On another part of the continent, to the southeast, three lone SeeDs were battling their way towards the castle of Ultimecia, the sorceress from the future who had taken over Sylphiel’s body to get revenge upon the SeeDs, Garden, and those who had defeated her the first time. As they battled their way through the hordes of evil they used a combination of strong physical attacks, such as pulse ammo and bladed weapons; high level magic spells, and more limit skills than ever before unlocked.
<music: Gravity of Love by Enigma>
<Turn around, smell what you can’t see. Close your eyes, it’s so clear.>
     Seifer was out near the front of the attack, locking blades with some of the worst types of creatures. As he strained to break through the defensive line a glow surrounded his gunblade, and from that leapt a stream of flames. A column of flame red light came from his weapon, piercing the clouds above. Lightning crackled around the column, giving his swing far more strength than ever before. He broke through the blade that was blocking his swing, the column of fire and lightning crashing down amid the ranks of the army, erasing all it struck instantly. As it struck something it couldn’t break through the column split, forming a cross shaped wave of fire.
     “You were just introduced to the fire cross, mark two!” he shouted to the army before some of the soldiers recovered their senses and resumed attacking. “Geeze, don’t they ever give up?!”
<Here’s the mirror, behind there is a screen. And with wings you can get in. Don’t think twice before you listen to your heart. Follow the trace of a random star.>
     “Release the light from the dark, deliver us from the shadows. Unleash the light unto the dark, enlighten those locked in the shadows. ALEXANDER!”
     Alex held the glowing white stone to the sky as he spoke the summoning incantation. A column of light surrounded him, warding off incoming blows as he began to float off of the ground. Angel wings appeared and spread, circling around him for a moment to block several incoming fireballs. The wings spread wide a moment later, revealing Alex standing on the shoulder of a giant suit of robotic armor. The wings spread to their maximum span, the feathers glowing brilliantly before a barrage of holy missiles burst forth from the wings, circling around and striking in the ranks of the army of darkness, blasting a path clear to the entrance for a width of half a mile. The esper called Alexander vanished a moment later, the young summoner descending to rejoin his friends.
     “Holy Judgment is powerful, is it not?” Alex asked as he landed between Seifer and Irvine.
     “Oh yeah,” Irvine replied, “that looked like the best one yet.”
     “The army’s beginning to close in again,” Seifer said as he took off running.
<What you need, and everything you feel, is just the question of the day. In the eye of storm you can see the lonely door!>
     “Meaning we need to get moving,” Alex said as he and Irvine ran to catch up to him in the charge for the entrance.
     About midway to the castle the army overtook them again, cutting off all lines of escape. The three stood back to back, taking on defensive stances as the creatures surrounding them snarled, growled, and slobbered.
     “I hate to say it, but we’re out of options,” Alex said as he spun around, delivering a high kick to a demi - human who looked at him funny.
     “Not as long as we have each other,” Irvine said as he took Seifer’s right hand in his left.
<The experience for survival is the key to the Gravity of Love>
     “We’re outnumbered several thousand to one and you still manage to keep smiling,” Seifer said, tightening his grip on Irvine’s hand. He then took hold of Alex’s right hand in his left, squeezing it reassuringly.
<Time to think about it. It’s your chance to live your life and discover, what it is... it’s the gravity of love.>
     “When faced with odds that bad you need to draw deeply from your resources and put your heart into it,” Alex said, grasping Irvine’s right hand in his left so that they formed a triangle. Magical glows formed around them as they pooled their powers. A globe of energy formed around them, taking them several feet above the army before stopping. An unseen wind blew the bottoms of their coats about and ruffled their hair as their powers became one, a pyramid of energy forming over their heads. In unison they called, “Delta Force!”, the globe expanding outward, decimating the army in their area.
     ‘We need to direct this, somehow,’ played through Alex’s mind as they struggled to maintain their globe.
     ‘Direction is good,’ Irvine said in his mind, ‘if we were grounded then maybe we could focus it better.’
<Don’t just want to be heard. Can you hear the voice? Find the one who’ll guide you... to the limits of your choice. But if you’re in the eye of storm just think of the lonely door. The experience of survival is the key to the gravity of love!>
     The globe descended until their feet were firmly planted on the ground again, a dome of green still surrounding them, the pyramid still above them. In a flash that blinded the army the dome expanded outward, vaporizing a path through the remainder of the army to the door of Ultimecia’s castle.
