetie," He said to Ellone before waiting for Raine to stand so they could leave. "Rydia and Edge should have gotten any other captive SeeDs out and Squall is out to get Rinoa to stop. I don't know what's going on with anyone else though but the Garden is back to normal."

But how was the fight going on with Ultimecia and Rinoa going? Was it over yet? Was it going to end? He didn't know and he needed to get Ellone taken care of.

[winhillstime.livejournal.com]

"G-good," Ellone murmured, sinking back a little further as she tried to breathe through the tightness of her chest. "You... you have magic?"

The sound of footsteps coming down the hall stopped her and nearly made her cry again with fear, and she was likewise moving to place herself in front of Raine. The sight of Uncle Laguna flinging himself into their prison brought such an intense feeling of relief that the tears came steadily as she clung to both him and Raine, letting him scoop her up in his arms afterward. She could barely hold herself up at that point anyway, so it was best. Even if she wanted Raine to be the one being carried.

"Where are we going?" she whispered.