Disclaimer: I own none of the characters that belong to Squaresoft. If you don't even know who those characters are, you might enjoy reading something else. :)
Hurray! My second fanfiction finally started! I've been wanting to start another one for a while, but I had no idea what to make it about. I still have no idea what I want to make it about. Well, not quite, I do have a first chapter, don't I? Its a start anyway. The story line will probably get really deep in this one, so prepare you mind for Razzle Dazzle! (quote taken from The Simpsons). I think I'll let you start the chapter now:
Chapter 1: Secret Garden
The precarious door swung open with a loud whine, barely gripping onto the hinges. A figure stepped in, silhouetted against the outside neon lights of the bustling city. The bartender looked up from behind the table, suspicion cast over his senses. The others at the bar glanced up from their drinks and sputtered conversations, uninterested in the interruption. The figure moved out from the light, barely missing the door as it swung back closed with a rattled slam. The interior glow shown down on the person, unveiling the soft, feminine features and the fully curved figure.
The woman pulled off the broad hat she wore and looked up at the dim ceiling lights, smirking slightly. Her eyes then returned down to inspect the pub's interior. The place was small and cramped, people shoved into various corners and walls. The bar itself held about ten men piled together, each raking their gaze wantonly over her. Air in here was thick and heavy, setting a blanket of tobacco smoke everywhere. The reek of sweat and dirt filled her nostrils.
The woman pulled her long, leather cloak closer to her, feeling somehow violated. She walked with pure confidence, though, and her black boots clicked loudly in the pub's silence. Her strides brought her to the end of the bar table, where she leaned between two grisly men and motioned to the bartender. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as her senses were filled with the smell of alcohol and breath that needed a good brushing. Her brown eyes flicked dangerously to the man at her left: the one huffing all over her. His eyes bustled about her half drunkenly and he grinned smugly. His unshaven face came incredibly close to hers and he gave her a half attempted wink as he gargled:
"Hey babe, howz bout...hick...you an' I.." his sentence went unfinished as his heavy body sunk off the chair and onto the floor, out cold.
The woman stood with her hand covering her nose and her brows knitted in appallment. She sighed in somewhat relief and waited only a moment before taking his stool. Again, she motioned to the bartender. He came over with a friendly face and a greeting grin. His slightly pudgy body caused the bar to creak as he leaned on it. "Yes ma'am?"
The woman said nothing, but rather waved him closer. She threw conspicuous glances around the pub and dared anyone to even try eavesdropping. She then leaned forward, pulling dark hair out of her face as she whispered into the man's ear. When she pulled back he blinked several times, a bit confused. The girl opened her coat just enough to reveal only more dark clothes beneath. Her hand slipped into an inside pocket, previously not noticed, and she retrieved a picture, offering it to the bartender. He took it and peered from a distance, then up close. His eyes fluttered open wide only for a moment before he averted his gaze. "No, ma'am, I'm sorry." His eyes focused intensely on the TV in the corner and he was unwilling to meet the woman's eyes. He handed back the photo. "Haven't seen im at all."
The terrier is not easily deceived once its caught the scent of the fox. The woman narrowed her eyes and stood demandingly from the chair. She opened her mouth to call the bartender's lie, but he had already made his escape to the other end of the bar. She looked down by where he was only to be met by more hungry gazes of the drunken. Her throat made a grunt of disgust before she placed the hat back onto her head.
She took four firm steps to the door before she half turned back to the bar. Her once held cloak was released from her grip, opening to reveal the interior clothing. Several people, including the bartender, turned to see the tight, black leather vest she wore... but their eyes were not drawn to the seductive view of her cleavage. Instead, everyone's shaken stare was at the row of handguns lined down both sides of her torso. Not wasting a moment, she pulled out a 1911 automatic pistol and straightened her arm towards the bartender.
"Wrong answer," she whispered before firing a single shot. The bartender was instantly killed, a fine line of blood trickling down his forehead. The body had not yet fallen, nor anyone reacted, before the woman was out the door and gone.
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Deling grew into the night, living to its full potential. People can out into the starlight, blending with the dark atmosphere; singing with the neon glow. Shops of every type opened, offering only the finest of products. Shows were displayed everywhere, from street performers to the most expensive ceremonies. Hotels held elegant parties, seating only those who have made reservations months ahead of time.
