The Emperor, The Empress
Rinoa Caraway had made the decision to reconcile her differences with her father - General Keizo Caraway of the Galbadian army - a year and a half ago, opting to move to Galbadia, take her father's name and live with him at his mansion in Deling City. It was a fresh start for the young sorceress and also for Keizo.
Many past events had lead Rinoa to re-evaluating her life and priorities and when doing so she realised that if a little more effort was made, on her part and the General's, they could come to a mutual understanding of one another. Therefore, they agreed to disagree on certain things, for they were as bad as each other and far less different than Rinoa had once thought. Hard-headed, strong, stubborn and wilful, were the conflicting qualities they shared and were learning to manage each other's flaws day by day.
Prior to moving to Deling, Rinoa had been staying at Balamb Garden with Squall, who had unofficially become her boyfriend. Although he couldn't exactly object to her wanting to start over with the only family she had left, Squall was less than ecstatic when she had made up her mind to return home. He was even less pleased when she had spoken of an 'old friend' whom she had been spending time with - Squall's arch-rival and former adversary - Seifer Almasy. Squall would never forgive Seifer for his contribution to the near-destruction of the world as they knew it, even if he was under the control of evil sorceress Utimecia and even if Rinoa was willing to do so.
Rinoa kept in contact with Garden, however and visited regularly, every week in fact, but eventually she found that Squall had less and less time for her. He would be too busy to take her calls, or not reply if she left a message and when she was lucky enough to get him on visua-com; Squall would be in a hurry to take care of something else. His job was important, she understood, but he had allowed it dominate his entire life and she wasn't surprised when he finally stepped up and told her it was over between them.
"Living in Deling is a bad idea; there are many people who still oppose the sorceress. Granted, there are few who truly believe that you're one, but… How am I meant to protect you from the other side of the world! Or is that why you've been hanging around with 'him'? Is he your Knight now? This isn't fair on either of us, Rin. A long distance relationship is impossible for us, you know that." He had told her and, despite her firm protests against the idea, that was that.
Rinoa loved Squall - then, now and always - but there was a distance between them now, more than those of mere miles, which could no longer be traversed.
Ultimately, Rinoa was pretty much settled now, although there still remained the void in her heart, which longed only for him. She was happy enough though, with her father and the loyal and close friend she had found in Seifer, who was now employed by Keizo as Rinoa's bodyguard, though he'd probably had much preferred the title of 'Sorceress's Knight'.
"'Life Guard' is a valuable skill that your pet should most definitely learn and master - someday you'll be thankful!" She read aloud from a copy of the monthly magazine, 'Pets Pals', whilst sitting - legs folded - on the large, cream upholstered couch in her fathers study.
"Hmm, I like the sound of this. What do you think, Angelo? Wanna learn the 'Life Guard' technique?" Rinoa looked down at her pet dog, expecting a reaction, but Angelo remained as still as a statue, laying there on the soft, thick-pile carpet. With all fours tucked away beneath her, only the set of fur covered ears twitched slightly, as if sensing an unseen presence.
"Angelo… Angelo!" Rinoa called, then whistled, trying to attract the animals' attention. "Hey, you're starting to scare me, girl." She leant over and gently smoothed a hand over her pets' warm, silky coat, rendering Angelo to shudder a nervous reaction.
"What are you staring at? You seem a little spooked. Why don't you go take a nap? Go on, go to bed, Angelo." The dog pushed herself upright on her paws, sniffed curiously at the air around her, turned to look at her master, then padded away to her cosy bed on the first floor of General Caraway's mansion.
Rinoa settled back, stretched her legs out on the couch and swapped the 'Pets Pals' magazine for a local news paper, which was almost a month old yet still hadn't been read. It wasn't often that Rinoa indulged in the papers as she always knew the details of the goings on in Galbadia, just one of the benefits of being Keizo's daughter.
Guess I'll just do the crossword puzzles. She decided, but ran an eye over the stories in any case.
'PRESIDENT WREATH DELING DECLARES TIMBER'S INDEPENDENCE.' Was the headline, printed in large, bold letters on the front page. Rinoa had already taken part in the huge celebration last month - along with her two off-beat friends, Zone and Watts - but just to see it in words brought a proud smile to her face.
'Mayor Dobe Sighted In Pub Brawl!' Was placed in the bottom corner of the page with a small write up beneath it. She couldn't help, but to laugh out loud when remembering what a chicken-wuss-square the mayor of Fisherman's Horizon was.
