Chapter 09

"Sorceress Edea, thank you so much for coming," Xu greeted sombrely. She was about to have a press conference to tell the media about Squall, Seifer and Quistis being dangerous fugitives that needed to be captured at all costs, but first was having a meeting with the now widow Kramer, out of respect.

"Matron!" Zell exclaimed, going to her. He crouched beside her chair and took her hand, squeezing it lovingly. Selphie also went over to her and hugged her. Irvine hung back, taking off his hand in respect. Rinoa also hung back, sitting in a chair far from everyone else. Her magic was going haywire with all her emotions running wild, so she wanted to keep her distance.

"Will I be able to take my husband home?" Edea asked bluntly. Her way of dealing with this pain wasn't to weep or break down. It was to disconnect. She was used to pushing her own pain to the back burner, because her children needed her.

"Of course," Xu murmured. "Mrs. Kramer... you might not believe what I'm about to tell you, but your husband was murdered."

Edea didn't look as surprised as Xu thought she would. Actually, she looked like stone.

"And, well... it doesn't seem possible, but it does get worse."

Edea looked down at her hand when she felt Zell squeezing her hand harder than necessary. He looked pale and drawn, and she looked at the others, her children, around the room. And, noticed two absences.

"Quistis and Squall are suspects. The evidence is quite damning."

"Suspects?" Edea echoed. Inside she felt so numb, like something had been cut out. But, the cool trickle of sweat down her spine had nothing to do with her broken heart. "You're certain?" She briefly, sharply, looked over to Rinoa when she felt a crackling hot whip of uncontrolled magic rip through the air. Nobody else seemed to feel it. Edea could see that Rinoa was sweating with the effort to keep her sorcery in check.

"Very certain, Mrs. Kramer. Cid had a meeting with them before they left for Galbadia on a mission. I... I found him dead when I came to do some paperwork with him, and then I got word from Luchia Blackwell and Astor Westfield that Squall and Quistis have gone rogue. They killed fellow SeeD, and some Galbadian civilians hired to help with the geography of this particular mission. And... it looks like Seifer helped them do it. It's come to light that Squall and Seifer have been having an affair for quite some time, so we can only assume Squall would reach out to him for this."

"You found Cid?" Edea echoed, as if she'd ignored the rest of Xu's statement. "How did he die?"

"We found Quistis's fingerprints on a water glass laced with arsenic. There had been a lot of tension between Quistis and Cid lately, and Squall..." Xu spread her hands out, as if no explanation was necessary.

"And, as Headmaster, you're going to find the rogue SeeD?" Edea asked. "You really believe it?" She looked around to the others. She saw that they did, though she couldn't place Irvine's emotions. His eyes were hidden in the shadow his hat cast.

"We don't want to..." Selphie trailed off helplessly. "But... oh, Matron! We don't know them anymore! They aren't the same people, and now they're with Seifer..."

"I thought you'd forgiven him?"

Selphie flinched at the tone in her Matron's voice. The only mother she knew. "I thought I had, too. But, he did fire missiles at Trabia Garden."

"This wouldn't be the first time he'd killed SeeD," Zell murmured.

"Under my orders."

"You were being controlled by Ultimecia!" Selphie interjected.

"And, he wasn't?" She turned back to Xu. "What do you plan to do?"

"There are no other options for me. As Headmaster, I have to follow Garden law. Rogue SeeD have to be put down. They're dangerous! Especially when they're being aided by a known war criminal."

Edea looked into Xu's eyes for a long time, saying nothing. And, that's when it hit Xu like a bullet in the forehead. Edea didn't believe her. There was no knowledge of Edea's life as a Sorceress giving her telepathy, but she still knew somehow. Xu recalled how Cid said 'never' in his death throes. That he'd never make Xu Headmaster. Did Edea know this? Had Cid said something to her about his reservations?

"I... I..." Xu slowly collected herself, steeling her resolve against the coldness in those powerful golden brown eyes, which were now looking away from her towards Rinoa. "I believe that the three of them may try to make contact with you in Good Hope. Since Squall and Quistis are with Seifer, we believe they'd head for Centra, since he knows that area well. Your Orphanage may be in danger because of it."

Edea's eyes snapped back to Xu, away from the distressed young Sorceress. Now, her attentions were full on the woman sitting in Cid's place. "They would never do such a thing."

"Really? Seifer's already shown his capacity for baby killing when he bombed a school. It would be a tragedy for the Orphanage. We want to protect that place. Those children need you as their mother."

Edea was so still she didn't even seem to breathe. Xu had just threatened her, and her children, but to the others in the room, it seemed like a kind warning, a concern for their safety. Cid had indeed talked to Edea about his desire to never see Xu as the head of Garden. He admired her drive and her skills, but he recognized a terrible flaw inside her. That she couldn't be trusted with power. She was the kind that would be so utterly corrupted by it. She spoke so ill of Seifer, but it was a trait that Edea saw in both of them.

Looking into Selphie and Zell's faces now, she saw they really did believe it. Edea knew that things hadn't been going well for Squall and Quistis in Garden. Cid had mentioned it to her, but she hadn't been aware of the full picture. Xu must have been working the public and media in her favour, to discredit two people she'd seen as a threat to her goals. People whom she probably still considered friends, but she'd lost sight of it all in her desire to be Headmaster. And, it had worked. She'd turned Squall and Quistis's closest friends against them.

"I can send some SeeD enforcers to the Orphanage with you," Xu offered. "As bodyguards to protect the children."

'To hold them hostage, you mean'

, said Edea's eyes. "That won't be necessary," her mouth replied. "I have my own SeeD, if you remember."

"Ah yes, the White SeeD. That will be fine."

"May I take Cid home for burial?"

"Not quite yet. There's still... evidence to be collected."

"I understand," Edea answered politely, stomach churning. She put a hand to her belly as she rose from her chair. She felt bile rising in her, looking into the eyes of the real suspect in her husband's murder. "I would like to get back to my children now."

Xu also rose. "I wanted to tell you in person first, so you wouldn't hear it in the media. They have a way of skewing the facts," Xu answered carefully, sounding kind but meaning it poisonously.

"That's very kind of you."

"Again, Mrs. Kramer, I'm so very sorry." Xu stuck her hand out.

Edea looked down at it, and refused the contact. "Good day, Headmaster..." She walked towards the door, passing Irvine. He tipped his hat respectfully to her, and when she caught the glance from his periwinkle eyes, she knew that he believed this mess as much as she did. Did he feel as helpless as she did right now? How she wanted to call Xu out on the inconsistencies of the allegations, but Xu now had control of the most powerful military force aside from Esthar, and it would be so easy for her to extent that new arm and destroy anyone who stood between her and the Headmaster's seat. Including Edea's orphans. "Rinoa, would you care to walk with me to the gate?"

"Okay," the younger woman mumbled into her chest, quickly standing without looking up.

"Matron's just upset," Edea heard Zell say comfortingly to Xu as she left the room. "She didn't mean to be rude, babe."

"Was Squall the one to tell you about this affair with Seifer?" Edea asked as they walked to the elevator.

"Did you know?" Rinoa asked, looking up. Her eyes were very puffy and red.

"No." They stepped into the glass elevator car when it arrived.

"But... you're not surprised, huh?"

"No, dear. I guess I'm not. Even as children, they had a very close relationship, even when it wasn't harmonious."

"He told me he loved me..."

"Squall wouldn't say that to just anybody."

"He lied. I thought for so long that it was Quistis... He lied."

"You shouldn't let your anger cloud your judgement." The elevator dinged as it arrived on the ground floor, the doors swishing open. Even the busy hallways were quiet, grim.

"He made a fool of me," Rinoa whispered, balling her fists as a white crackle of lightning snaked around her arm, then fell back into her skin.

"Even if the love he feels became something other than sexual, he still loves you. He would have rather destroyed himself than hurt you."

"But, he did. I'm really sorry about Cid," she added. "He was such a nice man." She turned away from Edea, a large sweat stain on the back of her shirt.

Edea watched her leave, but didn't stop her. She walked out into the warm Balamb sunshine, walking to the perimeter of the grounds. She used her sorcery to teleport away once out of the influence of Garden's own strong magical field. She normally didn't flout her Sorceress abilities like that, but she didn't have time to bother with public transportation. She needed to get back to the Orphanage, and fast. Before Xu could send the reinforcements she'd 'offered'.

It was easy for Edea to travel as far as Centra, riding the magical currents that existed throughout the world like jet streams. She'd been in tune with the world's magic for so long, she didn't even have to think about it.

"Mrs. Kramer...?" One of her cook's greeted, full of confusion. "We didn't expect to see you back so soon."

"I didn't want to leave the children for too long."

"What about the Headmaster?"

"There's still an ongoing investigation," Edea murmured, pulling out a phone book. "Can you start packing some bags? We're going to have a field trip"

"A field trip?"

"Yes," Edea said tersely, leaving no room for argument. "Please."

Edea started making a few phone calls and making arrangements. Xu probably felt very cornered right now, and that was a dangerous situation. As she was on hold, she looked out the kitchen window towards the distant lighthouse. Were Squall and Quistis okay? Were they aware of what was happened at Garden now, and how much danger they were in? She was sure that Seifer would do his best to protect them, particularly if it was true that he and Squall were in some sort of relationship.

Most of the children were watching a television program, and some were playing a game of Triple Triad with a battered deck of cards.

