Author Notes: Yes, another chapter after so long. I won't bore you here, just check out my profile for reasons why I'm updating like a snail. Good news is that by October I shall be free to write more and more. I promise you guys I'm not done with this fic - far from it! Just pray for me, guys. I love this fandom and I love writing for you guys. Been at this for 3 years and I wouldn't change a moment of it.
Things will be getting quite serious from here, I'm warning you now. Rinoa and Squall will not like what's in store for them. Also, a little warning for my sensitive readers, but let's not give everything away.
Thanks to everyone for the reviews to the last chapter. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them, I knew my readers were smart!
Chapter 21 – Three-Way Tie
In the 7th grade I studied The Sorceress' Knight, a first-person narrative told in the perspective of a young man who set out to kill the last sorceress only to fall uncontrollably in love with her. A major literary feature of the book was the unreliable narration. The young man would relate a topic in a chapter, only to contradict it in another. The contradictions and his unreliability were due to being possessed and seduced by his lover.
I had mixed feelings about the book because I could never ascertain what the Knight truly felt. Which chapters were verified accounts, and which were the hallucinations? Was he really in love with the sorceress, or was that part of her charm?
At present, my life felt like an unreliable narration. Whether the narrator was myself or Squall one of us was definitely unreliable.
I did not have the answers to my father's involvement with the Loires, nor the true identity of Motorcycle Man. I had assumptions, hypothesises, and great speculations. But no solid proof to back up these answers. If my life were a book, the readers would no doubt be as vexed as I had been reading The Sorceress' Knight and deciphering its authenticity.
Squall, the another unreliable narrator. In his diary entries he had stated being the son of President Laguna Loire, yet now, he stood facing Lance's grim face claiming to be his son. Which was the truth, and which the lie?
Lance showed no signs of disparity. His teary eyes continued to stare at Squall.
"I don't get it," I murmured.
"I think we should adjourn to the front room. There's a lot to be said," Dad gestured to Lance. He squeezed past Squall into the room.
"Squall," Lance held out his arms and took a couple of steps towards Squall.
"Don't!" Squall barked.
Before Lance had a chance to react, the brunet shoved past him. Speechless, I gawked at Lance. The older man hung his head, placed a hand on his face and wiped at his eyes. Sighing, he followed after Squall.
I didn't waste time idling in the hallway. Curious to know how Squall had gone from being a Loire to a Walters, I was still holding onto a thread of hope that Dad would keep his promise.
My mind was vacated in conjuring controversial ideas; Squall was the love child of Lance and Raine. However, the thought of Raine – the loving and dedicated mother figure I had believed she had been – having an affair was both unbelievable and ludicrous.
Dad sat on his armchair while Lance sat on the sofa next to him. Squall was standing by the window, his gaze outside. I sat next to Lance, eyeing him carefully, still shocked that Squall was the boy he had told me stories about.
"So," Dad's voice broke me from my gaze. He smiled at me and clapped his hands together, sparking memories of my childhood when he'd tell me bedtime stories. "I think now is the time to fill you in on what we can."
"About time," I couldn't help mutter under my breath. That didn't go unnoticed by Dad who threw me a cautionary look.
"Just remember what I told you before, Rinoa. I kept you out of everything to keep you safe. I don't mean physically, I don't doubt that telling you all this will have any physical implications on you, but I mean mentally, emotionally," Dad explained. He looked at me for a brief while, but when I didn't say anything, he carried on.
"Well, I'm not sure where to begin, but I guess Luqas here would be a start," Dad pointed towards Squall. I silently thanked him for getting straight to the part I was the most curious about. "Squall and his family were in an accident in this house, roughly 8 months ago. Unfortunately, his mother and sister both died in the fire."
I glanced at Squall's back. Even though he acted tactless towards me, I hoped we weren't being inconsiderate talking about his late family in front of him.
"Squall and his father were the only survivors," Dad continued to explain.
"I thought—" I glanced at Squall quickly. I bent my head closer toward Dad and lowered my tone. "I thought President Loire was Squall's Dad?"
"Yes, he is," Dad nodded. "Lance over here is Squall's father." He widened his eyes, almost as if I were missing something obvious.
