AN: So sorry about the delay. Life happened, and I couldn't get around to posting. On a fun note, the entirety of this story is written and so posting will go smoothly. If I am remembering correctly this makes about a fourth of the whole. So yeah. As always enjoy.
Gilbert looked up at Squall, a bit shocked. He got to his feet. "Next time he's not getting away" He climbed onto Grisil's back. "I'll tell you what you need to know in due time. . .a lot about me would have gotten me killed. It'll take time before I, myself, feel comfortable with some of my secrets" Grisil snorted and gave Squall a wolfish smile with the look of 'Don't be too hard on him'. Gilbert sighed "But before I forget, You should tell me everything you know this Seifer, and I mean everything. He is not getting away from me twice."
Squall smirked, "First you deny me information now you ask me for more? No this world doesn't work like that. You tell me what I want to know and then we talk about Seifer...besides I promise you that won't be the last we see of him." Squall turned away and didn't even give the others time to speak before he gave the order to move out.
Zell and Irvine stayed behind as ordered and dropped into the sewers. Immediately the stench got to Zell and he was already wafting at his nose. "Pee-eww damn what died down here?"
Irvine rolled his eyes and the two of them proceeded to try to find any trace of Seifer.
Every now and then they would find a streak of dried blood on the wall but there was no real pattern to the them, leaving them at an impasse.
Gilbert sighed, gritting his teeth, he was uncomfortable with his past, so much that only two of the nine others he worked with knew it. He turned his attention to Squall and called out "Fine, I will tell you. Only you, and not someplace where we can be overheard. . . I will answer any questions that I can. But know that I am still obligated by an oath not to reveal certain things. . .It at the time was for the protection of everything that was dear to me, now I cannot say for sure."
Once the group made it back to the Garden they gathered on the bridge for a short debriefing, before everyone went their separate ways. Squall then turned to Gilbert, who would have been asked to stay and said. "Please follow me."
Squall led Gilbert to the elevator and he unlocked and flipped up a hatch that was under the usual buttons. He pressed one that read, 'B1'. "This place has a quaint little basement where I have a spare office when I want to get away, we will be alone there. I hope that will be to your liking."
When the elevator came to a stop Squall led Gilbert out and into a small office that only had a couch a desk and a chair. *Man I really need to renovate* He shook his head and plopped down in the chair, motioning for Gilbert to sit down on the couch. "Ok so heres the deal. I know you as a ranger, a cook, and now as a shapeshifter. What else can you do? I'm deeply curious because this affects my garden and the well being of the students within it." Squall leaned back and waited for Gilbert to speak.
Gilbert didn't sit down, he remained standing. He was silent for a few moments and finally sighed reaching in to his pack he sat down the Gear key, that he'd shown Quistis, on the desk
"I will start from the beginning, I was originally known only as Gilbert I didn't have a last name, because I was a Slave. . ." his expression looked a bit lost but he sighed and continued "Than changed when I was sixteen, that is when my life changed. A halfling man came to my Master and told him he wanted to buy one of his servants, Me. This man, who called himself Number Seven, told the Master a tale the involved me practically causing the demise of his entire company, You see the Master was richer than the king of the land, he sold Cinnamon. At the time Cinnamon was hard to get so it was nearly worth it's weight in gold" He paused again sighing, he glanced at the Gear Key, which hadn't moved or done anything "Well in short this man, Number Seven, convinced the Master to let me free. I was then taken to the Tower. . .To meet Master Howl. You see I was . . ." He stared at the Gear Key, Nothing. "I was partially created. . .My Mother was infused with the blood of the Shadow Cat, no that is not why I'm an Andreil, to give her the abilities of the Shadow Cat. But it didn't work, it made her really sick, I mean really sick, well She was allowed to leave the Tower, or the Company as some call it, and she met my Father. And not soon after they were married and expecting a baby. . .That's where I come in, you see I have the abilities they were trying to get into my Mother, Along with my Twin. . ." He took a shaky breath and continued "My ability isn't all that useful, I have what is know as Shadowsense, I know where every shadow in an area is, and when in a shadow I can locate others which are in shadow, the drawback is if I don't know the place it is not accurate. . ." He closed his eyes and tried but the strain was too much "Yea, can't tell five foot form five hundred right now. . .Okay the company was doing this to make 'Mediators' between two systems of magiks that didn't get along very well. . .I along with the children, of others that we treated like my Mother, were being trained to basically fight an underground war. . . ." He stopped talking, the Gear Key remained silent and unmoving "this thing on your desk is called a Gear Key, only people who work with and for Master Howl have one. It allows us to enter and leave the Tower as we wish. . .You can't even see the Tower without one of these. It was the most guarded secret that could have ever been." Gilbert finished and waited for Squall to speak.