"Children!" She called gently to get their attention. "I have a fun surprise for you all. We're going to take a little educational trip!"

"A trip?!" A few of the children echoed excitedly. "Where, Matron? Where?" They asked at once, voices competing with each other.

"We're going to Esthar!" She exclaimed cheerfully, her smile hiding the agony she was feeling inside.

---

Raijin checked his watch for the umpteenth time as their train started to slow. The massive wall of glass Estharian buildings was looming ahead of them, dwarfing the Great Salt Lake station. He aimlessly flipped through pages of the sports magazine that had been in his lap for the entire trip from Timber, but that he hadn't read a single word out of. He felt something... off in the air, and that feeling was only confirmed by how stiff Fujin was beside him. He usually took his cues from her, and her tenseness made him tense, too.

"Now arriving at the Great Salt Lake station," a female robotic voice crisply announced. "Please have passports ready for customs, and welcome to Esthar. Thank you for travelling with us."

"Ah, finally, ya know?!" He stretched, and then patted Fujin's shoulder roughly. "That wasn't too bad, ya know?!"

She didn't respond, stiff as a board. Raijin's definition of 'not bad' wasn't the same as her own. Ever since they'd transferred to this train in Timber, Fujin felt a mounting ugliness in the air. Something was wrong. Unknown to either of them, while they'd been waiting for their Esthar-bound train, they'd briefly been in Timber at the same time as Seifer and his hidden passengers. A couple people had gotten on the train in Fisherman's Horizon that Fujin would bet her last gil were undercover SeeD, or at least Galbadian Garden operatives. They'd been giving Fujin and Raijin the stink-eye from two rows back for the entire trip over the Horizon Bridge.

Fujin's mind also couldn't leave the fact that Seifer was Jupiter. That he'd been out there, killing people for Sol at the same time she'd been. Raijin hadn't asked her about it at all. Maybe he was getting enough sense not to shoot his mouth off in a crowded train about assassin cells.

"PASSPORT?" Fujin asked.

"Yes, ya know?!" Raijin answered testily. She asked him that every time they travelled anywhere. She knew he had it, since he'd had to present it in Timber when they changed trains. "I'm not a baby. And, I only forgot it that one time, ya know?!"

Fujin casually looked behind her to the Garden agents as she got out of her seat. They were also starting to rise, and Fujin muscled through the other passengers, dragging the much larger Raijin behind her, so that she put a couple dozen bodies between her and the two men. They only had carry-on luggage, so didn't have to dilly-dally on their way to customs.

"Passport, please." The female agent stuck her hand out as Fujin approached the empty wicket. The woman inspected the document, checking the photograph, then Fujin's face. "Your purpose in Esthar?"

"PLEASURE."

Behind her in line, despite the growing tension in the air, he couldn't help but snort. The word 'pleasure' sounded like anything but when it came from Fujin's mouth. But, his amusement was only short lived. The men Fujin'd had her good eye on were now getting off the train, and starting to make their way to the customs line.

The seconds were slow and agonizing as the Estharian woman scanned Fujin's passport in her computer terminal and waited for confirmation. Raijin didn't realize he was holding his breath until he let it out in relieved whoosh when one of the pages in the little book was stamped. "Please enjoy your stay in Esthar, ma'am."

"APPRECIATED." Fujin took her passport, and went through the large glass double-doors that led to the Esthar side of the Great Salt Lake station, guarded on each side by Estharian soldiers.

Raijin slid up to the agent's window, and she said "passport, please," but in a much breezier tone than she'd used on Fujin.

"Your purpose in Esthar?" She asked, smiling at Raijin.

"Hopefully pleasure," he answered with a wink, knowing when he was being flirted with. He could practically feel the breath of the two men behind him as she inspected his passport, then looked intently at his face in a way that had little to do with her job. In the glass of her wicket, he could see their reflection. They were in the line, only a middle-aged man reading a Fisherman's Horizon newspaper between them. As the agent scanned Raijin's passport and waited for computer confirmation, he could see the reflected agents trying to get past the guy with the paper. He was resistant, and Raijin saw them reach into their coats for something. Probably an ID.

His heart skipped a beat when he heard the loud stamp of his passport. "Please enjoy your stay in Esthar," she murmured, sliding his documents back to him, making sure that her fingers brushed the back of his hand, her skin very white compared to the dark reddish tone of his.

"I'll try, ya know?!" He answered flirtatiously, then motored to the guarded doors to reunite with his partner.

"FLIRTING?" Fujin asked hotly when he came to stand beside her. She gave him a kick in the shins, which caused the two guards to look over.

"Girl trouble, ya know?!" He joked to one of them, whose masked helmet nodded in male understanding. "Man, those guys from the train were starting to get bold. That was wayyyy close," Raijin muttered out of the corner of his mouth while he and Fujin rode an escalator up to ground level. It was like stepping into another world, or into the future. The architecture was so radically different from the rest of the train station, and really from every other place in the world. "Who were they, ya know?! Galbadian army operatives?"

"GARDEN."

"Garden?!" Raijin echoed loudly, which got him another kick.

"Something happened," she muttered tensely. Nervously. It was rare that Fujin sounded nervous, but she sounded really nervous right now. "Something bad."

"Stupid fucking Squall," Raijin hissed as they approached a lifter station, checking the hologram schedule for the number of the next lifter to the Royal district. "Hyne knows what kind of trouble he got Seifer into now if they really were from Garden. Just when he was okay, ya know?!"

"He wasn't okay," Fujin argued tonelessly, pointing out the lifter they wanted. It would arrive in five minutes.

"You're defending Squall, ya know?!" Raijin asked incredulously. Their loyalty would always be to Seifer first, and their ill feelings towards Squall and his treatment of their friend (and idol) wasn't secret.

"No. But, Seifer isn't okay."

"Yeah, speaking of that, ya know" Raijin's voice became very serious and very unlike him. "Don't think I've forgotten about that."

"LATER." Fujin pointed to the lifter path, where one pod was approaching them.

"You bet your ass 'later', ya know?!" The lifter stopped, and they got on it. "What are we gonna say?" Raijin asked quietly so the other five passengers on the lift wouldn't hear him.

"INSTRUCTED."

"Yeah, yeah. But, what does it mean, ya know?!"

Fujin just shook her head. She only hoped that President Loire would see them. It's not like she and Raijin could be considered 'good friends' of Squall's, or even of any of the other Orphanage gang. They could only impatiently watch Esthar's futuristic scenery whiz by as the lifter carried them towards the Palace. It was an express line, so it didn't make any stops, except for once at the Airstation, where one person got on. But, this so-called express line wasn't fast enough for Fujin's taste. It was going pretty quickly, but it was still a journey that took just over an hour. The pair remained silent the entire time. There wasn't much to say to each other. Well, Raijin wanted to ask more about Seifer having all those guns, and Fujin pretty much outing him as a member of the Solar System, and how she would know that exactly. But, he knew it was the wrong time, and that Fujin would either just stonewall him, or stonewall him and punch him in the nose.

"Next stop - Presidential Palace, main entrance. Please do not exit lifter until it has come to a complete stop. Have a pleasant day," the automated voice said soothingly as the lifter's speed slowed. The grand, massive Palace loomed before them, dwarfing every other building in the impossibly vast city. It could even be seen from distant provinces. It was sometimes easy to forget how large Esthar was, and it actually took up to a week to get from one end to the other. Many of the residents of Esthar probably had never come to the Presidential Palace in their life, or even seen it.

When the lifter stopped, everyone got off. But, Fujin and Raijin were the only ones who weren't in official dress.

"Where to, ya know?! Front desk?" He scratched his head.

Fujin just stomped on ahead, and Raijin could only follow in her wake. "We need to speak to President Loire," Fujin announced to one of the receptionists at the long desk in the lobby, in accented Estharian. Raijin just remained silent, since he could only say 'hello', 'goodbye' and 'bathroom' in Estharian.

The secretary just raised his eyebrows. "You can't just see the President."

"EMERGENCY!" Fujin barked loudly in Dollenese, and scarily enough that the secretary flinched back. Fujin took a deep breath and composed herself, switching back to Estharian. "It's a matter of life and death, involving his son, Squall Leonhart."

Both Fujin and Raijin felt ill when the secretary reacted visibly to those words. He immediately got on the phone and started talking in hurried Esthar, so that Fujin couldn't understand him. Raijin was completely lost.

They were handed two visitors badges. "A guard will escort you to the Presidential offices." The secretary gestured to where a uniformed soldier was approaching them.

"Follow me," he answered, voice crisp from behind his mask.

"Did you see that?" Raijin hissed to Fujin once they went in an elevator.

"BADGE." Fujin gestured to his shirt, urging him to clip it on.

He sighed. "M'not a baby," he muttered, pinning the visitor's badge to his broad, muscular chest. "But, yeah... the way they reacted..."

"Something happened," Fujin whispered tensely.

The elevator stopped, and Fujin and Raijin followed the guard down a hallway decorated with paintings of the village of Winhill. The glass let them look at things below them. It was dizzying and impressive, but neither had eyes for the view.

"The President is in here." The guard walked back down the hall, presumably to his post.

Fujin and Raijin stepped into the sprawling Presidential office. Some sort of holographic screen was projecting a few different news broadcasts, and Fujin uttered an "oh God" when she saw what looked like three mug shots lined up side-by-side. She recognized the picture of Seifer as the one from his Dollet driver's license. On either side of the head shot of Seifer were stone-faced images of Squall and Quistis, probably from their Garden badges, because they were wearing SeeD jackets.

