Disclaimer: All FF8 characters are courtesy of Squaresoft Enix
Advent of the Necromancer: Book I
Chronicles of Past and Present
Chapter 9: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
—Near Entrance to Esthar City—
"SEIFER! LOOK OUT!"
A huge clawed hand had suddenly sprung out of the ground just less than a mere metre away from their approaching glide car. The centre of the hand was dominated by a large crimson eye staring straight at them with malevolence. Without any warning the eye closed, and the claw made a swipe at them.
"I SEE IT! HANG-ON, QUIS!"
Seifer hit the side boosters at max which made their vehicle swerved wildly, but at least it avoided the grasping hand. Barely. Once he managed to stabilize the car, he noticed that the clawed hand had disappeared. Knowing that being stationary was not a good idea, he kept steering the car in a hap-hazard zigzag pattern all the while scouting the area. After a few minutes of doing this, with no monsters resurfacing, Seifer stopped the car.
"What the fuck was that?"
"If it weren't for that horrible crimson eye in the middle of its palm, I would've thought that it was a particularly large Lefty with very nasty claws…"
"I don't like this!"
"I think we should just wait for it to resurface again and take it on." It was Quistis who said this calmly as if she were saying, 'Oh, it's raining, we'll need an umbrella.'
Sea-green eyes darkened ominously as a deep masculine voice ordered, "I will take the thing on to distract it, and you will drive the car like crazy back to Garden and bring back reinforcement."
"No."
She didn't argue with him, she didn't offer any explanations. She didn't wait for him to answer back either. She just got out of the car, lifted her long skirt, and uncoiled from her left thigh her 'formal-wear' whip, the Titania's Wisp, made with Torama tendrils, delicate and lethal at the same time. With her weapon in hand, she looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Seifer just scowled ferociously and got out of the vehicle, slamming the door in the process. He then went to open the back of their glide car to take out his prized Hyperion Gunblade.
"Shiva with you?" It was more a statement than a real question. He slammed the rear door with a satisfying thud, and stomped over to join Quistis.
She nodded and asked automatically, "You?"
"Tiamat."
She'd already known the answer, before asking the question. There was a very strange synergy between Seifer and the fallen GF. After helping them defeat Ultimecia in the future, the other GF's had brought Tiamat back with them to the present. No one had known of this, but then not much was really known about these creatures they called Guardian Forces. Apparently when Ultimecia was defeated, her hold on Tiamat weakened and since he had been defeated himself, he was allowing his energy to fade when the other GF's prevented him from doing so by having Eden absorb him.
After waiting for a few tense minutes of constantly surveying the desolate desert landscape that separated Esthar City from E-Garden, Seifer stared in the direction of Esthar City lights and frowned. Quistis followed his gaze.
"You're thinking that it was an ambush." It was not a question.
"Nah… More like a warning. Had the thing really tried, it could've crushed us, but it let us go…"
"A warning? By whom? By what? Why?"
"Fuck if I knew… Tch, let's just get outta here, we have to contact Squall and might as well brief Laguna in person about this." Without needing her to ask, he answered her silent question, "You look perfect Quis, not even a hair outta place."
When he saw that she was looking pointedly at Hyperion, he looped an arm around her waist, and bent down to give her a kiss. With a sigh, Quistis opened her mouth to allow him to deepen the caress, but before they got carried away (They were in the middle of the desert), she put a hand on his chest to gently push him away.
"I'm still beating the shit outta anyone who looks at you funny… Just so you know," Seifer said huskily against her lips before letting her go.
Quistis whisked out an handkerchief and started to wipe his mouth saying softly, "No one's going to feel very threatened by you, loverboy, if you insist on wearing this particular shade of red."
He resisted the impulse to kiss her again, and gallantly held the car door open for her. Once she was seated securely inside, he climbed into the driver's seat and started up the vehicle. This time, the drive to the Presidential Palace was without incident.