It was an oasis of lights - a paradise in the desert. The starred sky of black and blue contrasted with the yellows of signs and the brilliant purples. Music was also a large commodity during the nocturnal hours. Symphonies graced the perfect dinner while jazz livened up the clubs. Loud and bright: the perfect place to meet people... and the perfect place to hide.
It was the most expensive hotel in a ten mile diameter. She spend not a spare moment before checking in and rushing up to the ninth floor. There, at the end of the hallway, was her room. Inside it was dark, the curtains shrouding the outside light. The woman shed her black clothes and carefully placed them into several drawers. The handguns were placed under that, in the safe each room was given. The shotgun was put deep under the large mattress, accompanying her HK 93 SG1 sniper rifle and the two M16 machine guns.
She walked across the room, clad in only her undergarments. She opened the glass closet and hummed a simple tune while tracing her finger over at least ten different dresses. Her beat skipped a little before she made a low, satisfied hum and pulled out a dress. Again, she tripped across the room in the dark, fumbling for the light switch. After finding it, she slipped into the dress and looked in the mirror.
The clothing was scarlet red and long, leaving a small tail of cloth to trail along her step. The top came low in a v' style and sparkled with cleverly placed jewels and sequins. Thin straps draped over her milky white shoulders and twined down her arms to long matching gloves. Long waving ruffles played the dress's fringes and moved in harmony to her waist's movements.
The woman applied a fair amount of lipstick, bright as her dress. Her raven hair was pulled up into a tight bun, several strands purposely left hanging down her slender neck. She stumbled clumsily over to the closet again to retrieve two high heeled sandals. Once more checking herself in the mirror, she left grabbing a small, white purse.
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"That couple over there," she pointed, reaching past the waiter's shoulder and directing him in the right area. He led her to the small table containing a man and woman.
The pair looked up from their menus, greeting the standing woman with beaming smiles. The man was the first to stand, his ponytail of red hair falling over his shoulders as he bowed lowly. "Rinoa," he greeted.
The standing woman looked around bashfully. She then fixed the man with a stern glare. "Sit down before I make a fool of you!" She hissed playfully.
The man chuckled and sat, offering Rinoa a seat next to him. She pulled out the cushioned chair and sank into its luxury. A soft sigh escaped her ruby lips before she turned to the other woman. "Nice to see you, too, Quistis," said Rinoa.
"Hm, we could've been eating by now," Quistis looked back down at her menu. She had long strawberry blonde hair, pulled into two high clips on the back of her head. Flowing bangs were pulled behind tiny ears and her eyes were arctic blue. She played a deceiving roll of the bitch.' Often times Rinoa wasn't sure if she was kidding of being serious. She had learned from past experiences not to assume, so she picked up a menu as well.
"But I haven't decided what to order anyway...." Quistis trailed, looking back up at Rinoa. A small smile graced her full lips. Rinoa returned the smile, fully relaxed now.
The restaurant the three were seated at was held outdoors by a large park. It was placed behind most of the buildings, so most light came from this particular diner itself. It was cool outside and less noisy than the streets. Blue and silver moonlight flooded onto the nearly empty park. Grassy hills moved like waves in a soft breeze and could been seen all the way to a small stream. Beyond the stream lay a bridge and a long walkway. A tall arch glittered along the path and started up the bustling city again, this time from the other side of town.
Rinoa sighed as she looked out at the scene, lost in thought. He could be anywhere. Over there, at this restaurant, across the world. And who were they? Three lone bounty hunters sent on this mission six months ago. And everywhere they searched, it was the same ordeal. Nope, haven't seen him', Don't even know that face', Who?', Can't help you, sorry,'. Absolutely nobody knew his whereabouts... or even a single clue! He was either a mastermind genius or the stupidest man with the best of luck.
They sat at this same diner five months ago, believing they had him in the palms of their hands. Well, that proved a failure. And this probably would, too. Deling was his favorite hide out... or so it seemed. Maybe they were just mislead here every time. Still, it was true that people had seen him. The bartender earlier was clear evidence. But why wouldn't he admit seeing him? Was he in league? Was he working for him? No matter, the pub owner's dead now.