Laguna turned away from the screens when he heard Fujin's utterance. They'd only met him once, but he'd been so friendly and jovial that his haunted, drawn face was barely recognizable as that man. The seriousness in his eyes brought out their resemblance to his son's.

"Seifer... Seifer Almasy told us to come..." Fujin trailed off, as hesitant and uncertain as she'd ever sound in her entire life. Her good eye scanned the news tickers and headlines as they flashed on the screen, feeling sick with each word she read. Headmaster Cid was dead...? "He told us to say that... Squall's innocent. They're innocent, and..." She shook her head in disbelief. The news must have broken while they were travelling from Fisherman's Horizon, or while they'd been on the lifter. "They're coming."

"Where is my son?" Laguna asked in Galbadian.

"We don't know," Raijin answered, subdued. Shocked. It was hard to look in Laguna's eyes and say that. He looked so worried and scared. "But, Seifer's with them, so they'll be okay."

Raijin sounded so sure, and Laguna wanted to believe him so badly. "Please, tell me everything you know."

---

The sun was barely up when Irvine and Nida, flanked by three Galbadian Garden cadets, knocked on the door of apartment 204. When Ivan Blackmoon opened the door, he didn't look surprised to see a bunch of Garden people standing there. It hadn't been Irvine's favourite mission to ransack Seifer's apartment, and bringing his former boyfriend in for questioning and detainment was even more unpleasant.

"Hi, Ivan."

"Hello, Irvine. Nida, wasn't it?"

Nida just nodded. He hadn't spoken at all since Xu sent them to Dollet.

"Look Ivan, we're here because..."

"Yes, I know," Ivan interrupted briskly. Nida suddenly jerked his head up from the spot on the carpet he'd been studying intently. He was more magically tuned than Irvine was, and he suddenly felt a flicker of great power come off the tall, olive-skinned man. One of the Galbadian cadets must have felt it too, because he made some sort of surprised noise in the back of his throat. "So, are you going to shackle me, or can I walk under my own power?" Though his voice was bland and rather emotionless, there was an undercurrent of hostility.

"You're not under arrest," Irvine assured.

"I know you believe that," Ivan answered, closing his apartment door behind him. He walked beside Irvine, and this time Irvine did feel that there was something unusual about Ivan. Walking beside him felt like walking beside a powerful King. It was just in his stride, his body language. "But, what do your superiors believe?"

"That Seifer, Squall and Quistis are dangerous criminals. And, that you might know where Seifer took them?"

Ivan half-grinned as he was none-too-gently put into the backseat of a waiting car by one of the Galbadian operatives. "And, I'll tell you, one way or another?"

"There won't be any torture here," Nida said firmly.

"I know you believe that" Ivan trailed off, folding his hands in his lap. As they drove to Garden's Dollet outpost offices, Irvine kept looking in the rear-view mirror at their charge. Ivan seemed completely at ease, staring out the window as the old city whizzed past them. But, he was not smiling. In fact, he looked utterly and completely stone-faced serious. He didn't move, except for one finger that stroked over the face of a watch at his wrist.

When they arrived at the non-descript block-shaped brick building, Ivan was again calm and collected as he was led inside. "You think Seifer would actually tell me where he was going?" Ivan asked over his shoulder to Irvine, even though he knew very well where Seifer had taken Squall and Quistis without having to be told. "You think he's that foolish?"

"No, but I have my orders."

"Of course."

When a sudden, loud beeping erupted in the quiet hallway, everyone reacted. Rifles were pulled out and aimed right at Ivan's head, everyone stiffening and shouting in surprise.

One of the Galbadian soldiers lowered his gun first, sighing. "It's just the alarm on his watch. Turn it off, Mr. Blackmoon."

But, Ivan had gone very stiff, and was looking down at the watch with scrutiny that could have burned through a wall. The Galbadians leading him tried to urge him along again, but found they may as well have been trying to pull an elephant. Ivan's lips were soundlessly moving as he read the data flying across the watch face. As if pushing away a bothersome gnat, he swept his hand away and swatted the Galbadian cadets holding him into the wall. One hit so hard that he left a gaping gash in the drywall, and there was a sickening crack from the head of the other.

Irvine's hands, normally so steady around his trusty shotgun, faltered a little when he noticed Ivan's shadow did not match what was standing right there. It was much too large, and it looked like Ivan had horns. "Ivan..." Irvine warned.

"I don't have time for this nonsense anymore," Ivan answered. Irvine and Nida could feel his voice vibrating under their feet.

"Don't make me put one in your leg, Mr. Blackmoon," Nida said slowly.

"I wouldn't have made it across the anti-magic barrier, anyway." He looked up from the wrist device he'd stolen in Esthar, and the SeeD were both struck when they looked in Ivan's eyes. Normally glittering dark and deep, they were now like burning red suns that froze them in place. Ivan closed those hellish eyes and teleported away to the location given by the GF detector, leaving nothing behind but a pile of black ashes and a bitter, deathly chill.

"What the hell?!" Nida demanded, a full two minutes after Ivan had disappeared. They were still training their guns on empty space.

Irvine slowly lowered his shotgun and went to the pile of ash on the linoleum floor. He fingered some of it, and it felt like shaved ice, but had texture unlike any ash Irvine had ever seen.

"Irvine?" Nida asked. His partner had been crouched beside the pile for long, silent minutes.

"He was right. There was no way he would have gotten past the anti-magic fields. Besides..." He stood up, shaking his head. He couldn't even help but smile. "How do you interrogate a Guardian Force, anyway?"

"You saw his shadow too, huh?" Nida asked, crouching beside the other man.

"C'mere..." Irvine cocked his head so Nida would lean in. He then quickly punched him in the nose, causing a trickle of blood to come out."

"Ahhh!" Nida gasped, covering his face with his hands after his gun clattered to the floor in his surprise. "What the fuck?!"

"You can punch me now."

"Oh, really?" Nida did so, a hard knuckle to the side of Irvine's face. It made him fall off his haunches, and land in a heap on the floor. "Bastard."

Irvine stroked his sore cheek, then started sweeping the black ashes into the generous pockets of his black leather duster. "He surprised us with a magical attack, beat us all up and ran off, right?"

"You're not going to report the truth?"

"They're unconscious. They won't refute it."

"You want to lie to Xu?"

Irvine silently regarded his partner.

"Yeah... I don't feel much like being forthcoming, either."

---

The place that Ivan teleported to wasn't even a 'place', in the human sense of the word. In fact, it was a place that no human being could have ever reached, or even comprehended. It was a place that lay between worlds, and only existed on the intangible planes of magical time and space. It was a place that took various forms, and right now it resembled a city that scraped the clouds, an image created by Ivan's query, who felt alien presence in his corner of this dimension. Unsheathing weapons with all four arms, he slowly turned around, pale white eye gleaming as he regarded this intruder. A nervous blinking. "Wh... What are you doing here?! Ain't you supposed to be dead?!"

Ivan Blackmoon's human guise melted away, dissipating in the fast, magical winds like the ashes he'd left behind at Irvine and Nida's feet. His emotionless golden mask came over a face he hadn't worn since he was a young human Prince, not even yet the great King he would become. Black and gold armour melded over his body like rapidly growing vines, and a billowing black cape flapped out all around him, each motion of fabric releasing the screams of dead spirit energy. His eyes burned like red fire, gazing intently at the sword in Gilgamesh's upper left arm. From that swirling black ash, a javelin twice the length of his own body came into his hands, and when Ivan spoke, it was in his true voice - that of Odin, Horsemaster and Lord of the Afterlife. "I believe you have something that belongs to me."

Gilgamesh blinked nervously again. As a human, he'd been an exceptionally skilled swordsman, and was just as formidable in this eternal, magic form. But, the only way he'd been able to wrestle Zantetsuken away from Odin was to take it after his death. Or, what was supposed to have been his death. Even with four weapons against Odin's lone lance, a secondary weapon for him, Gilgamesh wasn't certain of his own victory. Especially since Odin seemed so pissed off. But, then again Odin had been defeated by a mere human with only one weapon, one that Gilgamesh was already coveting. Hyperion, the blade that cleft great Odin in two. But, actually maybe not so much. Odin did look remarkably in one piece.

Gilgamesh was normally one to taunt and trash talk, but Odin was on him before he could come out with a smart remark. It took both Odin's own beloved blade, and the legendary Excalibur, to stave off a swing from the long javelin Odin wielded with such deadly precision. Their weapons clashed again and again in what was destined to be a long, epic and drawn out battle that nobody would witness. Anyone junctioning a Guardian Force would have felt some sort of minor tickling, like someone running fingertips over their scalp, but nothing to give them real pause.

On a ship to Esthar, pensively looking out at the ocean as the children whale watched in blissful oblivion to their danger, Edea looked to the sky, rubbing her upper arms as a chill went through her. Sitting in the bedroom she'd shared with Squall in Balamb Garden, Rinoa slowly sat up on the bed where she'd been staring at the wall in a depressed stupor, anger against Squall festering in her like a sore. She, like Edea, felt the chill of a great magical disturbance, far more mysterious than anything the novice Sorceress had ever experienced before. She slowly dragged herself out of bed and went to the window, gripping the sill as a magical shockwave tore through the invisible plane. It wasn't painful to her, but she knew that something powerful was going on somewhere.