Squall had reached under his desk to pop open a cooler, he popped open a bottle of tequila and took a swig of it. "Whoa whoa whoa, take it easy man, here have a drink take a breather, let me think about what you've just said for a moment." He held the bottle out towards Gilbert and smiled, whether or not he took the bottle Squall would say, "Alright well you've definitely had a hard time with your life and I send my condolences to you. As for that tower, I would like to see it if at all possible...just to make sure your not pulling my leg here. You show me the tower and you gain my trust. Even then you can join classes here and become a SeeD officer, that is my gift to you for being generous with your information." Squall sat back in his seat and gestured towards Gilbert, "So please continue…"
Gilbert blinked and took another breath "Okay, let's see. . . I think I have told you pretty much all I know. . ." He blinked again "Except where one of the entrances of the Tower is. My hometown of Bracken had one. . . I can show you, but in order to see or get into the tower you have to have a Gear Key, as far as I know this is the most likely the last one in existence. So when we get there let me have an hour to see if I might be able to find another. or something. . ." He paused thinking about the sheer size of the Tower. "I don't have any clue what may roam inside the Tower itself, we had many long lived Magical Animals there."
Squall smirked and leaned forward in his seat, "You seem to doubt my resources kid, I have a fucking army at my disposal. Don't doubt that we can't get you where you need to be or do what you need done. You want that tower cleared, done. Under my conditions though. You see here Gilbert I'm at an impasse…" He swirled the drink in its bottle, "I have all of these enemies popping up and I'm floating around in a flying blue target. I need a place to store resources, and train my troops under the radar. What you've told me is that without that there key no one can access this tower…therefore that will give me an upper hand against every enemy I face. Well kid what do you have to say about that? I'll protect you, I'll get you to the tower, I'll give you an occupation, I'll give you all the information you want on Seifer, and even help you end him, just give me a reason to trust you." He stared down Gilbert and held out his hand, "So...do we have a deal?"
Gilbert closed his eyes, thinking. 'Master Howl. . .I'm sorry' He took Squall's hand "Deal. But I warn you, we had Dragons, the Old kind, and their cousins the Behir in the Tower. They get stronger the older they get. Even the youngest dragon, of my time, that was there by this time is an Ancient Great Wyrm. Even the team of ten I was in, with three of them being part Dragon, we couldn't take down any dragon that big or old. Hopefully they are not in or near the Tower."
Squall smiled, "Glad we are of an understanding, and for the dragons, leave that to us. We may lose but damn well we're going to try to take it down." He got up from his chair and walked across the room. "Ok we can't go directly to the ruins because of the reason that were tied down here. Timber can't hold all of the refugees that Deling has, so until Deling is in livable condition I cannot abandon my post. I don't know how long its going to take but I hope that you will be willing to wait that long, besides it'll take you that long to find out about Seifer." Returning back to his desk, he opened up a drawer and removed a file folder. He looked at it for a moment then dusted it off before handing it to Gilbert, "Its not much but here's a start, these are the files that we have on him from when he was a member of the garden."
Gilbert took the folder and nodded "Hopefully if there is a dragon it's a Metallic Dragon. . .they are more likely to talk than the Chromatics" Gilbert picked up the Gear Key, it buzzed in his hand. Gilbert's eyes widened.
"I heard your conversation, So I think you should come see me soon, I won't wait for long. Don't you want to know why you're here?" A voice whispered in his head, the Gear Key's communication ability projected her voice into his head.
"Uh Squall. . .I didn't tell you the Gear Key also functions as a communication device. We should head out like now." Gilbert's normally pale skin was even paler than normal.