     “We’re clear to go... I think,” Alex said as they resumed their run for the castle of the sorceress. Several hails of fireballs screamed past them as they charged on to the final part of their quest. Alex held back for a moment, summoning the power of the Maelstrom. Tidal waves washed over the ground from all directions, winds whipping the water up into waterspouts. Lightning crackled through the air, tearing the sky asunder as it struck the water, electrocuting those in the vicinity of the spell. The effects died away a moment later, leaving the battlefield in chaos.
     As he moved to catch up with his friends the sky grew darker, a single point of aqua light piercing the clouds above. As he squinted he saw Seifer and Irvine standing back to back, summoning the power of his Storm Striker spell. Lightning crackled through the air, passing through the globe of aqua light before striking the immense door before them, cracking through the wood and metal like a hot knife through butter.
     “I see you read my spells,” he said as he approached the other two, “you guys really have an affinity for reading and using my magic.”
     “It could have to do with how close we are to one another,” Irvine said as he took a moment to recharge the shells in his shotgun.
     “We’d better be ready for whatever lays ahead,” Seifer said as he took a moment to dispense bottle of a blue liquid. Alex popped the cork, took a swig, and nearly turned green.
     “You guys really need to work on the taste of your hi - potions,” he coughed as he dumped the empty bottle into subspace.
     “We’ll discuss this later,” Seifer said as he and Irvine finished their potions, “now we shall embark upon the last leg of our adventure.”
     ‘Sylphiel, hang onto who you are,’ Alex thought as they entered the castle, ‘We’ll be there shortly.’

     In the town of Trabia a pale white ship was pulling up to the harbor as a jet black and violet ship was pulling out of port. The white ship pulled up along side the black one and Cid called out, “Edea! Is that you there my dearest?”
     Edea appeared on the deck of her ship and replied, “Yes Cid, it’s me.”
     “How did you get here before us? You left after we did.”
     “Well, the people who I guided here possessed incredible magic powers, and that helped us to jump the bridge between one continent and another.”
     Cid turned quite pale moments before Squall and the others emerged onto deck, all prepared for a long trip to Trabia Garden. When they saw Edea and her boat Laguna said, “You must have been the guide for Alex’s friends.”
     “Most likely. Most of them possessed some magical skills, and all seemed to be from someplace else.”
     “The one they called Zelgadis told me much,” Anessa said as she approached, “the red headed one thinks she is the leader. The blonde man is dumber than a sack of rocks, but stronger than an ox and is quite compassionate. The dark haired girl is a justice loving freak, but her heart is in the right place. The woman with the golden red hair possesses great powers herself, but rarely uses them. the two remaining people are brothers with opposing powers of fire and ice.”
     “I hope we get to meet these people,” Selphie said, “then I can add this adventure to my next web site update!”
     “Girl, you need to get priorities straight,” Zell said, “first we defeat this new sorceress, then we help Alex and Sylphiel get home, and then you can do your update.”
     “How long ago did you leave them?” Squall asked.
     “Well, we got here six hours ago, they ate for an hour and departed an hour after that, so they have a four hour jump on you.”
     “We’re going to need to rest and clean up for a bit,” Rinoa said, taking hold of Squall’s arm, “then we can take some Chocobos and head for Trabia Garden.”
     She felt Squall relax before he said, “All right. We’ll do as Rinoa says and then try to catch up to them.”
     “All right!” Selphie and Zell cheered in unison, hi - fiving and hugging and carrying on. Squall and Rinoa sighed.
     “We’ll see you back in Balamb,” Edea said as her boat resumed heading out to open water. She waved until she was quite out of sight. Meanwhile Cid’s boat pulled into port, the SeeDs disembarking to head for the inn and tavern for a little rest and to clean up.
     A couple of hours later the Seeds gathered together by a Chocobo stable, their equipment strapped to their backs. All were set in cold weather gear, and their steeds were awaiting, each one of the large yellow birds scratching at the ground and cawing wildly.
     “We’ll bring them back safely,” Laguna said, reassuring the manager of the stable.
     “I’m not worried about that,” the man said, “I’m worried about you fine people.”
     “We’ll be fine,” Rinoa said as she mounted her Chocobo, “we can handle ourselves. We’re Balamb’s finest SeeDs, after all.”
     “Well, I wish you luck in your pursuits,” the man said as the group spurred their steeds on.
     “Thanks,” Zell called back as they rode off. ‘Though I hope we don’t need it.’

     “Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold!”
     “If you had dressed as our guide had told you to then you wouldn’t be turning into a popsicle.”
     “Easy for you to say! Your skin is made of stone.”
     “Well I’m nice and toasty.”
     Lina took that opportunity to steal Amelia’s cloak and shove her into a snow bank. Amelia emerged from the snow bank shivering with the cold and red with indignation.
     “Miss Lina, that was cruel!”