---

Squall stirred, feeling familiar warmth pressed against him, wrapped all around him. He breathed in the smell of Seifer's skin, wrapping his arms tighter around the other man's waist. He normally slept naked, so felt extra dirty and grimy after sleeping in his clothes. It reminded him of when he'd woken up in that Timber flophouse. But, he didn't care right now, feeling Seifer breathing next to him. He pressed some sleepy kisses to Seifer's throat, body relaxing with pure contentment. He had the typical morning half-erection, and with his hips pressed to the other man's, he could feel that Seifer did, too. He pressed his hips more firmly to Seifer's, creating some friction in the hope that his morning wood would become a full-fledged hardness. Seifer responded in kind as he arose from his sleeping state, whispering incoherently in Squall's ear. His joy darkened around the edges when he felt someone in the bed with them, and then it all came crashing back down. The blissful moment of ignorance disappeared rudely, and Squall remembered everything.

"You don't have to stop on my account, you know..." came Quistis's sleepy, wry murmur. "I think I would rather enjoy watching that."

"I'm not opposed," Seifer answered playfully into Squall's hair, then squeezed his ass for good measure.

"Shut up."

"Just because you're on the run doesn't mean you have to be so dour."

"...Whatever," Squall answered at the exact same time that Quistis did. She then started chuckling and said "I may not be able to see through Seifer, but I'd bet anything you're glowering right now."

The light-hearted moment was cut rudely by the loud ringing of a telephone. All three stiffened, Quistis and Squall bolting upright. Seifer was slower to rise. "Sol would know I came in here," he told the other two, who looked a bit spooked.

"Would he know we're with you...? Or, she or whatever?" Quistis asked as Seifer disentangled himself from their limbs and the sheets.

"By now? Probably."

"You gonna answer it?" Squall asked dubiously. His fingers were itching to reach for Seifer's gunblade, perched near the bed, even though it was just a telephone.

Seifer got out of the bed, and stood in the bedroom's doorway, the phone still ringing. Miniature versions of Shiva, Bahamut and Diablos, who'd been disjunctioned before they went to sleep, woke up from their half-sleeping positions on the coffee table, looking at their masters passively. "It will keep ringing until I do." He went out to the living room, Quistis and Squall scrambling to follow.

"Put it on speakerphone," Quistis hissed in a whisper.

"You don't have to whisper yet," he teased dully, which got him a distracted punch in the shoulder. But, all of their eyes were on the single, rather old-fashioned phone sitting on a table beside the couch, which looked like it had never been sat on.

Seifer let out his breath and hit the speakerphone button like he was waiting for a bullet to the forehead.

"Have you all seen this morning's news?" Sol's mechanical voice asked tonelessly, saying that he/she knew Squall and Quistis were listening, just by the use of one word. The mysterious leader of the Solar System then hung up.

Squall immediately went for the remote on the small coffee table and turned on the television, searching for the Timber news channel. They were currently talking about a Timber textiles factory having to lay off some employees, but the three of them kept their eyes on the news ticker at the bottom of the screen. Then they saw their names in conjunction with the news that Cid was dead, and it had been murder.

"Oh, Hyne..." Quistis put her fingers to her lips in shock.

Squall just sat in stunned silence as it sank in - everyone believed he'd helped kill Headmaster Cid. Even Seifer's hand coming to rest on his shoulder, giving it a soft, loving squeeze was of no comfort.

"I guess... I'm not really surprised she did this," Quistis murmured. She closed her eyes as her stomach sickeningly flopped when the image on her SeeD badge flashed on the screen like a mug shot.

"Why?" Squall asked dully. "Cid would have named her Headmaster after this."

"No," Seifer answered, sitting on the couch's arm beside the other man. "If Cid wanted Xu to be the next Headmaster, he would have announced it by now. He must have had some personal reason why. Maybe he saw something in Xu... maybe he recognized that something like this would happen. That she couldn't be trusted with power." Like he saw in me, Seifer added mentally.

"You think...?" Quistis trailed off, cocking her head. "I guess I just never noticed it until now."

"It's smart as hell," Seifer begrudgingly gave credit. "Nobody would care as much about the SeeD and mercenaries dying in a mission gone horribly wrong, but Headmaster Cid being killed? The head of Garden, the husband of Sorceress Edea? Everyone will care about that."

"And, it will officially turn anyone against us who might not have believed it before," Squall added sourly. "She's already been using the media against us, and now it will be in overdrive."

"I wonder where she got that evidence from," spat Quistis. "So... what now? We can't stay here forever, can we?"

"No." Seifer stood up. "Garden's been chasing the Solar System, so Sol has no love lost for them, but I can't trust he won't turn us in if the price is right."

"They'll know we're going to head towards Centra," Squall warned. "And, we can't rely on Matron. She thinks we killed her husband, remember?"

"I had no intention of seeing Edea. Even if Cid were alive, that's the first place Garden would set up watch. We're still going through Centra."

"It's too dangerous." Squall also rose to his feet, arms crossed in displeasure.

"They'll never find us in the mountains."

Squall opened his mouth to protest again, but Seifer cut across him with "it'll be fine. Trust me."

"There are a lot of back roads around here," Quistis noted. She'd spent a few months in the area on a mission after graduating from Garden. "They're really winding and convoluted, and hopefully still hidden by a lot of trees. It could get us near Winhill in relative safety."

"Once we get to the Almaj range, they'll never find us. The Kashkabald, though..." He trailed off. "We'll just cross that bridge when we come to it."

"It'll be a miracle if we get through this."

Seifer cocked his eyebrow at Squall's doom and gloom response. "Well, then you'll just owe me even bigger when I get you safety to your Daddy."

"What, there's something he actually won't do sexually?" Quistis asked, completely deadpan.

Squall just rolled his eyes, trying to stuff a sweater into a small section of the pack by folding it in various ways, bordering on trying to make origami.

"I wouldn't mind a dance."

"A dance? Seriously?" Squall asked, confused.

"Why not?"

"I don't like dancing."

"You dance with Rinoa, but not me? You kinda take it for granted, but there's something really intimate about dancing with someone, holding them close to you as your bodies move in harmony like that. It's something I never really thought of until I met Ivan." Seifer's face started to suddenly got really pale until it was a noticeable shade of paper white. "Oh, God..."

Squall looked up from the sweater, just wadding it into a messy ball and stuffing it beside a balaclava. He could see that Seifer looked on the verge of being ill. "You think Xu would go after him to get to you?"

Seifer pulled out his phone, and started to go through his contacts list, but then slowly lowered it and snapped it shut again. If he called Ivan to warn him, it would give away their position. He couldn't use his phone at all. Not even for this.

Quistis ran her hand across Seifer's shoulder, then his golden hair. She didn't try to say anything like 'oh, Xu can't do anything to him because he's a regular civilian'. Quistis wasn't going to put anything past Xu any longer. So, she went back to packing, and left Seifer to worry in peace. Or, maybe to mourn.

Squall looked across the room at the other man. His boyfriend? They hadn't exactly made it official, but Squall thought of him that way. He'd thought of Seifer as his lover, his love, for quite a while now, and despised himself for feeling a twinge of jealousy at Seifer's current heartache. But, on the other hand, there was also something inside him that was certain Ivan would be okay. He remembered that feeling in the hallway, even though all his drunkenness, like Ivan was something more than what he seemed. When Seifer looked over at him, he tried to show some of that confidence in his eyes. It must have showed, at least to him, because Seifer gave a slow, grave nod.

They started dressing in layers, taking stock of their food stocks, ammunition and junctioned magic. Their GF remained disjunctioned for now, the three of them wanting to keep their heads clear for a while. It wasn't certain when they'd be able to disjunction next. Maybe not until Esthar...

"That looks like everything." Quistis looked up from her crouched position beside her fully stuffed pack. She handed Seifer a map of Timber that she'd drawn on, showing the best hidden forest roads.

He studied the map, some of the roads familiar to him, but others new. "All right. Bahamut." He gestured his head, and the tiny dragon flew towards him, vanishing mid-air as he fused magically with Seifer.

Quistis sighed and nodded to Diablos. The demon and Shiva both followed Bahamut's example, and vanished into their masters. They shut off all the lights, and left the safe house. Quistis and Squall both got in the back of the truck, under the tarp. The truck roared to life, and then they were gone. In the safe house, they felt cloistered away from the storm, but away from it, the danger became all too real. It wasn't just on the news, like it was happening to different people. They knew that Seifer badly wanted to change cars, but with their faces plastered all over every newspaper and TV channel by now, it would be too dangerous. The back roads were their only hope.

Quistis was so tense that she gasped when she felt Squall's hand touch her own. The noise couldn't be heard over the roar of the truck's engine, and she squeezed back. The ride was starting to get a lot bumpier, and both grunted when they seemed to get airborne, then crash back down to earth. The long trip rattled their bones, and they lost complete sense of time. They could have been driving for fifteen hours, or fifteen minutes. When they heard three slow and loud taps on the truck cab's back window, they stopped breathing for a moment. That was a signal that they were being followed. They knew it was Garden when there was a shot ringing out, and an engine catching up with them.

In unison, they threw the tarp off themselves, guns blazing as they fired at the truck behind them. Quistis shot out a beam of concentrated magic from her palm, and there was a flash of SeeD uniforms as the truck swerved out of the way so the driver could avoid getting fried in her seat. It was Garden chasing them, after all. Squall and Quistis dove to their stomachs behind the makeshift barricade of the truck bed's walls, assault rifle held up in Quistis's hands, gunblade in Squall's. It was hard to aim at the tires because the roads were so bumpy, but at least the Garden vehicle was having the same problem.

