Irvine, who was leading the eager search party with his torch, stopped dead in his tracks. “God almighty…”

Selphie plowed into Irvine’s back and yelped in pain, “Ugh, my head! Why’d ya stop? Are we there?”

Irvine turned around to face his sweetheart and pulled her close to him. “Sorry, darlin’. You alright?”

Selphie smiled as Quistis, along with Raijin, came up behind her. “I’ll live as long as you always hold me like this.”

Quistis covered her mouth and giggled at the sight before you, “You two are at it again? We’re on a search mission here, people!”
 
 

“Right you are, right you are,” Irvine whispered under his breath.
 
 

Selphie gave her boyfriend one last squeeze and then let go. “So, shouldn’t we get going again?”
 
 

Irvine looked at her with a sort of tortured misery. “Well, from what Raijin has told me, the ‘chamber’ Seifer and Zell were in is right there….”
 
 

Quistis, seeing the look in Irvine’s eyes, had a feeling of what was coming.
 
 

“The ceiling has, umm, partly collapsed……,” Irvine told his three companions in no more than a whisper.
 
 

In the moment that follow this statement, Selphie’s face contorted in horror and Quistis gulped in fear. They both felt that there must be some horrible site that lay beyond the light of the torch.
 
 

Irvine allowed the bad news to sink in before continuing, “I want you ladies to stay here while we men go and take a look around……”
 
 

“Men??” Selphie screwed up her face critically. “What’s that supposed to mean? Aren’t me and Quisty just as STRONG as you and Raijin?”
 
 

Irvine sighed and took Selphie by the hand and sat her down on a rock. “Stay here, lil’ missy. Just trust me. I’m sure we’ll be right back with Zell and Seifer.”
 
 

With that, Irvine lit the two girls a torch and then jerked his head at Raijin, indicating for him to go towards the darkened chamber that once stood as a refuge from the storm.
 
 

“Alright, Raijin,” Irvine coughed as dust that had been obviously upset in the cave-in invaded his lungs. “It doesn’t look too good from here, but let’s try to get in a bit further. Who knows, maybe they made it out before anything happened.”
 
 

“Yeah, your probably right, ya know,” Raijin responded weakly as he reached for the torch Irvine held before them. “I’ll show ya where our fire was.”
 
 

Irvine fell in behind him as they stumbled over rocks and boulders.
 
 

“Holy…..” Irvine swore under his breath suddenly.
 
 

“Wha…?” Raijin turned to ask his follower what had happened, but the image in front of him made his mind go completely blank.
 
 

Zell was propped up against the far wall. Blood was smeared over his entire body and had a coat of dust and dirt embedded into the dried and gushing red liquid.
 
 

Irvine gulped and let out a deep breath. He walked towards the a strung body as his heart raced a million miles per hour. Irvine knew who it was because of the black tattoo along the side of the person’s face, but still he didn’t want to believe it. There was just so much blood that Irvine thought the man was dead.
 
 

“Is it….. Zell or Seifer,” Raijin whispered to Irvine from the place he had first turned to see the body. He seemed to be frozen to the spot and could not bare to go and look for himself to find out who was smashed up against the rock wall.
 
 

Irvine sighed as he glanced back at Raijin. He couldn’t stop. He just had to keep focused. Finally, in the minute that seemed to stretch out for an eternity he reached the wall. Taking off his hat, he crouched down by the figure.
 
 

“Hey there lil’ buddy,” Irvine spoke softly as he reached his shaking hand towards Zell’s neck to take his pulse.
 
 

“Is he alive?” Raijin asked suddenly from over the cowboy’s shoulder. It made Irvine jump and lose his balance so he accidentally jabbed the seemingly lifeless body.
 
 

“Aghh,” moaned Zell in excruciating pain, “stop…..pokin’..”
 
 

“Zelly-boy!!!” Irvine smiled in delight. “I thought, well, I, I’m just so glad your alright, lil’ buddy!”
 
 

Irvine, still grinning, turned to face the slightly less pale Raijin. “Quick, get Quisty. Zell’s gonna need some cure magic and fast.”
 
 

Raijin nodded vigorously and rounded on his feet.
 
 

Irvine watched him dash off with the only source of light. “Damn, now I can’t even see. How the hell am I supposed to help?”
 
 

He groped his shirt for its pocket, and then grabbed himself a cigarette and lighter.
 
 

“Hold on, Zell. Help’s on the way,” Irvine said into the darkness before bringing his quivering hand with the cigarette in it to his mouth.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 

“Qui – stis!” Raijin called as he tripped over the thresh hold of the cavern into the narrow tunnel.
 
 

Quistis flinched in surprise at the wide-eyed man who had suddenly appeared. “Raijin, what’s the matter?”
 
 

“Where’s Irvine?” Selphie jumped in looking concernedly into the darkness of the chamber behind Raijin.
 
 

“He’s in there, ya know,” Raijin told them.
 
 

“Yes, but why are you here?” Quistis asked him a little impatiently.
 
 

“Ummm..” Raijin stared at the two girls blankly.
 
 

“Raijin, WHY are YOU HERE?!” Selphie repeated after Quistis, making sure to pronounce every word individually.
 
 

“I left him with Zell, ya know,” Raijin told them with a perplexed look upon his face. “Why’d ya ask?”
 