No way! Whoever wrote that story has got to be joking!
"Don't move!" A deep, authoritive male voice ordered, as a large hand clamped over Rinoa's mouth, whilst he yanked her off of the couch and to her feet, arms pulled tightly behind her back. "Sorceress Rinoa, you're coming with me!"
"Mmm!" Her muffled cries came, useless beneath his hand. She all the while kicked and shoved backward, raven hair slashing wildly about her face. In the heated process of fighting off the brute, she managed to heel her unseen attacker in a somewhat delicate place, allowing her to break free of his grip. "What do you think you are doing! You hurt my arm, Seifer!"
"Yeah… well… You hurt a lot more than my arm…" Seifer was now on the floor, doubled up in pain and clutching himself. "You know, I might actually want to have kids some day…Oww, I think the chances of that just went down about fifteen percent."
"You a dad? Changing diapers and stuff? It sounds a little far fetched to me." She looked down at him, almost allowing a snicker to escape, then softened in sympathy. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. Come lay on the couch."
"Can't move right now." He groaned through gritted teeth.
"Well, you shouldn't have grabbed me like that. You scared me."
"Yes, that was the general idea… Ugh." Seifer grabbed for the edge of the couch and slowly pulled himself to his knees, face beet-red. "Speaking of Generals, where is your old man? And Angelo, that crazy mutt is supposed to guard you when I'm not around. I'm telling you, she's going senile. Barking for nothing, and chasing her tail all day long…"
"Angelo is not senile… and she doesn't chase her tail. I guess you never were much of a dog lover." Rinoa pouted, whilst Seifer raised a single sardonic eyebrow. "Anyway, I told Angelo to go to bed, she looked sleepy. Daddy had to leave so that he can set up security co-ordination for the street party tomorrow. I told him to go. I was quite fine by myself."
"Hmph. Yeah, you've kinda got a bad habit of telling people what to do. Just don't think you can go bossing me around like that."
"No way! I wouldn't dream of doing that." She laughed, dropping down onto the couch once more, soon accompanied by Seifer. He was obviously recovering from the 'incident'. "So what's up, anyway? You were gone for hours. Did you have any luck at the international resource centre?"
"Yeah, I did…" Seifer raked a hand through his short blond hair, reclaiming his buffed appearance.
"Really, so you found out who your parents are? Are they still living? Do you think…" Rinoa trailed off in her moment of excitement witnessing that Seifer was not sharing the same elation. "W-what's the matter? You don't seem too happy. Was it something I said? Have they both passed on already?"
"No-I mean, yeah, they both died at the beginning of the war against Sorceress Adel, guess that's why I was orphaned, hey?" He passed a hand over his face, sighed, then rumbled a low chuckle. "…Ah, I can't believe it."
"What-what's funny?" Rinoa inclined her head toward him in curiosity.
"It's nothing, just a little something else that I found out today."
"Well, tell me." She urged.
"It's not important." He waved a dismissive hand for the subject and switched back to the initial topic as soon as possible. "I was pretty lucky finding them, you know. For a start, I had my name and birthday to go on. There are only three families on record by the name of Almasy in Galbadia. I found my folks straight away by submitting my date of birth on the database, under Almasy, then back-tracking from there. Their names were Leon and Sofiya. My mother, Sofiya, was born in Winhill, and my father, in Dollet. They were both in the Galbadian army."
"Maybe that's how they met." Rinoa speculated. "Hey, maybe my dad would remember them, being in the army and all, you never know."
"Yeah, maybe, but let's not bug the old timer over it." Seifer then stood, pulling Rinoa to her feet also. "Come on, it's time we got going to the tomb. You are coming, right? You were up for it when I asked you yesterday so you better not chicken out on me."
"I'm not chickening out. I have been there before, you know." Rinoa said matter-of-factly. "So are you going to tell me why you want to go there so badly, or is it just your idea of a fun evening out?"
"I've decided to start using the powers of the guardian forces again." He answered, suddenly coming over all serious and stiff-jawed. "I need to be able to protect you properly, there's been a lot of talk lately about the sorceress and who she is. They're ignorant for now, but who knows what some people might think if they find out it's you?
The Sorceress's Knight should have the strength to take on anything and that's what I'm going to do, even if junctioning G.F's makes my memories fade again."
