Alright, I'm finally back with another couple of chapters. Woohoo!
Song lyrics used: "Long Way Home" by The Offspring, off their newest album, Splinter!
Chapter 9: The Long Way Home
Hey! I'm driving down a dusty road…
The front passenger seat of the rental car temporarily owned by Seifer was moved back. Bahamut had helped Marianne locate the lever by the side of the seat so she could lean back a little more comfortably and relax. After upon doing so, she turned to Almasy. "Seifer…" He saw her using the corner of his right eye. Of course, his main focus had to be the road. "What is it?" Seifer asked in concern. He also noticed the strain in her voice to speak still. "You shouldn't try to talk anymore, remember?" "Yeah, I know, but…" Marianne had began and used one of her arms to point in the direction of the backseats.
Seifer quickly looked behind him. "Did…you tell them…?" she asked as he looked upon Rajin and Fujin. Rajin was sitting quite comfortably behind Marianne, with the black book bag on the right beside him. He rested an arm around it. "Tell us what? About her being from another world and all?"
This had stirred tension between both Bahamut and Marianne. Ignoring her head pain once again, she regretfully turned her head in a quick reflex. Seifer looked at her and sighed. "Hey, relax. I didn't tell them about…" He mouthed out the word "Squaresoft" to her. "Tell us what? Yo, I don't get what you're saying Seifer, ya know." Rajin complained. "Rajin. Shut up." Almasy snapped, pushing him out of his attention for now. Fujin, as always, hurt Rajin and loudly repeated the command for Seifer. "SHUT UP." Now, this was not good. Seifer knew in order for everyone to have a safe and relaxing trip, that everyone was to cooperate with each other.
"Fujin, could you please not say anything?" Almasy asked the albino politely. He learned pretty quick about how to act around Fujin, and he also knew that Fujin was only trying to help. But she always spoke loudly almost all the time, and Seifer really didn't know why Fujin talked in this way. No one did.
She was slightly more loyal to him than Rajin. And if he were to treat her rudely, she would be the same as she was with Rajin. In obeying Seifer's request, Fujin said nothing more. No questions asked. Whenever Almasy would tell her to do something, she'd just do it. Hell, if she were told to jump off a cliff, Fujin would do with without any hesitations. She had pretty much sacrificed most of her free will to be a part of the posse. She admired Seifer as a close friend, and hated all the other men.
Hey! I got nowhere to go. No place that I can call my own…
Marianne was relieved that Seifer dared not to tell his posse all about her, as well as Bahamut. He felt that Seifer could be trusted. They could see the change quite clearly. And what Marianne didn't know was that Rajin had been known to have a big mouth to chat away to anyone in his path. Seifer had known this, and knew how dangerous it would be if the word got to everyone inside the facility of Balamb Garden. Probably not as bad with the Galbadians, but still pretty bad. She'd be treated like an outcast. Just like him. Almasy knew for sure that Marianne didn't want that, or to be attacked upon. She was not to be blamed. Everyone over there wouldn't know how scared Marianne had been. They probably wouldn't believe me either, Seifer thought to himself.
Tears had started to fall Marianne's cheeks. Her eyes seemed to have time to gather moisture, only to dry out again. She wondered how long this trip was going to be, but she figured it didn't really matter. She had time to try and relax, but it almost seemed impossible. The pain had been too aggravating for her ever since the previous night. She'd hope to see Dr. Kowadaki soon.
"God, it hurts…" Marianne said to basically no one. "Yeah, that's gotta suck, ya know?" Rajin said in a form of agreement. "Seifer, how long until we get to Balamb?" Marianne asked the one at the driver's seat, ignoring the guy sitting behind her. Just by seeing the pained look her face from before, the blonde was gathering as much speed as he can. He knew he had to slow down in narrow pathways, or else they'd fall into a ditch or worse. "I'm going as fast as I can, alright?" Seifer assured her. "I know it sucks. So I'm gonna try and get you on up to see the doctor."
Rajin and Fujin weren't surprised. Seifer was known to be a nice guy at times. He just didn't show it around most people. Marianne had just been accepted as one of those few.