I frowned, averting my gaze to Lance. The older man didn't return my look, he continued to stare blankly in Squall's direction.
"I'm not sure I've understood correctly," I huffed.
"Oi, airhead," Squall spat, turning to gesture at Lance. "He is Laguna."
"What?" I cried.
Lance gave me a thin smile and nodded his head in affirmation.
"B-but, President Liore is dead! It's all over the news. They found his body." The words were pouring out of my mouth as the past few months confusions overflowed. How was it possible that a man who was declared dead was now sitting right next to me?
"No, they haven't found his body," Dad shook his head. "They found Lance Walter's body, Kiros and Ward had cited it as Laguna's, however, there's no doubt Jugo knows its Lance."
"Jugo, the Estharian President?" I questioned.
Dad nodded in affirmation. "I'm not sure why he's playing along; he's not a gullible man."
"He knows if people find out the truth we'll both be ruined," Lance remarked.
"Truth about what?" I interjected.
Lance sighed. "Rinoa, what I told you before was the truth, well sort of. I did have an argument with Lance Walters, it was in my office. He threatened Squall, things got out of hand and . . ." Lance inhaled deeply through his nose and averted his eyes. "I killed him."
"You didn't kill him, it was self-defence," Dad said to Lance.
"He's dead, isn't he?" Lance challenged.
"Yes, he's dead. But you didn't kill him with intent. He brought it upon himself," Dad argued.
"Fury, a man I called a dear friend is no longer alive because of me. Whether he asked for it or not, his blood will always be on my hands."
"He was a friend to us all, but what did he do to you and your family?" Dad's voice rose as his face contorted into a scowl.
So Lance Walters was the one who started the fire?
"And what did I do to his?" Lance retorted. Dad tried to argue, but Lance interrupted him. "Whether you agree or not, the truth will always remain. It doesn't matter whether he deserved it or not, I took another man's life."
The two men stared wordlessly at each other.
The room was silent again. I turned to see what Squall was doing as he hadn't spoken in a short while. His gaze was on Lance but glanced in my direction when he caught me looking. I quickly turned back to the two men, but chided myself for making it obvious.
"So the real Lance Walters was the one who started the fire?" I asked.
"No," Dad said. "We don't actually know who did. All we know is he was behind it."
"Why? I mean, you said he was your friend," I asked, unknown to what could have transpired between these men to result in such bloodshed.
"He was working for Jugo. Rinoa, there are people in Esthar that have been after Laguna for some time. His family were terrorised by these people. We think these people are linked to President Jugo," Dad further explained.
"So these people did all of this to get Laguna out of power?" I surmised.
"Yes." Dad nodded again, before elaborating. "Laguna is not Estharian by birth. There are a very small, but nevertheless powerful minority of Estharians that don't like Esthar mixing with the rest of the world. Having a Galbadian-born President caused a lot of social and political tension in the country. Jugo is one of these xenophobes."
"No," Lance piped next to me. "With Jugo there's more to it than that. I'm sure not what it is, but his comments toward me were more personal."
Dad threw an inquisitive look toward Lance. I assumed this was something new to his hears. For reasons that may be deemed pitiful, that gave me satisfaction.
"What comments?" Dad demanded.
"When he moved into the Presidential Palace, before the situation between me and Lance transpired, I was called to remove something I had left behind in the Presidential suite. I hadn't realised that a shoebox filled with pictures of my parents were left in a closet." Lance squinted, as if the memory troubled him. "He wouldn't touch the box; he kept saying that seeing my father's face boiled his blood." Lance frowned at Dad.
"You're father was Galbadian – he's xenophobic," Dad reiterated.
"But so was my mother," Lance argued. "His comments never included my mother and she was an eighth generation Glabadian, my father was only fifth generation."
Dad kissed his teeth. "Lineage is from the father. Laguna, you're reading too far into this."
"Maybe," Lance meekly replied, but he didn't sound convinced.
As much as I was interested in this Jugo person, I was still awaiting my answers. "Sorry to interrupt but, how are these people getting away with what they did to your family?"