"Hang on!" Seifer shouted from behind the wheel, and the truck suddenly spun and made a sharp turn onto another access road, tree branches whipping past them and slapping against the sides of the vehicle. He'd had to turn because there were now trucks and utility vehicles ahead of them. Quistis flung a magical grenade out, and it caught the second truck, making it airborne. It crashed into one of the trucks behind it, but the lead chase vehicle was still right on their ass.

"Shit, get down!" Quistis shouted to Seifer as a giant fireball barrelled towards them from the sky. A more powerful brand of magic. Squall covered his head with his arms, and summoned Shiva. Seifer crouched and tried to keep the truck on the road as they were engulfed in fire, most of it going right around them as Shiva combated Ifrit's attack with an ice shield. Ifrit's bulky, hairy body suddenly flew out of nowhere and crashed into Squall's GF, sending them both flying up into the air, fire and ice spells mingling together in water and smoke.

"Doomtrain!" Quistis shouted again, immediately starting to cast anti-status magic on the three of them. She also summoned Diablos, and Bahamut's great dragon form also appeared over the treetops, which seemed to give Ifrit and Doomtrain pause.

'Selphie and Zell,' Squall mouthed to his partner, who nodded her head slowly. They would have known about Shiva and Diablos, but not that Seifer was carrying Bahamut. Quistis just hoped that Seifer's instant compatibility with the dragon meant he'd have a greater magical well to call from. They would need it.

Quistis fired blindly in the air after a volley of bullets from their pursuers, trying not to think about the fact that she was going to have to fight against Selphie and Zell, and maybe Irvine too. And, what about Nida...? Maybe he would have been in Xu's bed by now. And, could Garden count on the support of Matron and Rinoa? Could they survive not only against a Garden strike force, but against two angry Witches?

Everyone was blinded by a flash grenade launched from the truck's cab by Seifer, who'd stuck a grenade launcher out the passenger window and aimed into the sky. Squall and Quistis were flung off-balance as the truck accelerated to a dangerous speed. Squall's shoulder crashed into the side of the truck bed, and Quistis landed on top of him, elbow digging into his stomach and briefly punching the wind out of him. There was a massive explosion in the sky from one of the Guardian Forces. It made the sky whiter, and everyone on the ground could feel the heat.

"Hold onto something!" Seifer shouted, putting the accelerator right down to the floor as he busted through a bramble of thick branches and overgrowth, coming out onto a plain with thinning tree coverage. Squall and Quistis immediately scrambled back to their positions on their stomachs in the truck bed. They were on the old Winhill highway, and the Garden trucks were nowhere to be seen... not yet, anyway. The engine was starting to protest, and Seifer looked at the gas gauge with mounting dismay. It was getting lower and lower, too fast to be natural. The gas tank must have gotten punctured, either by a bullet or from crashing through the forest.

It happened so fast that the three of them were unable to brace themselves for the massive impact. Like a scream, Doomtrain's whistle vibrated in their ears to the point of pain. They only heard the sound of the mystical train along its magic tracks for a moment before its metal hulking frame slammed into the side of the truck, sending it into the air. Quistis heard Squall scream through the whine of twisting, breaking metal, and maybe she was screaming too, lungs and eyes filing with noxious gases meant to blind and poison her. She completely lost her equilibrium as they flipped in the air. She tried to open her eyes, but it was impossible against Doomtrain's status magic. There was another impact, and she felt little things brushing against her, and when she heard the high-pitched screeching, she knew it was Diablos slowing their descent into the unforgiving highway. Cold, wintery wind blew the status gas away, and the truck slowly hit the ground, but hard enough that Quistis jammed her shoulder hard against some piece of metal. Shiva flung out a long ramp of ice that the truck could skid along as Diablos's bats formed his demon body once more and he took to the skies to help Bahamut try to contain Selphie's GF.

Their truck could no longer drive, and was at the mercy of Shiva's icy path towards Winhill. In the cab, Seifer's shoulder was dislocated from the crash, and there was a stream of blood running down the side of his face, but he was still lucid. It caused him great pain to reach across the seat for his gunblade, arm hanging awkwardly.

Incoming

, Bahamut warned him telepathically as they reached Winhill's town limits. Seifer could feel the change in the air, and the setting sun, low on the horizon, was completely blotted out by the massive frame of their newest pursuer. Alexander looked black and massive against the backlighting of the orange sunset, ramparts revving up with a loud, mechanized whine.

"Shit..." Squall whispered under his breath as they could see the whiteness of Alexander's cannons charging, illuminating the highlights of its body. When the mangled truck came to a stop, Squall grabbed Quistis's arm and started to drag her out of the truck's crunched bed. "We need to go."

"Oh, Hyne..." Quistis was transfixed by the sight of gigantic Alexander, and the realization that Rinoa was here, and was hunting them too.

"Seifer!" Squall exclaimed, heart racing when he looked at the damage of the cab. "Get down!" He shouted into the busted-out window when he was unable to open the door. He had to blast it open with magic, looking over his shoulder as the cannon mouths got brighter and brighter. As Squall dragged Seifer out of the cab, there was a deafening crash that vibrated the ground and nearly made them lose their footing. Bahamut had flown right into Alexander, mouth agape with smoke and fire billowing out of it. Diablos's heavy magic followed suit, blocking the white-hot magical missiles.

"Come on!" Quistis started running towards the town, hoping they could get lost within the buildings.

Seifer brought up the rear, firing flash grenades from his launcher periodically. He was in a lot of pain because of his shoulder, but he grit his teeth and ran behind the other two. They needed to find cover and regroup. Squall, who knew Winhill the best, led his two companions, twisting and turning down the old, cobblestone alleyways between storefronts that were closed up for the day. The smell of flowers was strong and sweet. They stopped in the back doorway of a bakery.

"Shit..." Squall trailed off, seeing how messed up Seifer's shoulder socket looked.

"Help pop it into place," the blonde grit.

"Alright." Squall put his hands around the popped shoulder without hesitation. "Ready?" He didn't really wait for Seifer to say if he were or not. Something else to add to the long list of reasons that Seifer loved him.

"Bite on this." Quistis handed Seifer her whip, so he could bite down on the leather to keep from making too much noise.

"One. Two. Three." Squall jerked the shoulder, and there was a loud pop that made all three of them wince. Seifer groaned around the whip's handle, sure there would be a permanent imprint of his teeth in it. "Better?"

Seifer nodded. "What are we going to do about Rinoa?"

"Would she really help them kill us?" Quistis asked. Both looked at Squall.

"How the fuck should I know?" He snapped. "I dumped her, remember?"

"We need to get out of town. I'm worried about collateral damage..." Quistis trailed off. They all looked skyward when there was a hefty explosion.

"Too late." Seifer pushed the other two out of the way when a whip of fiery magic was flung in their direction, slamming against the brick of the building they were trying to hide against. And, failing miserably. Seifer could feel the heat of the spell brush against his tender shoulder as the three of them tumbled to the ground, quickly scrambling back to their feet. Quistis was firing magic even as she was shoulder-rolling back to her feet. She mentally called for Diablos, who zoomed towards them as a bevy of bats, completely blotting them from the view of their magical sniper. The trio used the wall of fluttering black wings to cross the thoroughfare, heading towards the more open farms and greenhouses. There was just too much danger of an innocent person dying if they were close to these old buildings. Or, that a chunk of stone would go flying from wall or ground, and injure or kill them in the blast.

The bats of Diablos were blasted away by an opposing operative who was also junctioning Shiva. The wind cast Diablos's living shield away, but whoever it was didn't have the same compatibility with the Ice Queen that Squall did, so the attack was far weaker, a mechanical Diamond Dust attack, unlike the creative telepathy one could share with a GF they knew very well.

Thanks for pulling your punches, I guess...

Squall trailed off in his mind as he ran behind Seifer as fast as he could. Quistis was bringing up the rear, blasting blue magic behind her. She looked behind her when Seifer yelped in surprise, being flung in the air by Ifrit, gripped in his smoking claws and sent flying. She felt heat and light growing behind her, and only had just started turning her head before a magical cannon from Alexander hit her square in the chest. The wind was knocked out of her and she was sent rolling down a hill into a corn field, coughing and sputtering for oxygen. In the distance, she could hear Doomtrain racing across his tracks, getting louder and louder.

Squall faced down Alexander, dwarfed by the machine but standing his ground, gunblade out and ready. He knew that they were being separated, easier to catch if they weren't together. Bahamut and Shiva streaked across the sky together. Shiva's body was a glacial river of ice, and fire was streaking from between Bahamut's bared fangs, firing down heavily on Alexander to distract it from attacking Squall. Bahamut blasted the machine with explosive breath, and started to immediately fly towards where Seifer had toppled down the road towards old Winhill, tangled with Ifrit. But, Alexander fired a massive blast from its main cannon, and it made Bahamut's body vanish from the tangible plane, too injured to remain.