As Seifer gained speed at the wheel, he started to have some second thoughts on why he was helping her back home to get rid of Edea. …It seemed like he didn't just want to do it for his benefit only. He actually wanted to go for it, all the way. Almasy had opened himself up around this person, and there was no turning back.
As he heard Marianne softly crying, he placed a comforting hand on her left shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll be there soon, okay?" Almasy reassured her. Thanks Seifer…you're actually not such a bad guy after all. Just as I thought, you were just misunderstood, Marianne observed. You just need to find the right crowd to hang around with. From that moment on, Seifer was consider a friend among the others she cared about. Bahamut, add another friend to the book, she mentally joked before another throb of pain had come her way. "Will do… You just worry about getting rest right now," advised her Guardian…
In the streets of Deling City, there were no civilians, for they were told to stay inside their homes. The soldiers were cleaning up around the collapsed gate. One blue uniformed soldier pushed a wheel barrel around for others to put pieces of debris into it. To protect themselves from the horrible stench, gas masks were worn over their faces. A swarm of insects had gathered to feast upon the Iguion corpses. Today was surely a lucky day for them. In just a matter of hours to a few days, if the insects were left alone to clean up the mess, just the bones would be leftover. The Galbadians weren't trustworthy of the bugs though. Sooner or later after the rubble was picked up, they were to gather in large numbers in order to pick up the dead monsters, and probably dump them in the nearest body of water.
"Damn, couldn't this have happened during something better?!" hollered another blue uniformed soldier, but he was of a high rank, unless his partner, another Elite G-Army soldier, would say otherwise. "You just shut your mouth Biggs. This is no time for sarcasm," scowled the red uniformed guy. Since Edea had left the world of Gala behind on the previous night, everyone was clueless as to who to turn to for a temporary leader until the sorceress was found. But she didn't want to be found, did she? The country of Galbadia just didn't know of it yet.
So the rest of the Galbadians were clueless on who to turn to. Wedge and Biggs had gladly volunteered to lead them in finding their actual leader. They obviously hadn't known of her plans for domination of the world that actually created theirs. Nothing of the matter was revealed to them.
Biggs crossed his arms over his chest in observing his comrades clean up. Wedge had awoken early in the morning, way before Marianne was awoken from her nightmare back at the hotel. He set up a team of lower rank soldiers to do a search on anyone who was to leave this city by train. Actually, they had caused all train rides to be canceled. No one was to leave Deling City until the G-Army had some answers about their missing leader. Indeed, Marianne and Bahamut altogether were right, causing the group to be one step ahead of them.
Wedge and Biggs weren't notified of the group of young people who left the city by rental car. Barely anyone used rental cars, since the train rides seemed just as affordable. On the previous night, the patrolman reported to Wedge about a certain group of teenagers, who didn't know that they had recently left. The current head of the entire Galbadian Army had ordered the patrolman to gather a team and find them. It would only be a matter of time until they realized that the group was no longer there.
Soon Marianne and the others will be seen as suspects of Edea's disappearance. Wedge had a big hunch that they knew something they didn't and were keeping it in secret. These youths were to be found. Alive…
On and on this road is burning…
From the back seat, next to the left window, Dincht had asked Quistis to check up on the car in front of them. The one which Seifer was driving. As Trepe looked ahead through the windshield, she couldn't see anything wrong. There was Almasy's hand on Marianne's shoulder, but he wasn't causing her any trouble.
"Is she okay?" Zell wondered. "She's fine," muttered Squall, in the driver's seat. And she was. It bothered him that this girl was all they were talking about right now. "…We'll need to get her some more clothes and things if she's to stay with us a little longer," said Selphie. "Yes, I know, and we can do that when we get to Balamb," agreed Quistis, who turned to head to look at Timlitt sitting in the backseat, by the right window.
With a smile, Selphie showed Trepe that she was fine. Deep down inside, she wasn't. Ever since she's been in Trabia Garden, Timlitt had been counted on to not let anything get to her and to give everyone . But now, she was getting scared. No one had a clue as to how to get her back. She counted on the Headmaster, Cid Kramer, to figure out something once they arrived at Balamb Garden.