Squall shoots a puzzled look at him, "Why the hell should I drop everything and take you there right now….give me one good reason." He noticed that Gilbert was holding out the gear key and he snatched it up immediately. Suddenly he didn't feel alone...there was someone there almost as if it was in his thoughts. His eyes grew wide, "Who is that…."
"I am Celeste, and if you want help with the man in the red cloak. . .You will come to meet me. I will not stay here longer than two weeks. I don't like waiting" Gilbert tilts his head "Bring, the one called Quistis, and one other from your group. Only one other. I await your arrival." Her presence through the Gear Key disappear.
Squall tosses the gear key back to Gilbert, "Looks like we got a one way express ticket to this tower. I'll let Rinoa and Xu take care of things here, were on our way to Esthar, we leave in the morning." *Why is this 'Celeste' wanting me to bring Quistis specifically? Either way I must know about the man who destroyed Deling...and harmed the very people I've been assigned to protect.* Squall leads Gilbert out of the room and then at the first floor they split ways, he urges Gilbert off there and he continues up to brief Xu on her duties while he is gone.
Gilbert left to go to his room. He pulled out his pocket watch, and noticed that it was almost five o'clock. He wound it and put it back in his pocket. Grisil looked at him and tilted his head. Gilbert started packing for the morning. He wanted to know who the voice in his head was, why did they have a Gear Key.
After his little talk with Xu on the bridge he had to go find Quistis and break the news to her, and he also figured he would go and find Zell, see if he wanted to tag along. He walked up to Quistis' door and didn't give two shits as he used his master key to walk right in. Immediately after that a small hard object clocked him right in the face. Rubbing his face he didn't seem quite fazed by it, "Hey Quistis your next mis…..whoa."
She stood there in a towel like she had just gotten out of the shower and looking down Squall saw that the object that hit him was in fact her shoe. He looked back up and immediately the screaming started. "WHAT IN HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM!? HAVEN'T YOU HEARD OF KNOCKING?!"
Squall shrugged, "I've heard of it, but its much more productive to just barge in. Either way you're leaving with me Gilbert, and Zell in the morning. We're heading for Esthar, and I'll explain the tidbits along the way." He turned to leave.
Down the hall Irvine was just leaving his room when he heard a rant coming from in the direction of Selphie's room, however it did not sound like it was a pissed Selphie...because seriously shes unique when shes pissed and everyone knows its her. No he knew this voice, it was Quistis...and fuuuck was she pissy.
Curious, he walked over and immediately heard Squalls voice from inside the room, *Holy shit….I never thought you had it in you Suall, but you're cheating on Rinoa?!* "DAMNIT SQUALL WHAT IN HELL ARE YOU DOING TO QUISTIS!?"
Squall turned to face the door and shook his head, "Please vacate the area Irvine I'm just telling her about her next mission which starts tomorrow morning." He rolled his eyes and then another voice that boomed from the hallway made his heart drop.
Rinoa had overheard Irvines screaming at Squall, and instantly wanted to know what was going on. Just as she got to the room, the door opened and Squall was standing on the other side of the frame, across the room stood Quistis...wrapped in a towel. For a moment her eyes went back and forth between the two and then finally she slapped Squall so hard the echo could have been heard all the way from the moon.
Total damage: 1000+. Mental damage: Unhealable. Total: "OUCH, What did I do!?" Squall screamed out.
Rinoa immediately turned and left, obviously pissed off and Squall shook his head, *Damnit now I'm going to get cock-blocked for something I didn't even try to do….fuck my life.* He rolled his eyes and walked off, "Don't forget Quistis, tomorrow morning meet me by the front gate."
"SCREW YOU!"
Around ten there was a knock at Gilbert's door his pack sat on a chair in the main room. He walked over putting the book, he was reading down, and opened the door. And Quistis stood there looking mildly irritated. Gilbert stepped back gesturing for her to come in.
"Quistis, did something happen?"
She may not have been fuming but she was definitely still not happy about what happened earlier.
"Yea and it wears a black jacket, with a fluffy collar. Stands about yay tall and likes to barge into peoples' rooms. Either way I heard that Squall wants me to go on a mission in the morning, I wanted to know if you were going too, so I stopped by." She stared at the floor for a moment then waited for Gilbert to respond.