Squall ignored this, and as soon as he'd seen Alexander's main cannon begin to charge, he started running, firing right into the heart of the cannon when it opened up to fire. He flung himself upwards, climbing up the pistons that made up the legs. He fired lightning magic into Alexander's undercarriage, then sliced up with his gunblade as he climbed the Guardian Force like it was a mountain. As he ascended, he slashed and shot from the gun side of his weapon, using physical attacks and magic to disable Alexander, who was becoming less tangible. So much so that Squall lost his footing because the jutting shield near the center of the machine vanished, and Squall put his weight down on nothing. A combined blast from his gunblade, and a downward thrust from Shiva's magic caused Alexander to make a screeching noise of metal crunching against metal, internal gears shuddering to an ear-splitting stop. Squall started to jump down Alexander's bulk before it vanished like Bahamut had only moments before. But, about a dozen feet from the ground, Squall was thrown through the air like he'd been punched with a gigantic fist. His chest burned as he went flying, and Shiva had to throw out a cloud of semi-solid ice magic so Squall could have some cushioning.

Squall was gently dropped to the ground by his GF's magic, coughing and grunting. He looked up to see Alexander vanishing in white flecks of light, like snow rising rather than falling. Illuminating her Guardian Force's disappearance were the gossamer magical wings sprouting from Rinoa's back, her whole body charged with her sorcery. She had no physical weapon, but didn't need one. Her hands were alight with magic, and she stared Squall down hard as he rose to his feet, the tip of his gunblade pointed straight at her heart.

Quistis thought that seeing her friends, fighting against them, would be impossible. That her heart would be completely torn. But, as she fired missiles of Shockwave Pulsar and fluttering, gravitationally charged bats at an ailing Doomtrain, she really didn't find it hard at all. She and Selphie were trading magical shots through the corn. The dark field was illuminated by spells, and the fires they were causing amongst the crops.

"Why did you do it?!" Selphie demanded from within the rows. "What happened to you, Quisty?!"

The blonde didn't answer. Selphie's questions were only making her angrier and angrier. That Selphie would believe it so readily any of it.

"Come back to Garden before any innocent people get hurt!"

"You fucking hypocrite," Quistis ground out, but her voice carried through the field, so she knew the other woman heard her. "Innocent people are getting hurt. Innocent people are being murdered, but you don't care to find out the truth, not as long as rumour tells you what you think should be the truth."

"Don't try to blame me for this!" Selphie exclaimed hotly. Her voice was closer. Quistis tried to listen carefully to the direction, knowing very well that the clever Selphie would be doing the exact same thing, and probably would have more success. "Cid's dead because of you! You killed him!"

Selphie's voice was right on top of her, but Quistis couldn't react because the smaller SeeD tackled her, and she was zapped by restraining thunder magic. Quistis threw her hand up, catching Selphie under the chin with the heel of her hand, and threw a Mighty Guard spell around her, streaking towards the main battlefield. Her footsteps were muffled by the loud explosions Squall was wrenching out of Alexander. Quistis's legs were much longer than Selphie's, so she could run faster. She could feel her guard magic wavering when she took a strong blast of magic in the back. In the distance, Quistis could see what looked like a bonfire, and made a beeline towards it. She could also see Alexander in the other direction, and briefly hesitated. Seifer was in one direction, Squall in the other. That brief moment where she was trying to decide which of the two most important men in her recent life to rescue cost Quistis dearly. The Mighty Guard spell wore off completely when Selphie blasted her in the side with a supercharged Flare spell. It sent Quistis sprawling, the gravel road tearing up her left side, even through her clothing.

"Get some restraints to the edge of old town," Selphie said into an earpiece. "I have Quistis."

Quistis groaned, rolling over and immediately trying to cast magic on Selphie, but it was countered by Doomtrain appearing around Selphie like a snake, spewing its toxins right into Quistis's eyes.

"I hate doing this, you know..." Selphie trailed off sadly, crouching beside the other SeeD, who was completely incapacitated.

Quistis's magically blinded eyes rolled up to look at Selphie. Quistis could only see a blurry blob in the shape of a small woman, but Selphie could see Quistis's eyes clearly, and saw the hurt and the sheer force of her anger. She tried to speak, but her tongue was swollen in her mouth, so she could only moan in angry protest. She could hear some kind of magical explosion, and her smeary vision of the world became briefly white. Her heart constricted in fear for Seifer and Squall. Maybe Squall and Quistis could get a trial with Selphie and the others watching. Xu wouldn't order execution if the others pressed for justice. She would lose too much face. But, Seifer? He already had a record as a war criminal. He'd probably be killed outright. Not to mention if they found out he was part of the Solar System. A tear trickled down her cheek, having nothing to do with the burning gas in her eyes.

Quistis heard footsteps, and the jingle of iron shackles. Her mind raced within her incapacitated body, trying desperately to think of a way out of this.

"Not too hard," Selphie commanded as one of the guards roughly pulled Quistis to her feet.

Quistis tried desperately to connect to her blue magic, which was different than her well of regular spells, and therefore came from a different place mentally. When she was able to cast a spell of White Wind, she gasped for clean air, and immediately threw out a Ray Bomb and started running before the spell could detonate.

"Get down!" Quistis heard Selphie shout just before impact. The smaller woman shoved the two Galbadian cadets out of the way, the explosion creating a wall of fire between Quistis and her would-be captors.

"Quistis!" Selphie shouted from within the corn field as the blonde started running towards Old Winhill. "You can't run forever! You can't just kill someone and expect to get away with it!"

"I didn't!" Quistis shouted back angrily, but didn't hear if Selphie made a reply, casting another Ray Bomb and making her way towards the cover of buildings.

"I like to think that I knew you really well. At least once." Her magical angel wings were growing so bright that Rinoa's body was thrown in silhouette. "And, then I thought I wouldn't be able to put anything past you now. But..." She shook her head angrily. "Why, Squall?"

"I didn't do it. Xu's framing us." He loathed raising a weapon to his former girlfriend, a woman he still loved and respected greatly. But, he also didn't dare lower it.

"Xu...?" Rinoa asked, scoffing. "The Squall I knew would come clean. He wouldn't try to frame someone else like a coward. He wouldn't have done it in the first place." That Squall wouldn't have lied to me, either. He wouldn't have cheated on me. He wouldn't have left me and made me feel like a piece of worthless trash.

"I'm not lying."

Squall's voice sounded so familiar and sure. It cause Rinoa's wings to dull in her hesitation, and she took a couple of tentative steps towards her former Knight. Her cautious approach halted when there was a ground-shaking magical explosion behind them, coming from the direction that Ifrit and Seifer had disappeared. Squall's face was thrown in stark relief from the brightness of the fire. The panic in his eyes, the slight parting of those lips that Rinoa had kissed so many times. The lips that she'd fantasized about kissing since the first moment she saw him at the SeeD graduation ball. He'd been the best looking guy there, and he was still the most beautiful man she'd ever seen.

That panic and fear was something she'd seen in his eyes before. But, it had been meant for her. Now meant for someone else. She'd thought he'd loved her. But, he'd been lying the entire time, treating her like a moron, a child. She could feel anger welling in her, and couldn't stop the rise. There was another fiery blast of magic from within old Winhill, which caused Squall to quietly murmur Seifer's name. When Rinoa heard him say Seifer's name, magic snapped from her like a whip. The feathers of her wings were blinding white, and she slapped Squall square in the chest with a hot lash of Sorcery. It sent Squall flying backwards, but he twisted his body so he would do a somersault mid-air and land on his feet.

As soon as Squall's boots touched the gravel road, he sprang himself forward towards his ex-girlfriend. He didn't want to hurt her, but she was in his way. She was the only thing between Squall and where he was certain Seifer was in trouble. "Get out of my way."

When he got blasted in the chest again with searing magic, he knew that she wasn't going to move, and that he was going to have to fight her. The level of anger in her eyes was frightening him. He'd never seen such a look on Rinoa's face before. "Get out of my way," he said again, taking a few steps towards her. The tip of his gunblade was pointing inches from her chin.

"How could you do this?" She asked, voice too calm. Rinoa was normally a ball of emotion. This robotic tone was kind of scary.

"Do what?" Squall asked, also getting angry. Squall could see a building caught in flames out of the corner of his eye. Seifer could more than take care of himself, but he could also be seriously hurt. He could be dead, all because Squall asked him for help. "Kill Cid, or dump you?"

Magic immediately cracked down Rinoa's arm like a wave, lightning flying from her palm into Squall's gunblade. The metal acted as a conduit, and pain coursed across his chest as he was electrocuted by the magic. He forced his brain to stay lucid through the pain, and rushed her. His shoulder collided with her chest, and sent her sprawling back. Her magical wings flickered like a loose light bulb as she stumbled to find her footing. Squall lunged at her again, and his gunblade made contact, the sharp edge cutting across her shoulder and collarbone, blood spurting out immediately. It was a very deep cut, and after only moments, Rinoa's entire arm and side were drenched red. Squall was frozen in place at the site of the gore. He'd struck Rinoa. He'd hurt her! But, she didn't falter, and he was hit in the chest with magic so powerful it flung him in the air like he'd been hit by a car, and so hot that it burned through his shirt. He landed loudly on the ground, coughing and sputtering in pain as his chest smoked, the smell of his own burning skin choking him.

He could feel the ground under him rumbling from one of Ifrit's spells, and he moaned in frustration as he tried to stand. Rinoa walked towards his prone position, and he lashed out desperately with his gunblade, the tip catching her cheek. It was only a glancing blow, and he was rewarded with another jolt of electricity, which pinned him to the ground like shackles. The magic crackled around his legs, holding him down. Suddenly, Rinoa was tackled from the side by a streak of bright light. The lightning around his legs crackled and froze up like the surface of a lake before shattering. The bright light turned out to be Shiva, who had Rinoa's hands gripped in her own. Both women were struggling for control, magic crackling between them. It was hard to look, since both their bodies were magically charged, filling them with brightness.