Rinoa coughed silently, averting her gaze back to her lap. We've gotten nowhere!' she thought to herself. How long can we keep this up? How long will the three of us work in unison? We're in his league now.' Rinoa looked up to see Irvine smiling at her.
"Its not everyday you wear something so nice, Rinoa," he commented towards her dress.
"Neither you," she remarked slyly, winking towards his dark brown suit. He grinned wider.
"So," he continued. "Did you find anything useful today?"
"Nah, just some stubborn suspects. I swear, this guy has got nations under his thumb!"
Irvine's smile vanished into the breeze and he looked harder at Rinoa. "Suspects you say? You mean witnesses?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Where? What'd they say?"
"Absolutely nothing," she whined, then added below her breath: "And nothing ever again."
"What was that?" Irvine eyed her suspiciously.
"Nothing."
"No, don't try to cover it up now. What did you do to him?"
"I shut him up is what I did!" she protested defiantly.
Irvine rubbed his temples solemnly. "Damn it, Rinoa! You can't go around just killing people because they don't give you answers! We could have still come back and interrogated! Now we're down to nothing!"
"Well, he could have--"
"No," intruded Quistis calmly. "We aren't down to nothing. Not anymore."
Both Rinoa and Irvine looked at Quistis with hopeful eyes. "What?" they asked simultaneously.
"Oh, look, the waiter's here. I'll have the Mahi Mahi with vinaigrette, please," Quistis stated.
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"Alright, what is it?" Irvine asked hurriedly. The waiter had just left with their orders and Irvine waisted no time getting information out of the blonde.
Quistis merely smiled and reached for her purse. "I was at the coffee shop this morning and found this stapled to the wall." She pulled out a fragment of a newspaper and handed it to the other two.
Rinoa and Irvine eagerly grappled for the small slip of paper, shoving each other out of the way to see it. Their prying eyes looked over the small picture and scanned the article swiftly. Irvine leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin profoundly. "Hm, I'm afraid I don't get it, Quis..."
Quistis shot Irvine a fatal glare. "That's Quistis. And only one as ignorant as you wouldn't be able to see it." She looked expectantly at the other companion.
Rinoa sat with her eyes still pasted to the paper. She had heard Quistis's comment, but couldn't quite find the meaning of the piece of paper either. "Yeah.... I get it..." she lied.
"Oh really?" Smiled Quistis knowingly. "Then how about you explain it to Irvine?"
Rinoa half heartedly laughed, knowing she could never get by the clever Quistis. She turned the paper over to her. "Alright, what is it?"
Quistis sighed and shook her head. "No wonder we aren't getting anywhere. We have a team consisting of a trigger happy interrogator, a laid back slacker, and only one doing any work!
"Oh, let it go," moaned Irvine. "You know you wouldn't be anywhere without us."
"Better than being at start back in Deling!" she spat back.
"This is why we're not getting anywhere!!" Shouted Rinoa a little too loudly. She immediately slouched into the chair's cushion when everyone in the restaurant turned to look at her. "Please just continue, Quistis."
"Gladly," she sneered. "If you look closely here," she pointed to a small detail in the picture, "You'll see a familiar symbol. Recognize it?"
"No..." Irvine said lowly.
Quistis continued with a roll of her eyes. "Its the symbol following around our culprit. Wherever we hear he's been, this symbol has been there as well."
Rinoa took time to look closer at the photo. It was a bit familiar now that she think about it. It had that same distinctive look of yin and yang, only slightly warped. "What is it?" she asked without looking up.
"Did you read the article?" asked Quistis.
Rinoa began to scan the writing again, reading below her breath: "Gardens set on base at north Trabia, central Balamb and southwest Galbadia, seek the occupants of SeeD..." she scanned further down. "...military units set off base on various missions...." down more. "....dangerous and highly secret operations. Participants attend one of the three Gardens from years five to twenty five..." Rinoa looked up. "SeeD?"
"Exactly," stated Quistis with triumph. "He's part of these secret missions."
"But these must be government and national operations. They wouldn't advertise it in a newspaper if it wasn't." Quistis nodded and Rinoa continued slowly with confusion: "We're working for the National Guard. Doesn't that mean....?"