§ § §
—Grand Ballroom, Esthar Presidential Palace—
The years had been very kind to Laguna Loire, the longest serving elected President of any country. Some Estharians have even joked of just making him President for Life, to save themselves the bother of going to the polls every six years. His political opponents had labelled Laguna a goofball, a klutz and a spaz, but still he kept on winning term after term. Even some years ago, when he had wanted to retire from office to enjoy more time with his grandchildren, the people of Esthar had asked him in overwhelming numbers to continue. What his opponents, all members of the elites, never understood is that those very characteristics they themselves found lacking in the President, endeared him to the people of Esthar.
Laguna was a people's president, his only concern was to improve their lives, not to increase his own political power; although, of course, the maquiavellian nature of politics demanded the latter in order to achieve the former. Nevertheless, under his mandate the country had thrived. Although far from being utopia, most Estharians were an educated, contented people living comfortable and peaceful lives.
The wealth of the nation was obvious in the well-kept opulence of the Presidential Palace. Glittering crystal chandeliers illuminated the interior of the enormous Grand Ballroom, their lights reflected on the highly polished mirrors that lined the walls of the room. The huge glass doors that gave access to a series of interconnected balconies overlooking the Capital were framed by gorgeous blue and gold brocade curtains. The sumptuous gilt furnishings and delicate metal filigree ornamentation hailed back to Esthar's Imperial past, when the predominant style was mainly baroque.
Most Estharians kept it hushed, but the Palace was the last remnant of Sorceress Adel's flights of self-grandeur. She had commissioned the architects to build her a palace so beautiful and so glorious that it would have no equal anywhere else in the world. A residence that would reflect the technological advances of her 'reign' and at the same time befit 'her power, beauty and magnificence.' After conferring with the members of Adel's inner circle, the architects Naumura and Weisz submitted the plans of the present structure.
The Palace of Adel the Magnificent, as it was to be named, would be an impressively modern and streamlined circular structure, made of steel, glass and crystal rock. Standing well over 150 stories high, the Palace dominated the Estharian skyline, the exterior was made to imitate a perfectly cut diamond, so that when the sun shone on it, it would sparkle. For the interior, the architects had proposed an Estharian Baroque Imperial style to which they knew the sorceress was very partial. The Estharian Empire was the only other period in the history of Esthar that could be compared to Adel's incredibly cruel and bloody reign.
Beautifully dressed and bejewelled people moved around the magnificently appointed ballroom either tasting the delicacies from the lavishly displayed buffet tables, chatting with each other, or dancing to the music of the playing orchestra. On a breezy corner near an open archway, the President of Esthar was standing next to his two best friends, Kiros Seagill, a judge of the Estharian Supreme Court, and Ward Zabac, Esthar's Minister of Education. The latter two looked resignedly at their friend. They knew that Laguna's left knee was beginning to twitch. It usually did whenever they were in this kind of social gathering.
No matter what anyone did or tried, Laguna would never become a picture of sartorial perfection. He always managed to look a bit askew in formal wear. As if out of mutual consent both Laguna and his tuxedo knew that they were not made for each other, but had to make do… For the grand occasion, he wore his greying shoulder-length hair neatly tied behind his back, and somehow managed to look a bit lost. Anyone not knowing whom he was, would've probably thought that he was in the wrong place, and called in Palace Security… Nevertheless, in spite of his less than elegant figure, Laguna was an extremely popular person in the ballroom. Everyone knew of his favourite hiding spot, and sought him out there!
When Ellone Piet entered the reception accompanied by her husband, Dr. Johannes Piet Director of Esthar's Aerospace and Aeronautic Research Facility, her eyes zoomed to where she knew Uncle Laguna would be stationed, near his favourite potted plant and flanked by his two best friends. Husband in tow and with a huge smile on her lovely face, she walked over to where Laguna was standing and gave him a bone-crushing hug, before proceeding to do the same with Kiros and Ward. Used to the commotion, Johan just stood to the side and exchanged verbal greetings with everyone.
"Uncle Laguna! It's so good to see you!" She craned her neck looking for two familiar faces, "Where are Quisty and Seify? I thought they would be around?"