"But, Seifer, what has all that got to do with the tomb?" Rinoa quizzed, recalling her last visit to the ancient resting ground. That place was like a maze and she hoped he had been smart enough to obtain a map. "If you're after G.F's, you won't find any in there. The warrior brothers - Sacred and Minotaur - were acquired by SeeD ages ago."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," He rolled his eyes at the slightest mention of the elites from Garden. "But I heard a rumour that the spirit of the king was released when the brothers were defeated."
"Yes, that's true." She confirmed.
"And now there's a seriously tough force hanging out in there. Some acquaintances of mine were talking about it and they said this guy's impossible to tame. I wanna prove them wrong. That's why we're going over there to take a swing at it and waste him!"
Seifer always had such a way with words which could make some of the most questionable ideas sound like fun, though he didn't need to try too hard with this ex-resistance faction leader.
"Let's waste him!" She beamed, Seifer in turn grinned wickedly.
"Now that's what I expect to see, a little fighting spirit and no mercy."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The thick, towering, antique-stained double doors of the lounge remained tightly locked. The beautifully intricate, top to bottom, carved design in the wood, swirled and entwined as if depicting the snake-like personality of the previous occupant of the stately home.
The Deling city presidential residence had changed dramatically in décor over the past two years. Where it was once formal, fashionable and extremely elegant, it had now been transformed into a dark and archaic gothic palace of sorts. Red, cream and gold dominated each direction, candles perched upon black wrought iron stands, inconceivable amounts of rare and priceless curios resided in every sensually-opulent room and freakishly-abstract paintings, which seemed to keep watch throughout every hallway, silently revelled in the surrounding splendour.
All of this was indubitably an accurate reflection on the two bizarre characters who now shared this home and, pompously, they knew it.
Pacing impatiently in front of the extravagantly ornate fireplace, in his equally plush lounge, the lord of the manor was on the verge of bursting into flames of anger… again.
Wreath Deling, Nephew of the deceased Vinzer Deling and newly elected president of Galbadia, had a great talent for switching his bad temper on and off like a light bulb.
"Don't question my judgement, darling." He hissed at his fiancée, Lovedia. "You know that I have put much money into commissioning this project! With all of the technologies and man power I have hired, I would expect it to have been completed by now! How dare you suggest that they might need more time? This is no paltry matter to me, never mind what you might think of it, Lovedia. This is ridiculous! Even that Doctor - uh-uh - whatever his name is, agreed to have it raised by this summer, yet now he says there are complications! I grow weary of waiting. It is time I-"
"Quit babbling, Wreath! You always talk too much." Lovedia stood from a maroon, velvet upholstered armchair and sashayed over to the president, lengthy curls of auburn hair cascading her shoulders. She raised a slender hand, smoothing back a misplaced strand of his long black hair and ran a scarlet fingernail down the side of his hue-less, vampire-like face. He seemed to calm at this, like a wild beast shot by a tranquilizer dart.
Lovedia beheld in adoration, her fiancés stunningly handsome face; in fact, his good looks were about the only thing she did admire about him. Those enchanting lilac eyes, surrounded by frames of soft black lashes, that radiant, smooth complexion; unspoiled by any of life's tell tale imperfections, his hair flawless and jet black; displayed not a single grey.
At 45 years of age, Wreath was 15 older than Lovedia. She had known him for 10 years now and in all that time Wreath did not seem to have aged in the slightest, not physically in any case. He always made a point of maintaining his immaculate looks and youthful appearance; just one of Wreath's many obsessions in life.
Gently pressing her elegant figure up against his fine posture, Lovedia placed her head upon his shoulder and began speaking with the most delicate tone she could muster.
"Wreath, the council are furious with you is it is. Granting Timber their independence, plus the amount of the states money you have been putting into these projects of yours. They grow suspicious of your intentions for Galbadia."
"If they are so against my decisions and ideas, then why in the world did the council agree with me to begin with?" Wreath laughed at the stupidity of it. He lifted a glass tumbler from the mantle of the fireplace in one stiff movement and took a large gulp of the thick red liquid inside of it. "We all voted and it was unanimous that Timber should be cut lose from Galbadian rule. And as for my projects, well, none of them objected to that either."
"The council only agreed to Timber's independence because you were controlling their minds, Wreath. The same can be said for all of the money you have been throwing away of late." Lovedia's speech had now taken on a more matter-of-factly tone.