 

Selphie leaped for joy, “Zell, Zell, Zell, Zell, Ze-ll!!!”
 
 

Quistis raised her eyebrows and shook her head at the unbelievable display Selphie was performing by twirling and dancing around in complete happiness.
 
 

“Ahem….” She cleaned her throat to gain her companion’s attention. “Is Zell alright?”
 
 

Raijin, who had been smiling at the amusing scene Selphie had been staging before him, abruptly frowned and shuffled his feet as he remembered the horrible news he was to deliver.
 
 

Selphie and Quistis both saw that this response meant that there was actually some problem and the happiness drained away from their bodies, leaving two pale and worried expressions.
 
 

Raijin cast his eyes on the rocky dirt ground and mumbled the unpleasant news under his breath. He knew that no time should be wasted and that Zell needed to get help quickly, but he couldn’t bring himself to make the two girls feel sad.
 
 

“Okay, Raijin,” Quistis reached for the torch and with it in hand, began forward to the partly caved-in chamber. “I know it’s bad so instead of telling us, just lead the way.”
 
 

Selphie sighed as she obediently took her place beside Quistis. “Yeah, let’s go. I can’t stand anymore awkward silence or horrible news I can do nothing about.”

Zell moaned again, making Irvine snap his head in the direction of the source of the sound.
 
 

“It’s alright lil’ buddy,” Irvine made an attempt to comfort his injured friend, “Quisty’s got some magic an’ is gonna fix you right up. I know it’s hard, but just try to forget about the pain.”
 
 

Zell’s eyes were closed and he did not answer. A handkerchief was wrapped over his forehead to keep the blood from blanketing his face, but that was all Irvine could really do for his friend.
 
 

Irvine sighed in frustration as he looked at the shadowy figure that leaned up against the cold rock wall. “Guess what? I got another crazy Sephie story that’ll knock the socks off of ya! You see, we were at Trabia Garden when that strange disease broke out. Selphie had been giving a tour of the newly rebuilt and improved offices to some supervisors and vice presidents of some thing or another. Unexpectantly, the emergency code for complete lock down of the Garden rang out over the loudspeakers. I made a mad dash from the observatories to the offices because that was where my sweetheart was showin’ those big shots around. When I finally reached her, I found the vice president and the others watching Sephie smear mud and stick plant leaves all over herself by ripping apart Trabia Garden’s Headmaster’s plants to shreds. I laughed so hard ‘cause she mis…………”
 
 

“Irvine!” Quistis yelled out suddenly as she spotted the squatting cowboy on the floor.
 
 

Irvine, interrupted from his tale, looked up to see Quistis, holding a flaming torch while jogging towards him with Raijin and his girlfriend trailing not even a step behind.
 
 

“Come on over an’ join the party,” Irvine exclaimed sarcastically to the small band as he stood up and brushed himself off.
 
 

“Oh my God!” Selphie gasped as she saw the bleeding body a strewn on the floor.
 
 

Quistis cringed at the sight. “He’s still breathing……right?”
 
 

“Of course,” Irvine reassured her. “All he needs is a cure….or two…or three.”
 
 

“After Quisty healed me, I was fine, ya know,” Raijin told the worry stricken Selphie in hopes of calming her down a bit.
 
 

“Right,” Quistis gulped as she stepped forward, “let’s do this.”
 
 

Everyone backed up to give Quistis room as she took a deep breath and prepared herself to call upon her magic.
 
 

Quistis opened her arms wide and tilted her head up to face the ceiling of the enclosed space. With that lone motion, a blue orb bursted out of each of her hands, making her whole body glow in the shimmering rays.
 
 

“Makes me feel all good inside,” Selphie whispered to her boyfriend as the blue light from the glowing orbs in her friend’s hands consumed the whole cavern.
 
 

“I hope Zell feels the same,” Irvine answered beneath his breath as he bent down to kiss her on the cheek.
 
 

Quistis had sweat dripping down her forehead as she concentrated on sending all her energy into casting the magic spell on Zell. The blue rays wrapped around him, stirring the life back in every cell of his body. She tried to keep focused, but suddenly stopped when Zell moaned louder than he had ever before. The blazing streams of light vanished as Quisty put her arms down.
 
 

“Zelly?” Selphie asked the shivering figure that laid face down on the floor quietly.
 
 

“You…..covered….mud,” Zell chucked between gasps as he rolled over and looked at his weary but ecstatic friends.
 
 

“Glad to see your okay, Zelly-boy…. but I think your still a little out of it,” Irvine said under his breath so only Zell could really pick out the tone of warning in it, “…delusional even….”
 
 

“ZELL!!” Selphie, ignoring the strange look that was passed between her boyfriend and Zell, galloped over to him in total bliss. “Your alive!”
 
 

Zell laughed good naturedly, “Right…alive. How..good it…is.”
 
 

Irvine walked over and seated himself on the ground next to his mending companion. “Your breathing heavily, look tired, and have lost a ton of blood so you might not have any more open wounds, but I’m still puttin’ you under sittin’ arrest.”
 
 

“Yup,” Selphie pipped in, “no more adventures for you for a while!”
 
 

“Yeah,” Raijin shuffled his feet, “but where’s Seifer?”
 
 

Irvine frowned, “I….I don’t know.”
 
 

All the color drained out of Zell’s face at the mention of Seifer. “I think …..I killed them.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

To Chapter Eleven

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