"Go!" Shiva commanded, the ground creaking and moaning under their feet as it began to freeze. Shiva's yellow ribbons and Rinoa's hair were fluttering in the growing magical wind. "GO!" The Ice Goddess shouted again. Squall nodded and shakily got to his feet, running towards old Winhill. Breathing was a hard task for him because of the magical injury. Each intake was a high-pitched wheeze, but he ran as fast as he could. Along the gravel road, he saw another figure running towards the old buildings, illuminated by a fire on the roof of the old hotel. They looked over their shoulder when they heard Squall's footfalls, and his heart ached in relief to see it was Quistis. They collided together in a tight hug of relief. He could see her eyes were puffy and an angry shade of red from Doomtrain's gases.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Where's Seifer?" Squall demanded in response. His own pain didn't matter now. If something happened to Seifer, it would be all his fault

"There!" Quistis pointed to the fire on the hotel's roof, where it looked like someone had just put it out magically with a water spell. Quistis started running again, casting some blue magic on Squall to ease his pain. She also recast Mighty Guard, to shield them both.

"You wanna burn down the whole fucking town, Chicken Wuss?" Seifer called angrily. He knew he'd just given away his position to Zell and Ifrit, but he couldn't just let the hotel burn, especially when there were probably people inside. If his mind wasn't reeling at a mile a minute, he probably would have thought such a notion from an assassin was amusing.

"Dammit," Zell cursed under his breath from a nearby alley, Seifer's angry voice echoing across the dark alleys where they were playing cat and mouse with each other. Zell knew that Seifer wasn't at a hundred percent because of the attacks from Ifrit, but Ifrit was hurting, too. It wasn't lost on the smaller man that Seifer had done something that he wasn't sure anyone else had done, and killed a GF before. He'd commanded Ifrit without thinking, and knew the fires were totally on him. "Just turn yourself in!" Zell called, flexing his hands. "I know it was your idea to kill Cid. You must have made them do it!"

"They didn't kill him," Seifer hissed. He'd been moving through the alleys towards the sound of Zell's voice, and could now see him. Zell turned around in surprise when he heard Seifer's voice right behind him, and was promptly slammed into the wall. The wind was knocked out of him, but he recovered quickly and gave Seifer a hard punch to the ribs. This was such a familiar feeling to Zell, locked in a physical brawl with Seifer Almasy. But, Zell never thought he'd have to fight him in this kind of situation.

Zell grunted as he was caught under the chin with a hefty uppercut. He was airborne, but he did a flip mid-air, and kicked Seifer hard in the chest. Zell was the much better martial artist, but Seifer was very strong, and his reach dwarfed the much shorter man's. Hyperion went flying out of Seifer's hand and clattered loudly against one of the walls surrounding them.

"I've never been so disgusted by you, Dincht," Seifer hissed as he and Zell started trading punches. Something Seifer didn't want at all. Each of Zell's hits were devastating. "That you would believe the worst about Squall and Quisty, and still have the gall to call yourself their friend."

"It's your fault!" Zell exclaimed. He groaned and fell as Seifer kicked him hard in the left knee.

"Maybe you should ask your girlfriend about what really happened," Seifer taunted. He was bowled over when Zell charged him like a bull, and he took a powerful shoulder in the stomach.

"Don't you dare talk about Xu to me!" Zell shouted. He and Seifer were locked together on the ground, each trying to gain control of the situation. He wound up on top, and started laying punches into Seifer's chest and face.

"You're being used! Open your eyes!" Seifer shouted, black spots floating in his vision. He was going to black out soon from the beating, and had to do something

"I wonder if someone's trying to warn the same thing to Squall right now. Was it you that made him become what he is?"

"Shut up," Seifer warned, voice leaving no room for argument. He groaned when Zell punched him again in the ribs. He was pretty sure some were broken. He struggled to loosen a knife that was strapped to his thigh. "You don't have the fucking right to question my loyalty to them, Dincht." He freed it, and stabbed it into the meatiest part of Zell's thigh. The shorted blonde howled, and the surprise pain was enough that Seifer was able to scurry out from under the other man. "Not when you let a couple tabloids, and that lying bitch dictate your opinion of people you claim to love."

"Shut up about her, you prick!" Zell shouted angrily, yanking the knife out of his knee and summoning Ifrit. Seifer was blown back by the intense heat. Ifrit ran down the alley towards him, and the demon's steel-like talons slashed at Seifer, ripping into his side. Seifer's vision went red, and he immediately crumpled to his knees. He could see Hyperion a few yards away from him, and started to crawl along the dirty ground towards it. He held his hand to the wound, and could feel blood pouring out of him like a waterfall.

Ifrit's paws were balled into fists, fire and smoke licking out from between his fingers. He started charging up a fire spell as Seifer desperately crawled towards his weapon, quickly losing consciousness. He couldn't stop. Squall and Quisty were counting on him. Zell's view of Seifer was partially blocked by his GF, but he could see all the blood smeared on the wall and ground, and his hesitation made Ifrit pause slightly. Zell didn't want to kill anyone, not even Seifer.

"Just give up," Zell commanded, some of the anger draining from his voice. He limped forward to get a view of his opponent, and could see Seifer crawling on the ground in desperation, clawing at it to pull himself forward.

"Fuck you," he ground out, casting an ice spell on Ifrit, which angered the GF. He started charging up the fire spell again, raising his burning paws to rain down a possibly fatal attack on Seifer. The fire left Ifrit's grip, but was blown back by the metallic barrier of a sword, which was immediately plunged into Ifrit's chest, causing the GF to disappear in a magical blast wave, flecks of magic and burning ash floating up into the air.

"Ifrit!" Zell called in shock. He could feel that his GF was still with him psychically, but far too injured to make a return. The alley felt ice cold without the fire demon there, and Zell's shocked breath came out in white, frozen puffs. Zell balled his fists and looked towards Ifrit's attacker, and his composure vanished when he was locked in place by the hellish, burning gaze of Odin, straddling his majestic, six-legged horse.

Seifer's panic rose as he struggled towards his weapon. He looked up at Odin and Sleipnir, feeling like he was inside one of his nightmares. The mystical swordsman dismounted his steed and started to walk towards Zell, raising Zantetsuken and pointing it towards the blonde man, who was frozen in place from fear, each metallic footfall and chink of armour plates moving together sending a horrified chill down his spine, cold sweat beading on his flesh. He didn't raise a hand to defend himself when Odin's sword started slicing down towards him, and he closed his eyes as he was certain this was the moment he would die.

"No..." Seifer ground out weakly, barely able to speak at this point. He'd finally reached Hyperion, but could barely lift it because his hands were slick with his own blood.

Zell opened one eye, and saw Odin staring down at him. The blade was just barely touching Zell's neck, stopped as if it had hit some kind of invisible barrier. Seifer was struggling to try and get to his feet, having to use the wall as a crutch. He slowly raised Hyperion, pointing it right between Odin's shoulder blades.

Odin slowly turned his horned head and regarded Seifer, Zantetsuken still against Zell's throat. He lowered his blade and turned fully to Seifer, walking towards him. Zell didn't move, frozen by complete fear and shock. Seifer's grip on Hyperion weakened, and it fell to the ground. His body started to slump against the wall from blood loss, and he scrambled for his gunblade once more.

"SEIFER!" Squall cried, running towards the alleyway, making out the familiar and frightful form of Odin, coming towards Seifer.

"Squall, wait!" Quistis called, but Squall had torn off, running as fast as he could.

As he got closer, his heart lurched at the site of all the wet, slick blood that looked black in the moonlight. "Seifer!" The alley was bitingly cold as Squall flung himself between Seifer and Odin, his own gunblade pointed right at Odin's chest, one arm flung out as he used his own body as a shield for his lover. Odin reached out and put a hand around Squall's weapon, his metal gloves scratching eerily against the blade. The Lord of the Dead lowered Squall's weapon as if it were nothing.

"Get away from him!" Quistis shouted at Odin, cracking her whip. White Wind was already charged in her hand, and she pushed the magic onto Seifer, who was looking grey.

Odin reached out one hand for Sleipnir's bridle, and the other was gestured towards the three of them. Suddenly, Squall and Quistis felt a tug at their cores, like they were being yanked from existence altogether. It made them feel like they did when they'd gone through Time Compression to Ultimecia's castle. Like they were falling through the world itself. Squall instinctively reached out and grabbed Seifer and Quistis's hands, not knowing if they were falling through time, or dying, or what. He just knew he didn't want to be separated from them.

Zell was left alone in the alley, slowly coming back to himself as his paralysing fear disappeared. The only evidence that anyone else had been there at all was Seifer's blood smeared on the ground and alley walls, and a red mark across Zell's throat where Odin's sword had pressed against his skin.

---

Squall gasped for air as his feet touched solid ground again. It was much colder and windy, but Squall didn't care or notice. He was staring at Odin, and again put himself between the GF and Seifer, holding Lionheart in an attack stance.

"Where are we...?" Quistis asked, looking around. They were standing in the outer edges of a lush forest, parched lands visible in the distance. A distant and distinct 'wark' sound could be heard. "Wait..." She recognized this place. It was the Chocobo Forest on the Lenown Plains. They were in Centra.