"'Throwing away!'" His sudden outburst rendered Lovedia to step back in alarm. "Those ruins at the bottom of the ocean could be the greatest historical find of this century! It is presumed to be -"
"'Hyne's Tower' and final resting place." She rolled her sparkling emerald eyes. "Yes, yes, I know - you have told me that enough times."
"Not only that, dearest. I have done many years of research on this, as you know, and legend has it that the Tower may be home to a few other interesting… things."
"Which are?" A single auburn eyebrow perked up in curiosity.
"Hmm, well, never you mind. All shall be revealed in good time." Wreath set down the glass upon the mantle once more, then turned an inquiring eye on her. "By the way, what you were saying before about the council. Do you really care what those old fools think? Would you prefer for me to refrain from using my power on them? You too wished to keep Timber under Galbadian rule? Hmm?"
"No, to all three."
"I am glad to have you on my side, as my woman, it is your duty." He then softened his expression of superiority to one of a man with a heart. "Lovedia, you must understand that I use the power of mind control only for what I think is the best, nothing else. Timber's suffering had to be brought to an end. This world is ugly enough and someday it will all cease to exist so why begrudge others their freedom, even if it is just for a short while? Those people have endured far too long, no thanks to my dear old uncle Vinzer - may his soul burn in hell - yet now they stand proud and are able to be at peace with instead of endlessly striving to resist the Galbadian government."
"I-I know…" Lovedia's eyes glistened with the threat of tears, but she took a deep breath and stiffened her back, holding them off before a single drop could spill. Lucky for her, Wreath hadn't noticed, he was now too busy admiring himself in the enormous mirror above the fireplace.
"Now, on a lighter note," He began, turning back to face her. "The preparations for tomorrow nights events are almost complete."
"The radio station launch, yes it should be a splendid outturn." Lovedia sauntered toward him yet again, serpentine movements causing her long, red satin gown to flow and curve to her every step. She began adjusting the lapels of his crisp black suit, which looked fit for a coffin, right before she set about using the suggestive mode of speech that she had come to master over the years. "…And what of the General? What might he be doing tomorrow night?"
"Caraway? He shall be supervising his men I should expect. He is taking care of security and I want - Oh!" Wreath crashed mid-sentence, lilac eyes brightening in understanding of what she was getting at. "Oh, of course, I see what you mean. Yes, Caraway will be very busy and the entire city caught up in a sea of dancing, drinking and mindless cavorting! It would be the perfect opportunity. Not a soul would notice, not even the General himself! Genius!"
Lovedia Folded her arms across her chest and pursed her blood-red lips. She did not like it when Wreath thought for himself, or spoke of himself using any kind of self-praising referral. It meant that she was being left out. She much preferred watching him squirm in the helpless agitation of not knowing what to do, then calm him once more by taking matters into her own hands. 'Control' being the key word where Lovedia was concerned.
Now swapping her brattish pout for a plastic smile, Lovedia quickly whipped out her talent of persuasive speech again.
"Maybe I should handle this matter, if you agree, of course. That way you would have time to put that - uh - brilliant mind of yours to work and take on some of our other pressing issues."
"Hmm… I do have that other thing to soon take care of… Alright, you have the run of this show, Lovedia. I suppose this matter is more suited to you. I shall concentrate upon the more difficult tasks ahead of us, you know, the kind that requires the brain power of a man." Wreath lifted his chin with pride. "You are free to deal with this one as you wish, but I do hope that you have some kind of plan devised."
"Of course I do, my love!" She laughed. Did he really think she was that stupid? "It is a simple task… and I think I know just the right man for the job."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Esthar City, the oldest of civilisations - peaceful, enigmatic - and filled with all the technological beauties and wonders of its age. 'The continent of the shield' - as it was often referred to - had been shut down for almost the entirety of the two years following the last 'Lunar Cry'. The Lunatic Pandora - a mysterious space ship built by the long forgotten ancients of Centra - had seen to that for the final time, calling the monsters from the moon to Tears Point, southeast Esthar, and raining chaos upon the land. Nevertheless, the Lunatic Pandora was now no more, having been destroyed by SeeD and sunk to the bottom of the Estharian Ocean.
It had been a long and arduous process to exterminate all of the monsters roaming the continent, but the army were confident in their success and all had now come to a close, which meant that Esthar would soon be ready to raise her shields and join the rest of the world.