"I dunno… They're late." Laguna replied and then winked at Ellone, "I wouldn't be surprised if Quistis has to drag Seifer over, y'know how much he loves these smooching sessions…"
Ellone covered her mouth and giggled discreetly. The aversion that Squall and Seifer felt for this type of reception had become a running joke in the family. However, they each disliked it for completely different reasons. Squall's aversion stemmed from the very core of his being, he hated being weaponless and surrounded by a crowd. As for Seifer, he just hated having to be nice to people he would rather cut down with Hyperion, like Laguna's Press Secretary, Frederic Jenssen, for example. In Seifer's opinion, the man spent too much time ogling Quistis, and not enough of it doing his job.
To Seifer's credit, he usually didn't put up such too much fuss when other people admired Quistis. As far as he was concerned, they could admired all they wanted as long as they kept their distance. He knew that Quistis was more than capable of taking care of herself. He only objected to certain people, and poor Jenssen apparently was on the top of the list, right alongside the paparazzi. Something to do with some past history the three of them have seemed to share.
"Where is Foehn?" Johan asked, looking around to see if he could find Laguna's grandson, who could usually be found chatting away surrounded by a cluster of young ladies… Piet was quite fond of the cheerful young man.
Laguna placed a hand behind his neck and said ruefully, "Poor Foehn was ordered back to Balamb Garden by Squall…"
Ellone smiled sympathetically at him, disappointed herself at having missed the boy, "I was looking forward to seeing him. He's so sweet, Uncle Laguna! He looks just like you!"
"He has even started to imitate the way Laguna dressed back in the old days," added Kiros and Ward waved his hands.
"Ward says that it can't be good…" Forever Kiros seemed to have an uncanny way of interpreting Ward's gestures, "Laguna had and still has a horrible sense of style."
"Hey, guys! Wait a minute…" Laguna started to protest but his voice dwindled. He looked like he had seen a apparition on the ballroom floor.
The others followed his line of vision. What they saw made Kiros, Ward and Ellone gasp. Johan gazed at the person to whom all four pairs of eyes seemed to be glued, and found just an ordinary woman, not very tall, with shoulder length brown hair dancing with a man wearing the dress uniform of the Duke of Dollet's elite guard. Now that he thought about it, the woman's face looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't seem to be able to place it right away. He took one look at Ellone's stunned face and arched an eyebrow, maybe after they all got over their initial surprise they might take pity on him and explain why the woman had wrestled such a reaction from them.
§ § §
—Windhill Inn, Xander's Room—
Xander looked up from his laptop when he heard the sound of his door being opened and then slammed shut.
"So, you guys were successful? Did you get any information from Mrs. Olson?"
He had sent Rei and Zoltan out to question the widow of the victim, Mrs. Ross –the flower shop owner– had told them about.
"Nope. It seems the guy had been going for walks around that area for the past two years, even during Lunar Cry Season and nothin' has ever happened to him." Zoltan said. For once he exercised some caution and refrained from telling Xander that the widow, who was young and cute looking, had been weeping all over poor Rei, who had stood the assault stoically, even lending her a large handkerchief.
"Correction. There is useful information to be gleamed from the visit. The victim was young and had Galbadia military training, so a normal Lefty should not have posed too much of a problem for such a person." Rei crossed his arms over his chest and said more pensively, "He also went for his walks fully armed, therefore whatever took him down cannot have been an ordinary monster."
Xander stared at Rei thoughtfully, "You have a good point there..."
"You mean the poor guy was taken out by one of those clawed thingies like the one that almost got me?"
Zoltan was getting excited, stuff was about to happen and he liked that.
"No." Xander answered him, "What Rei means, is that the clawed Lefty that grabbed you might not have been the only unusual monster this area has seen."
"Oh!" Zoltan tried to sound like he understood everything.
"In any case, the information you have brought seems to pose more questions than actually answering the original one we had..."
"Hmm...like why would a fully trained member of the Galbadian military move to this backwater town two years ago?" Rei was brainstorming out loud.
Xander added, "And why would he choose to 'take a walk' fully armed on that particular area? From what we have seen, that's one of the ugliest areas in all of Windhill, perhaps the ugliest... Not where I would choose to go for a nice scenic walk."