     “No it wasn’t. I feel much warmer now.”
     “I agree with Amelia on that one. Lina, give her back her cloak.”
     “You stay out of this Celia. You were able to teleport home to get warm clothes for yourself, Nick, and Mackenzie.”
     “And if you had asked me to I could have grabbed your ski parka from your closet. Instead you said you could handle the cold and now you get to suffer.”
     Lina went to steal Celia’s coat, only to have the vampyress bare her fangs, which began to glow golden. Lina backed off and said, “O.K., O.K., you’ve made your point. Yogurt brain, give me your coat.”
     “No can do Lina.”
     “And why not?!”
     “Because I gave it to Amelia.”
     “Why you little.... Idiot! Moron! Bait for brains!”
     “Cool it!” Zel, Amelia, Nick, and Mackenzie growled in unison.
     “I hear something in the distance,” Nick said. A moment later several large yellow birds with people riding on them trotted into view. The noise they could hear was definitely coming from the birds, since it increased in volume as they got closer.
     “We’re saved!” Lina exclaimed, “Here I am! Here I am! Over here!”
     “We don’t even know them,” Mackenzie said, “this could be trouble.”
     The large birds pulled up along side them, cutting off further protest. A young man with long brown hair and a scar across his face sat atop the lead bird, and he said, “Who might you be, young travelers?”
     “I’m sorceress supreme Lina Inverse, and this is my band of flunkies.”
     “Who the hell are you calling a flunky?!” Zel, Celia, and Nick exclaimed.
     “You guys, of course,” Lina said, “why else would you be traveling with me?”
     “I ask myself that every day,” Zelgadis said.
     “Guys, a little help,” Mackenzie said. The others turned to see the young man with the scar holding a weapon that looked like the cross between a gun and a sword to Mackenzie’s throat. They then looked to see the other people on the birds with other weapons trained on them.
     “This looks bad,” Celia said.
     “You said you were a sorceress?” the man with the scar said.
     “So what if I did?” Lina asked, “It doesn’t mean you have to nearly chop the head off of one of my people.”
     “Say Squall, I don’t think she’s in league with Sylphiel or Ultimecia,” a punkish looking blonde man with a tattoo on his cheek said.
     “What do you mean by in league with her?” Amelia asked, “She’s a friend of ours from home.”
     “Where is she?!” Gourry growled as he drew the sword of light. “Where is Sylphiel?!”
     “Jellyfish brain!” Lina grumbled before whacking Gourry over the head with an astral hammer, “You’re not helping our case any!”
     “I really wish Mister Alex were here,” Amelia sighed as she curled up under Zelgadis’ cape.
     “Yeah, he’d know what to do,” Zelgadis said sarcastically.
     “Wait, you know Alex?” a youngish looking girl with light brown hair that was feathered at the ends said.
     “Yep,” Nick said, “we’re goooooooood friends.”
     “Well, that changes everything,” Squall said as he released Mackenzie from his death grip, “we’re friends of his as well.”
     “Hey Selphie, isn’t Trabia garden nearby?” the tattooed man asked the girl.
     “Yeah Zell, it sure is,” Selphie said, nearly falling from her mount in excitement, “Yaay! I can see how the reconstruction has gone and maybe see my friends again!”
     “Climb aboard,” Squall said, holding his hand out to Celia, “we’ll be your transportation there.”

     A little while later they pulled to a stop before the recently reconstructed Trabia Garden. The Slayers stared in awe, since they had never seen anything as beautiful or as magnificent as Trabia before.
     “Welcome to my home school,” Selphie said with great pride, “About three years ago it was toasted to a crisp, but people pulled together and rebuilt it.”
     “Will they have food and warm baths and soft beds?” Lina asked.
     “I believe so,” Selphie replied. A moment later Lina had her by the wrist and was dragging her towards the entrance.
     “That’s Miss Lina for ya,” Amelia sighed as they ran to catch up.
     “We haven’t been formally introduced yet,” Laguna said as he matched his pace with Zelgadis’, “I’m Laguna Loire, co-headmaster of Balamb Garden.”
     “Nice to meet you,” Zel said as he extended his hand, which Laguna took firmly into his own, “I’m Zelgadis Greywords, and I have no idea why I’m here.”
     “Wasn’t it to rescue Alex,” Gourry said as he matched his pace to theirs. Zelgadis sighed deeply and held a hand to his temples.
     “That’s Gourry Gabriev,” Zel said, thrusting a thumb in Gourry’s direction.
     “Hi,” Gourry said, waving.