Dincht had faith Dr. Kowadaki of Balamb Garden, since he has gotten hurt a lot in the past times of his martial arts training. By now, he's pretty much perfected it. At the age of ten, his grandfather had started to teach him. Until he passed away… From then on, Zell had to teach himself and practice agilities. In the long run up to now, they've appeared to come in handy. Squall, in choosing two people to come with him, had picked Zell often.
Now, Gardens, as Final Fantasy 8 fans who thought their world was just entertainment, know that they are military type schools for young people from the age of five up to eighteen. They were raised and taught to fight with weapons and cast and draw magic from their enemies. SeeD. That was the name of the special forces at Garden. In training, by the time the students reach sixteen, they are ready to be examined to graduate and live their lives as soldiers and mercenaries.
Squall in the driver's seat, like Selphie, also hoped that Mr. Kramer would know what to do. He learned his lesson back at Deling's hotel to ease up on Marianne, but that didn't mean he shouldn't have to worry about keeping an eye on her. If she dares to attack Cid… Quezacotl felt Leonhart's worries, and had the assuring words to calm him down some. "The chances of Marianne physically hurting him are slim. Squall, she is not a fighter. She never was."
Break away! I'm leaving all this crap behind…
Never was…?
he pondered. "Yes," answered his Guardian and continued. "Her life has been pretty peaceful up until last night. …And she doesn't see herself as a military type. That may change." At the wheel, Leonhart thought about it. Earth must be very different. "Yes, but not as you think it may be. When Marianne feels better, why don't you ask her and find out?" offered Quezacotl.The bird was getting under his skin, and he didn't like it. Since when had it become Quezacotl's duty to offer him suggestions? He was so used to him being quiet a lot of the time. Squall knew that his Guardian knew a lot about Marianne, but was told to ask her. Why? Quezacotl didn't bother to answer. In his job of being a Guardian Force, he had been told centuries ago to never interfere much in humans' free will, but to guide them. And that was what the thunderbird was doing with Squall. He wanted him and Marianne together, but he couldn't allow himself to say too much. A bond of trust between those two were very important for both Earth and Gala altogether. As a matter of fact, a bond with the others and Marianne were very important too. Thank Hyne that these people were good, and were never the type to abandon those who were in need of help.
Break away! The past is gone
The future's blind…
After a long period of dead silence, Zell had spoken up again. He was pretty sure at some time or another, the rest of the group must have wondered what her world might be like. "Yo, you think her world is much more advanced than ours?" "It has to be," Quistis replied tiredly. "A company in her world was able to create us." From lack of sleep, exhaustion was pretty much giving to everyone. Squall was the most exhausted at first, but he had managed to have at least one full mug of coffee before leaving Deling City. Don't forget about the CDs, he groaned to himself.It would only be a few more hours until he would start to feel drowsy.
Irvine wasn't saying much. He just fell asleep in where he sat. He never took a rental car trip back to Balamb, but Zell had mentioned from before that this was going to be a long time of travel. So Kinneas made a choice and slept it off, oblivious to hearing one of the others voices but Squall every now and then.
Don't care how long it takes this time!
On and on I'll take the long way home…
The long way home…
The long way home…
If it's for me it's on the way home!
Selphie, in sitting all the way to the right in the backseat, was looking over the scenery for a bit, and then dully focused her eyes elsewhere. The fear she's had earlier had worn off…for now. She was worried about Marianne, being separated from her family and brought here against her will. She was a little scared over the facts she was told before getting to bed. Right now, she was just a tired. Joining Kinneas, and then Trepe, who yawned and started to nod off, Timlitt also drifted off to sleep.
My hands are glued upon the wheel
The road ahead is all I feel…
The only thing left that's real…
Leonhart was the only one awake, and grateful that no one was bugging him to share his thoughts. Such people would be Zell, Selphie, and Quistis. Even Rinoa while she was still alive. Rinoa…it's a shame she died, Squall caught himself thinking. He was letting his feelings get to him again, so he did the usual and shoved them away. He felt irritated whenever his emotions came along. It was like they were buried below the organs inside of his body, screaming and struggling to just reach his head. And every now and then they would succeed, only to be buried once again. Rinoa's gone, and there's nothing that anyone can do about it. Not even Marianne.