President Laguna Loire - former Galbadian soldier, Former actor, former journalist - paced back and forth along the hallway, just outside of his office, in the futuristically captivating Esthar presidential palace. It wasn't that he was in a fit of impatience, nor was he in anticipation, he was simply reading and this was his usual mode of behaviour when indulging in a fine piece of literary work.
"Laguna, what are you doing? One might think you were in need of the bathroom." His friend and minister, Kiros Seagill enquired, a half-baffled grin on his face. "Oh, I see. One is reading. So what is it today then? 'The adventures of Pupu'? Or maybe; 'Learning to read: volume 1'."
"Well, I'm glad you found that entertaining." Laguna smiled sarcastically at his laughing friend. "It's 'Occult fan' actually and it's very educational. President Deling told me about this edition. It's a special on 'Hyne's Tower' - very interesting stuff."
"Wreath? You really like that guy, don't you? I find him a little on the creepy side, Ward does too. I dread the day we actually meet him in the flesh."
"He's a bit… you know, but I really think he's a good and honest guy; nothing like his uncle at all. He gave Timber their independence for one. He cares about his people and I'm with him all the way on that!" Laguna then closed the magazine in his hand and looked Kiros square in the eye, patting his shoulder as if consoling him. "Don't worry, my man, it's not like me and Wreath are best buds or anything. I'm not dumping you and Ward, okay?"
"Funny." Kiros nodded and returned the sarcastic smile that Laguna had given him earlier.
"Anyway," Laguna began, folding the small booklet and sliding it into the back pocket of his brown trousers. "What's up"
"It has been a week since the completion of the extermination process and the guys down at security central have been requesting for your permission to deactivate our shields."
"So it's finally safe to get outta here, huh? Man, I need a vacation… Oh, sorry, Kiros - yeah, sure - tell them to go ahead with the deactivation." He smiled broadly, fiddling with the single, small silver hoop through his left earlobe.
"Alright… uh, aren't you going to come with me? They have the system codes down there, but they'll need your authorisation key to complete all three stages of deactivation."
"Yeah, right! I know that… Uh, let's get going then, shall we?" The president then hurried ahead, leading the way to the space-age chute-lift in the central hall. They rode it down to the ground floor and began to make their way to where the presidents' transportation was awaiting.
"So this 'Hyne's Tower' that Wreath's trying to raise, what exactly is it, anyway?" Kiros asked, straightening out his formal robes and taking a seat beside his friend in the chauffer driven vehicle.
"It's 'Hyne's castle' actually, and up until last year it was nothing more than a myth. Wreath shelled out a lot of cash to have Doc 'O' locate the thing, only now there are problems raising it."
"One would think so, it's ancient."
"It's not that. Apparently it's in really good shape, but the entire structure is being held under water by these gigantic iron chain things." Laguna gestured with his hands, the enormity of them, not that he'd actually seen. "Well that's what Doc Odine was saying."
"So that's why the Doctor was arguing with Wreath earlier." Kiros revealed. A question mark then seemed to appear above Laguna's head. Kiros proceeded to explain. "Earlier this morning, Ward went to Odine's laboratory to have him adjust that voice simulation device he made for him, but when he arrived, Ward heard Odine on visua-com to Wreath. Ward said the president was ranting and raving at the Doctor about the 'agreement' and that all his 'plans' will be delayed now."
"Is that so? Well, it's understandable when it's something as big as this." Laguna whipped out the magazine once more, flashing the front page at Kiros.
"I'm more inclined to assume Wreath's just plain impatient. There's something unnatural about that guy… I can't put my finger on it right now, but…"
"Oh, come on, Kiros. 'Unnatural'?" Laguna chuckled. "You can't go around making assumptions like that. That's how wars begin, right? Besides you know what they say; 'it knows one to take one.'"
"You mean; 'it takes one to know one.'" Kiros corrected.
"Yeah, that's what I said."
"Hmph."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On returning from Balamb town, Squall had refrained from going up to his office, as he knew it would be unlikely that he would leave it again without a very good cause. Instead, he found himself wandering on up to the ballroom for reasons, which were too close to his heart to admit.
This is where he found Selphie, tentatively putting the finishing touches to the decorating of the grand room. He was glad in actuality, not to be alone in there, tender memories of certain past events in the ballroom now weighed heavy on his heart.
"Oh, hi Squall!" Selphie chirped as he approached her. "Seen Keturah and Ellone yet? They turned up a little while ago."