     “Lina’s the walking temper, stomach, and attitude. Amelia’s the one who is turning into a popsicle. Celia’s the gorgeous redhead who that Squall person has fallen for. Mackenzie’s the blonde with the red trench coat. Then there’s Nick... he’s Mackenzie’s older brother...”
     “And he’s going after Squall,” Celia sighed as she caught up to them. They turned to see Squall running, spires of ice popping up near him and behind him. Behind him was Nick, whose hands were glowing ice blue as he used his abilities.
     “Celia’s MINE!” they heard him shout.
     “You can have her,” Squall shouted back, “I’m happily with two people right now.”
     “So now she’s not good enough for you?!” Nick growled as he unleashed a hail of ice shards in Squall’s direction, “and what do you mean you’re with two people?!”
     Laguna blushed, thrust his hands into his pockets, began to whistle a tune, then turned and ran towards the entrance of Trabia Garden.
     “Gee, what was his problem?” Gourry asked as he watched Laguna retreat.
     “We’ll explain it to you much later,” Celia said as she took Gourry by the arm and led him towards the entrance.
     “Yes, much later,” Zelgadis said as he followed them.

     Inside of Trabia Lina had nearly wrenched Selphie’s arm from the socket trying to locate food. Having found the cafeteria the sorceress loaded up on goodies before having Selphie lead her to some rooms to rest and a bathing area. Lina immediately booted Selphie out of the bathroom, slapped a LOCK spell on the door, and immersed herself in the wonderful bath before digging in on her food.
     ‘Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?!’ echoed through her head, causing her to lose the precarious grip she had on a hoagie. She sighed as the insides of her sandwich slipped out of the bread and into the bath water.
     “I was eating my dinner,” Lina whined as she began to fish bits of her sandwich out of the water. She pulled the meat from where it had floated into the bubbles before she realized that she had never heard the voice that had spoken to her before. “Who the hell are you?!”
     ‘I am Crusader, your esper, Mistress Lina, or did you forget?’
     Lina grew pale when the voice spoke again. “My... my esper?”
     ‘Yes. You summoned me once and then forgot about me.’
     “That was because you vanquished the enemy and nearly killed me in the process!”
     A knock sounded at the door and Selphie asked, “Is everything O.K. in there Miss Lina?”
     “Yeah, everything’s fine,” Lina replied, holding back her rage and contempt for the voice sticking around in her head. ‘Either get lost or I shall get really pissed off!’
     ‘I cannot leave you,’ the voice said in a creepy manner, ‘You will never be rid of me, so just give it up.’
     “Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows...”
     “Say Lina, are you going to be O.K. in there?” Zelgadis asked as he knocked on the door.
     “Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows...”
     “Lina, are you casting something in there?”
     “I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand against the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand...”
     “Oh geeze, you’re not going to unleash that in here, are you?!”
     ‘Go ahead Lina, let it all out. Even with that spell you can’t be rid of me.’
     ‘If I put myself out then I put you out, and if I put you out then I’m happy.’ “Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess!”
     Dark energy began to accumulate around Lina’s wrists as she spoke the incantation, globes of light forming in her palms as she performed the motions for the spell. A large sweat drop formed on the door as Zelgadis pondered what he had done to deserve the hand that fate had dealt him. The energy eventually swirled into a central point, forming a sphere of darkness that pulsed with life and volatility.
     “Dragon...” Lina shouted, holding the globe above her head.
     ‘If you really wanted me gone that much then all you had to do was say the word,’ Crusader said, fear lacing its voice, ‘I’m gone, a memory, yesterday’s news.’
     ‘Leave before I actually finish the spell,’ Lina said mentally, ‘and do it in a hurry ‘cause this energy is getting unstable.’
     A pulsing glow rose from Lina’s clothes, a small red gem forming before her eyes. ‘Saionara, Miss Lina Inverse. I’m sure we would have gotten along better if I knew how to handle my own powers.’
     Lina blinked, the energy from her spell dissipating as she calmed down. She reached out and clutched the gem, pulling it close to her.
     “I’m sorry,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes, “I’m so, so, so very sorry.”
     ‘Hey, no problem. Of all my masters you were by far the strongest. I’m sure that with some practice you’ll get the hang of it.’
     “Don’t you mean we’ll get the hang of it?”
     Knocking came from the door, and a very pale Zelgadis poked his head in.
     “Say Lina, are you still planning on blowing something up?” he asked, blushing and averting his gaze since the sorceress was half exposed in the bath.
     “Only you, unless you get out!” Lina growled as she chucked a chicken leg at Zel. Once the chimera had retreated she lay back, put one arm behind her head, took a chicken leg in the other, and set about munching while lost in deep thought.

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