He thought about the girl from another world again. The Timber Forest Owl member's death and her arrival linked together. He figured since she must have known Heartilly as a game character, and felt really bad about it in finding out she was as real as him. As real as Marianne herself. …I don't know… I don't really know what is real anymore, now knowing I was made up by someone else. He shook his head and sighed while focusing on the landscaping ahead of him. He hated this indeed. Who wouldn't, in finding out your life was mostly run by a group of virtual reality designers? But of course, Marianne had told him and the others that she didn't know everything in Gala was real. Maybe she felt the same way he did. Cid will know what to do, I'm sure of it. Because I sure as hell don't…
On and on I'll take this long way home…
The long way home…
The long way home…
Two hours had passed slowly. Marianne in the passenger seat of Seifer's car had finally nodded off to sleep, just as Bahamut wanted her to do. All was quiet. Rajin earlier was looking through Marianne's backpack in curiosity. She was still awake then, and Seifer had yelled at him not to. The owner of the book bag said it was okay if he did, but had to be careful with the CDs. Music was a major part in Marianne's life. This was the only connection she had with Earth for right now. Possibly sometime in a day or so to come, she would listen to a CD or more for comfort. More than likely her new found allies would get into them too. While awake, she thought of who might be into the music. Selphie, Zell, Seifer, Rajin… Squall maybe? And a number of students at Balamb Garden.
Almasy took a few short glances at her while driving, noticing Marianne resting. She was awake while crossing the railroad, so she couldn't be bothered anymore. It was still a long journey ahead, so Seifer checked the fuel gage. It was running low on gas. The air conditioning wasn't used that much either, and the windows were rolled down.
So for the first time, Seifer pulled over and let Squall drive ahead of him, who noticed him slowing down. Almasy gave him a wave to assure him that it was okay. Rajin handed him a container filled with fuel, so Seifer would supply the vehicle straight away. No one was stalling. The girl had very severe head pains, so it's possible that her skull could be fractured a little bit. No time was to be wasted, and Almasy made sure of that.
Squall in driving the other car was not very far ahead of them once Seifer started the car to keep on going. Every monster in their path was wise enough to get out of the way, or be road kill. For three more hours, Squall and Seifer drove the others to Balamb. Marianne was still asleep to notice the Garden building that was beyond seeing it on a television screen. It looked like a huge white seashell, with some other colors decorating it. Windows were shown on the left side of it, for the dormitories, for they were separated. One set of dorms for the boys, the other for the girls.
The cars were going around the back and into the parking lot area. A mostly dark area, but there were yellow side lights on the walls above the ground to illuminate it whenever anyone had to go in there.
A few faculty members would soon drive the cars back to Deling City and take a train back to Balamb. They would never have to eat or sleep along the way either. For the faculty crew were robots. Designed by the Shumi people, the Gardenmaster didn't trust humans to do his dirty work. His people never did. And they were easy to control. They didn't have emotions, or morals. The robots were only to do what their master says, even if it were a means of their destruction.
"Hey Marianne. We're here," Rajin called from behind. Marianne didn't wake up. "She must be really tired, ya know?" he added. Seifer told him, "You and Fujin go on ahead. Raj, take her backpack." And then he gave orders to the albino sitting next to Rajin. "Fujin, take the CD player." "Affirmative." Fujin managed to say quietly, for Marianne's sake. "Yo, what about Marianne?" Rajin asked of Almasy, who just muttered, "Don't worry, I got her."
Even through their talking, she was still asleep. Rajin was right. She was exhausted and sleep had completely taken her in for a while. Seifer got out of the car through the driver's side and crossed around and over to the other side from the front of the car. Then he opened the passenger door to unbuckle Marianne's seatbelt. She must be bushed, Seifer thought. He looked to the others. They were standing nearby the exit, waiting for him. Squall, Quistis, Zell, Irvine, and Selphie.