Gilbert slipped his arms around her hugging her close. "I really don't have to guess who do I?" he chuckled softly "He does it to me too. As for the mission, yeah I'm going. I was hoping you'd be coming along, seeing as we're going to the Tower" He felt her face heat up against his chest through his tank top.
Suddenly Quistis found herself in Gilbert's arms, and oddly it felt comforting. Gilbert was trying to cheer her up. She didn't notice that she was starting to blush, but even if she did notice, she wouldn't have cared. "So that's where we're going….Squall got rushed away before he could tell me any details...typical guy. He's always been the same, ever since I met him. Cold heartless and predictable. However since Rinoa has started to get to him...and its quite entertaining to watch her put a leash on the untamable beast." She pulled her head back and looked up at Gilbert, she didn't know what to do with herself right now. Her heart rate sped up and she started to sweat. She never liked being nervous yet, this time it was different. For once she had someone to talk to, someone to relate to, someone who wouldn't shove a hand in her face and then walk away halfway through a conversation. She knew this feeling all too well, and she wasn't about to fight it.
Gilbert blinked looking down at Quistis, he was most definitely taller than Squall. There was a slight blush across his face as well, but because of his pale skin the blush was a lot deeper looking. "Ah." Gilbert looked to the side embarrassed from his prolonged contact with Quistis, but at the same time he felt the contact was wanted, and that he was allowed to hold her in this way. He smiled softly. 'Why do I feel soo. . . I don't know what to call it, giddy? No, wanted? Well of course yes, but no. What did Hyrim say this feeling was? If it's warm and fuzzy, both calming and exciting, makes you feel like you can fly or some other impossible task, It must be . . .' Gilbert's blush deepened about three shades. 'Love. I always looked at him confused when he said that, now I know what he meant. . .But I don't know anything about love . . .It wasn't something that people talked to me about. . .What do I do now?'
Quists had a hard time not noticing the blush that had been plastered across Gilbert's face and she couldn't help but laugh at him. She pulled back from the hug and shuffled around for a moment. She started to mess with her hair before she started for the door slowly. "I'm sorry…" she said as she burst out into the hall.
Meanwhile, Squall found himself in front of Zell's door and of course he heard the pounding of his punching bag from within. So naturally he was just training….right? As he walked in the door he couldn't believe how wrong he was. That wasn't the sound of a punching bag...then the moaning….yup he was out of here. Squall closed the door and left Zell and his lady friend to their business. He could always talk to him later.
Gilbert jumped following her "Quistis, it's alright" He said as he caught up to her "It's fine I promise." His face was still tinged by the blush. His mind was racing, what should he say, or do to make this better. . . 'You're the only person who has made me feel this way. . .Oh, By the Dragons, what do I do?' Without lingering on that thought he slipped a hand under her chin and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. He stepped back blushing again "That was improper of me. . .but you make me feel like no one has before"
Quistis was surprised by the fact that he had followed her and when she had turned around to try to get him to stop, there was a kiss placed on her lips. She was awestruck and just froze there not doing anything. even as Gilbert pulled away and apologized, she stood there like a block of ice. She slowly turned her head to face him and said in a soft tone, "No...you're fine...in fact…" She half tackled, half pushed him into the wall and returned the favor with another kiss back on his lips. After a moment she backed away and ran off down the hall towards her room.
Gilbert blinked standing with his back against the wall. He was sure that his face was as red as possible. He smiled, not knowing what else to do. After what seemed like an eternity, Gilbert finally started back towards his room. 'My heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest. . .I'm soo confused. Was she mad at me, or was she just as confused as I am now? . . .Why do I have to be the awkward one when it comes to people?' He reached his door, and slipped inside. Grisil looked up at Gilbert as he came in and made a 'woof' at the wide eyed Ranger. Gilbert shook his head and turned to Grisil. "What?" The wolf just gave his wolf grin, and laid his head down. Gilbert laid down on the bed, but his mind wouldn't stop replaying that moment.
Quistis stormed into her room and slammed the door behind her. For a moment she just stood there leaning up against the door, "I just did that...oh my god I just pushed a guy into the wall and kissed him…" She slowly started to slide to the floor. The scene kept replaying over and over in her head, and each time it did the smile on her face got bigger. Eventually she stood up and walked over to her bed. As she sat on the edge she couldn't stop thinking of Gilbert, and how much she couldn't wait to see him again...