"Yeah, I met Keturah in town. I'll go see Elle in while." He replied. "I think she's asleep again."
"Must be the long train ride. Not that I'd complain. I love trains…" Selphie spoke dreamily. "Anyway, I guess the exams in full swing, hey? It's a long one though. When do they get back?"
"The candidates are scheduled for return at 23:00 hours. They'll receive their results tomorrow and the SeeD inauguration party will commence that evening." Squall informed Selphie, who was now in the middle of arranging a string of decorative lights around the ballroom balcony.
"No problem. I've got it all under control. This years new SeeDs are gonna paa-tay! The sound system is all hooked up, Zell took care of that. I just thought it would be cool if we dropped the whole orchestra thing, it's getting a bit boring, don't you think? Zell's sorting out the music too. He said he wanted to give them something with a bit of a different beat, whatever that means."
"Sounds worrying…" Squall's brow slowly knitted, involuntarily creating an expression of distaste. He only realized this, however, when Selphie set down the string of lights and turned to him, hand on hip and eyebrows raised.
"And what's that s'posed to mean?" She began, mildly offended at first, but it was sure to get worse. "Are you trying to say that I haven't, like put enough effort in or something? For your info, Squall, I've worked really hard. Irvine and Zell have done loads too. You might appreciate, just a little! I mean, isn't all this good enough?" She gestured around them at all the dazzling and elaborate decorations.
"I wasn't trying to say you haven't done a good job…" Squall dropped his head into his hand, somehow feeling the obligation to redeem himself. "Selphie, you know you're the best for organising things and you know you've done an outstanding transformation on this place, it looks amazing. And it's great that Irvine and Zell helped you out so much. I'm sure the sound system will be perfect. It's just that…"
"Zell's taste in music is totally lousy." Selphie stated, swiping the words clean from Squall's mouth. He nodded in agreement.
"Well, it's too late now. It's not like we can hire a band at such short notice. Besides, Zell would be seriously disappointed if I told him you didn't want him to play his stupid music."
"I didn't say that."
"Yeah, but that's what I'll tell him." Selphie smiled innocently. It was incredible how utterly crafty she could be at times she saw fit and this was one of those times. "There's no way I'm putting up with Zell's tantrums!"
"Me either." Squall said firmly.
"… Heeey, I've got an idea." Selphie winked, springing back to her regular energy. "What do you say we ditch the whole ballroom thing and take the entire Garden to Deling for the radio launch?"
"You mean have the inauguration party there instead? What about all the hard work you've done?" Squall stepped over to the archway peering in at the ballroom. He then turned back to her on the balcony. "Why Deling anyway? Timber and Dollet are celebrating too."
"Because Deling is the coolest and you know it. Please, Squall. Please, please, please!"
"Deling… Selphie, we can't." It wasn't actually because they couldn't, it was just the fact that he didn't want to run into any familiar faces in that area. "What about the caterers? We paid them already."
"I'll take care of all that. Just say yes, Squall, come on!" She bounced up and down in front of him like a spoiled child demanding to have it's own way and when she witnessed his stone expression she stopped and pouted, a vindictive flicker in her green eyes. "Well, I guess you'll just have to put up with Zell's tantrums when I tell him you don't want his lousy music at the party. I think I'll go find him now."
She proceeded to stomp away only to be caught by her tiny waist as Squall pulled her back.
"Fine, we'll go to Deling!" Squall growled, having no choice but to give in to her. Enduring Zell was more hassle than it was worth.
"Woo-hoo! Thanks, boss!" Selphie turned, flinging her arms around his neck.
"Commander Squall to the bridge. We are receiving a signal from Esthar." Nida's voice rung on the intercom, allowing Squall to gently break free of Selphie's coils.
Once Squall had left the room Selphie whipped out her visua-com and tapped in the code for Zell. Within seconds his tattooed face flickered onto the screen, accompanied by half of Irvine.
"So did you talk to him about goin' to Deling? Did the plan work?" Irvine asked, they appeared to be in the training centre.
"Of course it did, it was my idea. This is going to be totally cool!" Selphie could hardly contain herself.
"Alright, way to go!" Zell shouted, his face being replaced by blurred visuals, he was obviously punching at the air whilst still holding onto his visua-com.
"Dunno what you're so happy about," Selphie could hear Irvine saying to his over-elated friend. "This just proves how bad you're tantrums can really be."