With a bit of effort, Seifer lifted the sleeping young woman in his arms and began to join the others in going to the infirmary, using one of his feet to close the car door. Concerned and worried looks appeared on the faces ahead of his vision. Zell looked rather pissed. "What happened?" he asked Almasy in a dangerously flat tone. "She fell asleep. That's what happened," Seifer snapped at him. "I didn't do shit to her, okay?" For once in his life, Almasy was just trying to do a little good for everyone, and he was being jerked around for it?! Zell didn't say anything else in reply, and looked rather alarmed of Seifer's rude remark.
"I believe you Seifer," Quistis told him gently. That caused him to slightly calm down. At least Miss Mediocre Instructor believes me, Seifer thought to himself as he was doing his best to carry her. It was a bit of a problem, because Marianne was slightly heavier than his Hyperion gunblade. He couldn't hold her in his arms forever.
Together, they walked along the lobby area to the left. The infirmary was located all the way on the left. The structure of Balamb Garden was round, and whoever strolled in the large lobby area had to follow the circular path that was built. There were railways to prevent anyone from falling over into the water below. For this place, it was pretty serene. It was early in the afternoon, so the young students would still be in their classrooms, learning about magic, world history, Guardian Forces, and other things. The youngest members, ages five to six, had to go to the daycare area. This was all unknown to Marianne, who remained unconscious in Seifer's arms.
For a moment, Squall wondered where the Headmaster was, but thought it to be obvious. He's probably in his office…
In approaching the Infirmary, Dr. Kowadaki was where she would usually be. At her desk. Wearing the white coat, the doctor was always working as the head medic. Her long and wavy dark brown hair was tied back in a bun. She was filing away papers in a file cabinet when she heard the group come in. In turning around, seeing Seifer holding a young girl in his arms had gotten the doctor's full attention. Her face was a light tan. Her lips were red as rose petals. Pale blue eyes and wrinkle free skin had shown off the rest of her beauty. "Dr. Kowadaki," began Quistis. The others had pretty much spread out within the medic center. Squall just leaned up against the entrance and exit, observing from there. Zell and Selphie were on the opposite sides of the hospital bed by the window. Quistis was standing in front of the female doctor as Seifer slowly walked over and laid Marianne down upon the bed.
"We found this girl in Deling City. There was an attack by two monsters. Iguions. I don't know how they got in but they were terrorizing the city and made the gate collapse on top of her." Trepe explained. Dr. Kowadaki's face had paled in fright in hearing this. "Oh my…" She quickly walked to the bed. "She's currently asleep right now. We need you to examine her head for any fractures. A boulder slammed into the side of her head Doc! Wham!" Zell said, with a bit of unnecessary enthusiasm, slamming one gloved fist into the palm of the other. "Yeah, ya gotta help her, ya know?" Rajin said in agreement as he placed the heavy book bag beside the bed Marianne had laid upon. Fujin set down the CD player on the table to the right. "Oh my goodness! She could be in concussion!" said the alarmed doctor. Kowadaki quickly turned to Seifer. "You can still carry her, right?" Almasy nodded slowly, offering to cooperate. "Good, I need you to carry her and follow me to the X-ray."
The others were forced out of the infirmary. There was currently nothing for them to be occupied with, so they just waited in the lobby, just outside the medic center. "Damn, I hope she isn't in concussion," Dincht uttered in concern. "How long was she asleep for?" Irvine wondered. Squall was looking down at the polished floor as he slowly turned his head up in answering Kinneas's question. "Perhaps maybe a few hours. Only Seifer knows for sure." "Fuck. He let her fall asleep," Zell said in the obvious, steaming mad. Quistis sighed sadly and placed one of her hands gently upon one of Dincht's shoulders to calm him. "I think she'll be okay," Selphie said. "She woke up this morning, and her headache was just as bad." "She's right," Quistis agreed. "So, she's not in concussion." "She's just sleepy," Timlitt added flashing everyone one of her cute smiles.
Zell seated himself from where he stood. Irvine stood next to him, rifle held relaxingly to his side in one hand. Squall looked to the others. "I'm going to report to Cid," he dully announced, and began to walk away, heading the way they had come. "Okay Squall. We'll be here," Quistis replied kindly.
Leonhart didn't say anything or return a gesture. He just kept walking. He'd been wanting to go to Cid for a while, and now was his chance. He surely wasn't going to miss this opportunity.