"Yep, we're on the same side. Only he must've broken the rules-- done something against regulation."
"But why doesn't his Garden just stop him?" asked Irvine.
"Because this guy's the best of the best. He's failed in none of his missions. All have been a success. Garden won't sacrifice him no matter what deed he's done. If anything, Garden is helping him to stay under cover."
"Can't the National Guard just search whichever Garden he's in?"
"Nope," said Quistis. "Nobody even knows which garden he attends. And besides, National Guard can't get search warrants into the Garden. Part of the top secret' crap they do there. Garden is almost a government in itself."
"Well then," wondered Rinoa. "Why don't the other two Gardens that he doesn't attend to just let National Guard search. Simple process of elimination."
"Not quite," Quistis went on. "Like I said, Garden is a powerful community with its own government. Well, almost. Just enough to keep the National Guard at bay. I was researching all day today at the library and found conspiracies and secrets running throughout all three Gardens. If any one of them let the NG search their files, they'd be ruined. The Gardens pull all sorts of illegal acts."
"Like what?" Irvine's curiosity was piqued higher.
"Like hidden assassinations and breakdowns. Gardens hold one of the highest sources and trace backs of computer and mechanical viruses. They also import and export all sorts of illegal and foreign goods. The Nation is indeed conscious of most these acts, but there's nothing it can do. If the Gardens joined as one power, they could outweigh any government of any nation."
"What kinds of imports?" asked Irvine.
Quistis opened her mouth to explain, but stopped herself. "Are you even listening to me? That's the least of our worries right now! In fact, I don't even know why I'm explaining all this Garden information."
"Its certainly interesting," added Rinoa politely.
"Yeah, but we need to stay focused on--" Quistis didn't bother finishing, for the other two had their eyes fixed on the steaming food being placed in front of them. "This is why we don't hold meetings at dinner," she mumbled to herself.
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The night had finished without any firm plans. Each went to their separate hotels to gain some much needed sleep. Dawn slurred lethargically into morning, which beat through the windows and curtains of Rinoa's room. The rays melted through her eyelids and seemed to find the most pleasure in annoying her.
She moaned sleepily and stretched out over the huge bed, pale sheets tangled with her legs. Her eyes opened to greet the orange light with her mocha brown irises. She sighed once more before crawling out of the bed and trampling to the bathroom. Her sleepiness was washed away with a cold shower and the morning light was a more blithe sight for the second time.
The girl brushed out her long, black hair and pulled it into a loose ponytail. She then slipped into a comfortable pair of shorts and a baggy blue t-shirt. Her bags were packed with all her clothes, accessories, weapons, and complimentary soaps. Her trip down to the lobby was enjoyable, for her journey was finally getting somewhere. No more circles.
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Rinoa met the other two at the small coffee shop Quistis had been in the day before. It was a pleasant store where Rinoa was sure to grab a cup of the strongest, most caffeinated coffee she could get. Her energy would surely not last her until three that afternoon.
"So where to?" asked Irvine to nobody in particular. He was back to his casual attire as well: loose jeans and a black t-shirt. His dark red hair was still pulled into a ponytail, but then again, it always was.
"North," stated Quistis. She wore a long floral skirt with a small pink top. Her sunglasses shaded no real light, for they were still in the coffee shop. The woman often veiled her eyes, but Rinoa had yet to really discover why. Quistis wore her hair the same as the day before.
"That's pretty vague, Quis," remarked Rinoa.
"That's Quistis." Rinoa knew the look she was getting from behind the glasses. "And we're going north to Trabia. We'll use your little method from last evening, Rinoa."
"And what's that?"
"Process of elimination," grinned the blonde. "We can hack into Trabia Garden's data base easily enough. Its pulling off the act of not getting caught that I'm worried about."
With that, the three left the cozy coffee shop, heading for the nearest train station. Nobody with sense enough would have known that these three friends walking down the street with coffee were the National Guard's best bounty hunters.
A/N: Chapter one complete! Yay for me! Its hard for me to believe I made up all that secret conspiracy' stuff about Garden as I was writing. Heh, I can only hope the rest of this will prove to have as much luck! Review please! I need feedback and opinions!! Rattles empty cup by the side of the road