"Oh, and by the way, Zell!" Selphie called out, the screen now filled with the image of greenery and shrubs. "Squall thinks your taste in music totally stinks!"
Irvine began laughing at this then abruptly stopped as the visua-com was obviously thrown to the floor by an angry Zell. Selphie watched, giggling mischievously as the upside-down scene of Zell chasing after Irvine came into view.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beyond the realms of modern life, afar from cities and growing technology, the vast, barren lands of the south lay in silence. Rumoured to have once been the residing place of one of the most notorious sorceresses known to man - Vienne and her knight, Odin - the dilapidated structure, known as the Centra Ruins, were no longer at rest, but disturbed by the presence of many intruders who had now commandeered the site as a base for their covert military operations.
"Sergeant Major Kavanagh, we have received a message from H.Q, Sir."
"You are supposed to knock before entering. How many times… oh, forget it. What do you want, Anderson?"
The flustered young Private turned, locked the door of his superior's trailer-come-office, then swung back around and quickly saluted - all in four stiff bird-like jerks - obviously sweating beneath his black ninja style uniform.
"Ahem. Forgive my intrusion, Sir, but we have received an important message from headquarters."
"H.Q? Why didn't you say so? Let me see it!" Kavanagh demanded, throwing aside the pen he held. Anderson then handed over a sheet of paper as the Sergeant snatched it away and began fervently reading the scrawled words upon it.
"After weeks of waiting out here on stand-by… we can finally make our move." Kavanagh spoke, running his eyes over the message once more, then standing to address the Private. "Anderson, send out the signal across camp."
"Sir!" Anderson saluted and rushed off to carry out his duties.
Placing the orders through the shredder upon his desk, Kavanagh then moved to the other end of his office, removing his blazer from the locker he carefully slipped into it. He adjusted his appearance in the mirror, dabbed at his bald head with a handkerchief and lifted his chin to assess his own classically chiselled features. Now was the time for him to show his strengths as a leader, push his men to their limits and achieve the goals and ideals which this organization had been founded on.
Exiting his trailer, Kavanagh stepped out into the arid dusk, where night would soon follow in its wake. The scene, which greeted him, would never have gone unnoticed anywhere else in the world apart from Centra.
Fighter-jets and their armoured convoys awaited in the distance. Poised, in position and in stationary silence, they anticipated the coming of the pilots who would finally fire up their engines. They over-looked the camp, as if protectors of the men within, as soldiers now marched in solid waves toward the ruins to receive their first mission briefing.
In disciplined formation, the army of men stood at attention as the Sergeant Major took his place upon a raised stone platform on the mid-level of the ruins.
"'Warriors of Peace', at ease." Kavanagh told them, his bellowing voice resounding within the stone chamber. His men diligently complied. "Two years ago our leader began forming this covert army in the hopes to combat the threats that may disturb the peace between nations. Unlike the Galabadian or Estharian armies or that of the Dollet Dukedom - and, yes, even SeeD - we the 'Warriors of Peace' will tear down those very threats before the enemies of unity can seize the opportunity to use them! The dreams and ideals of our leader are yet to be fulfilled, but right here, right now, we begin the process of realizing those dreams and fighting toward a better tomorrow!"
An uproar of applause followed Kavanagh's speech, clapping and cheering for the greatness of their cause. The Sergeant Major soon gestured for quiet and, of course, his men did as instructed.
"As you all know, there is a threat presently at hand. Esthar is harbouring a weapon of great destructive power. It must be uncovered and acquired. Our leader informs us that it is called the 'Junction Machine' and may well become the cause of total world annihilation. We have just received news from our headquarters that Esthar has confirmed the deactivation of their shields, therefore our mission begins. Esthar's forces are currently in a state of exhaustion due to their two year struggle so, men, we have the upper hand. Within 24 hours, the shields will be fully inactive, granting us passage to the continent. We are to infiltrate the city and all surrounding areas by setting a scrambler on their radars. Once in position we must take control immediately - with full force if necessary - until the 'Junction Machine' is sought out. We depart tomorrow at dusk. Prepare yourselves well, soldiers, we cannot fail this mission."
"Yes, Sir!" The entire army roared, saluting also in unison.
"We will eliminate the Estharian threat!" Kavanagh declared proudly. "We fight for equality, we fight for unity. We are the 'Warriors of Peace' and in the name of our great leader, we will prevail!"