Odin stepped towards Seifer, but Squall slashed at him. Squall only briefly looked over his shoulder at Seifer, who was standing upright and rubbing his side in surprise. It was no longer bleeding, and colour was flooding back into his face. Odin swatted away Lionheart, and then put his hands on Squall's shoulders, moving him aside as if he were a mere child. So that he and Seifer were directly facing each other.

"Guys, we're in Centra..." Quistis trailed off in wonderment. One second they were in Winhill, the next in Centra. Had they teleported?! Only Sorceresses could do that

Odin took another step towards Seifer, Squall once more getting between them. Squall slashed at Odin again, Zantetsuken coming up and blocking Lionheart's further attacks.

"Stop," Seifer commanded gently, his voice sounding stronger. He put a hand on Squall's shoulder, his own weapon held down at his side. Squall just glared at Odin. "It's okay," Seifer said firmly. Squall continued to glare for a moment longer, and slowly lowered his gunblade. Odin did the same with his own sword.

"This is as far as I can take you," Odin said as Seifer stepped around Squall to face the GF that he'd thought he'd murdered. "Teleporting humans further than this would result in death. And, I won't be able to teleport you again. Your bodies couldn't handle more."

"You're supposed to be dead," Seifer whispered, trying to remind himself that this wasn't one of his nightmares. That Ultimecia too wouldn't show up at any second.

"You can't kill what's already dead." Odin almost sounded amused. His voice reverberated through them, like it was vibrating their souls.

"Why did you help us?" Quistis asked.

Odin flicked his metal fingers near his face, and the emotionless features that made up his mask, and the horned helmet started to float away like grains of sand to reveal his face to them, Ivan's face. But, it was a much older Ivan than they were used to seeing. He looked like he could be about Laguna's age, or maybe even older. His head was shaved bald, and there were crow's feet wrinkles at the corners of his dark eyes.

"What the fuck...?" Squall breathed out. He then noticed that the burn on his chest from Rinoa's attack was gone. Quistis stared in silent shock.

Seifer shook his head, jaw hanging open. "Well... I guess I didn't have to make myself sick with worry that something bad might have happened to you," he said a little angrily.

Odin chuckled lightly. It sounded familiar to Seifer because of all the times he'd heard Ivan laughed, but at the same time it sounded deathly and a little creepy. He released his grip on Sleipnir's bridle, and the horse neighed lightly, but stayed close to his master.

"Why?!" Was the only thing that Seifer could think of to say next.

"You're the first person since my human body died that actually defeated me. When I was actually trying, that is." He gave a sidelong look to Squall, who had indeed defeated Odin once. Squall felt a little stung by the comment, like Odin/Ivan was making fun of him. Or, maybe he was starting to feel a ton of jealousy, so was projecting. "Out of honour and respect, I pledged myself to protect you until the day you die."

"By fucking me...?" Seifer asked incredulously.

"That wasn't part of my initial plan," Odin conceded. "I needed to go... undercover, I suppose you could say. When you defeated me, there was the unfortunate side effect that the thieving rat known as Gilgamesh came and took my sword from me. I needed it back, but he would have never shown his cowardly face if he'd felt my aura, so I became my younger, human self. Also, I needed to get into Esthar undetected so I could have the Guardian Force detector they'd invented. I could not have done this as I am now. Besides, I always did want to be a dancer, but my royal duties prevented it."

"So, what...? You were using me?"

"Maybe a little. But, you were using me, too. I gave you the companionship you needed at the time, and I... well, in my human form, I felt desire I hadn't felt in 5000 years. My respect became want."

"That's why you told me you didn't want a serious relationship..." Seifer trailed off. He lowered himself onto a rock, legs unable to support his weight any longer.

"Now that I'm back to this form, that human lust has vanished, but my admiration for you remains."

"So... you had sex with a Guardian Force?" Quistis asked. "That... that's pretty hot."

"Quisty!" Seifer exclaimed in annoyance. "This is serious." Odin's eyes were glittering in amusement, though he did not smile.

"What now...?" Seifer asked, looking up at Odin.

"Rest here, in the Chocobo Forest. Its magical barriers will allow you, and your Guardian Forces, time to heal. There are deep mines and caves within the Talle Mountains that I would recommend taking."

"Are you coming with us?" Quistis asked.

"No. Now that I've returned, I have duties I have to attend to." Odin reached out for Sleipnir, and mounted his horse, horned helmet and mask returning to cover up the face of Ivan Blackmoon. "But, I'll always be there when you need me most." He leaned down, and stroked a finger across Seifer's cheek. Odin's masked face then looked up at Squall. He must have seen the jealousy flare in Squall's eyes, because Squall heard Odin's voice in his mind. 'It is I who should be jealous of you.' He then squeezed his horse with his legs, and Sleipnir reared up, and started to gallop away, vanishing into the air.

"Um... that was pretty insane," Quistis replied, both she and Seifer staring at the point on the horizon where Odin had evaporated. "So...?"

Seifer called to Bahamut, who came forth as a kitten-sized dragon, translucent from weakness. Disjunctioning would help him heal faster. Quistis followed suit, both winged creatures flying further into the forest so they could find a place to rest. Squall eventually also called Shiva, who stayed human-sized.

"Is she okay...?" Squall asked quietly of his GF, Seifer and Quistis unable to hear him.

Shiva nodded once. "Injured, but she'll live."

"Okay." Squall watched as she followed Diablos and Bahamut. He looked over his shoulder at Seifer, at his bloodstained clothes, and mustered a small smile of relief. But, right now it was being outweighed by his guilt.

"We should find a place to rest. I think there's a clearing up ahead. This way," Quistis pointed. She started rubbing her eyes, which itched annoyingly.

Seifer walked slowly behind the other two, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his ex-boyfriend was really Odin. That he'd actually had sex with a 5000 year old god of the afterlife. That Odin hadn't killed Zell because Seifer had mentally willed it It was a lot to process. He also noticed how upset Squall seemed. But, his air suggested he wanted to be left alone right now.

"Here we go." Quistis found the clearing from memory. Diablos must have seen this place in her mind too, because the GF found it as well. Bahamut nodded to Seifer, and the three of them vanished. Seifer, Squall and Quistis would just have to trust their GF to come back.

"We should sleep in shifts," Seifer announced. "Not just tonight, but until we get to Esthar. We'll take watches of two and a half hours each, and rotate so the same person always doesn't have to take middle watch and have interrupted rest. Squall, you take first watch, I'll take middle, and Quisty take last watch. Then, tomorrow I'll take first, Squall will take the middle, and Quisty will take first, and so on. Okay?"

"Sounds fine." Quistis lay down on the soft, mossy ground. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but she was sure it would be a lot better than any perches in the mountains they would find for rest. Squall picked up Lionheart and took up a seat on a large, mossy rock, still thinking about all the blood on Rinoa, the blood all over Seifer. How he'd actually raised a weapon to her. How Seifer had looked so close to death. Seifer lay down beside Quistis, looking over at Squall as he felt sleep start to take him almost immediately.

Seifer's watch alarm woke him up at the start of middle watch. He grunted in annoyance as he dragged himself up. He could see Squall standing near a fallen tree, looking out into the forest. His gunblade was resting on his shoulder. Seifer picked up Hyperion and slowly walked over to him. He gently put a hand on the other man's shoulder, which caused Squall to jump. He'd been buried in his own head, and completely lost track of time.

"Watch is over," Seifer whispered. He opened his mouth to say something, seeing the haunted look on Squall's face. But, what...? It wasn't exactly an easy situation. "Get some sleep," was what he wound up saying.

Squall looked up at the other man, lowering his weapon to his side. "You're not going to say anything to comfort me?" He asked dully.

"I didn't think you'd want me to."

"Why not?"

"I didn't think you'd want me to remind you that she was trying to kill you, same as Zell or any of the others, and that we were just defending ourselves. I thought it might sound a little insensitive and full of petty jealousy."

"I just never thought that I would have to actually, you know... stab her."

"I know."

"Bu...t I know you're right. And, you're allowed to sound jealous if I'm allowed to be jealous about Odin. But, you don't have a reason to be."

"I know," Seifer repeated, though he sounded pretty uncertain.

"I'm feeling guilty now, but at the time, I would have killed her just to get to you. Seeing all that blood on you..." He trailed off, voice cracking a little. His eyes searched Seifer's clear peridot gaze.

"Well, gee... and me being the, you know, assassin, stopped Odin from killing Chicken Wuss. Maybe you should have been the one in the Solar System."

"I'm being serious."

"I know," Seifer said for the third time. He reached out and ran his fingers through Squall's hair. "When are you not?"

"If you'd died... it would have been my..."

"But, I didn't," Seifer answered, not letting him finish that sentence as he pulled Squall's face towards his own for a kiss. Squall reached up and touched the side of Seifer's neck as their tongues brushed against each other. The way Seifer was kissing him, coupled with the tranquility of the surroundings, made the whole thing very romantic. It seemed like the perfect time to say 'I love you' to Seifer for the first time. Squall had said it once on the phone, but Seifer had hung up before he could hear it. Squall felt those three words deeply, but when they broke apart and their eyes met, there was something that prevented them from becoming vocalized. Maybe it showed in his eyes, because Seifer smiled in a very intimate way. "Get some sleep," he murmured, running his thumb across Squall's lower lip before pulling away. Squall reached out and touched his arm for a moment longer before going back across the clearing to where Quistis was sleeping deeply.