"Yeah, and it's reaaally far from his house!" Zoltan piped in. He was in his pensive mode, seated on a chair with his arms crossed over his chest and a frown of deep concentration on his face.
At his comment, the two older SeeD just looked at him startled and then gave him a wide grin. They both stood up and approached him menacingly... Before Zoltan could say 'Ugh!', they pounced on him. On one side Xander grabbed him by the neck with one arm and with the other fisted, mussed his hair. On the other side Rei did the same.
"Yeow! Hey! Hey, guys! What're you doin'!" Zoltan protested loudly, "Like, hey! you're messin' my hair!"
Rei and Xander let go at the same time, making Zoltan fall on the hardwood floor, rear first.
"Ouch!" Poor Zoltan protested again and with a hand massaging his tender backside stared at the other two accusingly, "What did'ya do that for?"
"We were thankin' ya!" Answered Xander with a smile, "For once, you actually said something useful."
Zoltan brightened at the compliment, "I did, didn't I?" His chest was getting puffed up.
"Yeah, just don't make me regret saying it, kid, OK?" After saying this, Xander face became serious, "Shortly after you guys left for Mrs. Olsen's, I did some snooping around Windhill's morgue."
"Eewww!" This was Zoltan's only remark.
"And?" Rei prompted his friend after casting the youngest SeeD a disgusted look.
"They had plenty of casualties caused by the usual suspects. Bodies poisoned or crushed to death by a Lefty or paralysed and suffocated by a caterchipiller... But they don't have a body for Peter Olsen, not even bones. No clothing. Nothing. I spoke to the morgue's personnel and they all told me the same story: the local police could find no traces of Peter Olsen after he was reported missing last week. He seems to have just vanished into the thin air."
"I don't like this." Rei's face was grave, "This incident shares too many similarities with
the unresolved case of the disappearing couple over at TUK. There has also been several reports of people missing in Timber, their bodies never found. Of course, the source of this information is majorly unofficial."
"But, why would people around here say that Mr. Olsen was crushed by a Lefty?" Zoltan asked sounding very confused.
"Now, Zol, that's a very good question that I would like to have answered..." Xander replied pensively
"So, what do we do now?" Zoltan wanted action.
"We proceed as planned. I send B-Garden the latest information we have gathered and await new orders. Meanwhile, we keep doin' what we've been hired to do, except that we always do our rounds fully junctioned with a full stock of magic." Xander said meaningfully, and looked at Zoltan sternly, "Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Zoltan answered looking shamefaced, he always forgot to junction Ifrit.
Xander relented, 'This is the kid's first mission after all...' He said to Zoltan, "Since our tour of duty is done for today, why don't you just go around town and relax? It'll do ya good, kid."
"Hey! Why don't we meet those girls again to see if we can get some more information from them?" Zoltan asked enthusiastically.
"You mean when you were not flirting with them?" Rei remarked dryly, raising a dark eyebrow. Everyone in the room knew that he had thought the exercise to have been a sheer waste of time.
"Hey, Xander did it too! And... and you got your fair share of attention!"
"Did it look like I was enjoying myself?"
"If Sylvie ever finds out that those girls were all over you, specially the blonde... " Zoltan started to say, he was being his usual tactless self.
"Oh, shush it, Zol! Like that flirtin' sister of mine's got anything to complain 'bout!" Xander interrupted him abruptly 'Kid, you don't wanna see Rei angry, not healthy...' "Anyway, like I was sayin', you two are free to go. I need to contact Commander Squall immediately."
After taking a peek at Rei, Zoltan got the hint and said, "OK, I'm outta here. See ya!"
"Keep your communicator open at all times!" Xander yelled out. He saw Zoltan nod before he left the room.
"Do you think it was wise to let the kid loose around town like that?" Rei asked and added, "If anything happens to him, aunt Zuleima will have our asses."
Xander looked up and grinned, "How about if you keep the kid company? Kinda like keepin' him outta trouble?"
Rei stood up and gave his friend a sour look, "You know, you're not so different from your sister after all..." Having said that he left the room to go after Zoltan, slamming the door in the process. Xander sighed and started on his report for the Commander.
§ § §
To be continued…