"They had made threats to me before, threats I hadn't taken seriously. When the fire started, it did look like an accident. I would have let the Balamb Police investigate it further, but all these threats to Squall scared me," said Lance.
"So you let Cid close the case and make it out as an accident?" I asked.
Dad and Lance looked at me in surprise. I realised my mention of Cid sparked that reaction, but if they were finally telling me the truth, I wasn't in any position to act completely ignorant. Yes, I did know a few things, but this was why it was important for me to distinguish between what was fabricated and what was authentic.
"Why didn't you tell the Estharian police? Your people still love you," I asked Lance.
"Rinoa, it wasn't easy. To this day I have no proof that these threats are coming from Jugo. I have no proof that whoever set fire to this house was working for Jugo. Everything is speculation. I could have had Estharian and Balamb investigators looking into this case to get justice for my wife and daughter." Lance turned his body to face me, propping one of his knees in the space between us. He stared into my eyes. "However, when the only remaining child you have is fighting for survival, and you get a call telling you that they have the power to put a stop to this and let that child live, and all you have to do is walk away, what would you choose?"
"People don't understand, you can have all the money and power in the world, but when someone threatens to hurt your spouse and children, you are the most powerless man on earth," Dad further added.
"I want justice, but not if it jeopardises the safety of people I love," Lance spoke determinedly, placing his hand on his chest. "I made that mistake once, I'm not about to make it again."
"It's a shame the people you love are all dead," Squall retorted. His blank face stared at Lance.
"You're not," said Lance.
"Bet you wish I was," Squall remarked.
"Of course I don't!" Lance cried. A sullen frown replaced his earlier determination.
"I bet you wish I was the one that died," Squall's voice rose as he walked towards us. "You wish I were the one who I died with mum. That way you could feel better for saving your precious Elle!"
"Don't you dare, Squall!" Lance shot up from the sofa, grabbing Squall by the shoulders. "You're both my children!"
"You loved her more than you loved me," Squall cried, shaking Lance off him.
"I loved you both the same."
"Then why did you look at me in disbelief! When you moved the blanket away, you looked in my eyes and I saw your disappointment. It wasn't your princess you carried out of the fire, it was me!" Squall's face was only inches away from Lance's.
Lance straightened his shoulders, but I could see his bottom lip quivering.
"I was not disappointed saving you; I was disappointed in not being able to get both of you out." His voice broke and tears trailed down his cheeks. "She was my princess. She was my baby girl and I failed her. She was a brave, young woman who fought illnesses her whole life. She battled leukaemia at the age of ten and she survived that."
Lance looked at the floor, his lips pressed tightly together. "To survive all that and then die in a fire, that is not fair!"
"Fair?" Squall challenged, his tone questioning. "I guess fair would be to have her in my place, right?"
"Don't you dare say that!" Lance poked Squall's chest, his eyes ablaze. The younger boy didn't flinch. "I don't for a second regret carrying you out."
"Whatever," Squall shook his head and headed for the door.
Lance gripped Squall's arm, preventing him from leaving. "Squall, I'm sorry that it looked that way for you. But even if it had been Elle in that blanket, I would have gone back in for you."
"Whatever," Squall repeated, twisting his arm free. As he walked out of the room he departed with one final saying. "You can say whatever to help you sleep better. All I know is it was her room you went into first. And when mum called you asking about me, you didn't stop. You had your Elle and you were carrying her to safety."
"That's not true. I shouted to her to look for you," Lance made way to follow Squall only to be stopped by Dad.
"Laguna, leave him be. He's hurting now, he'll understand," Dad's voice was reassuring to my ears, but Lance seemed defeated.
With Squall out of the room, and my heart beating at a reasonable rate, I was able to somewhat relax. However, now that Dad was willing to answer my dire questions, my mind seemed to have gone blank. Instead of racking my brain from the beginning, I decided to ask whatever popped up first. That began with Dad's involvement with the Loires.
I was happy that Dad answered my questions, relieved that my patience had finally paid off. It was a gruelling couple of months being left in the lurch, questioning my sanity and the reality of my relationship with him. Now he was finally clearing up all my misconceptions, and I silently thanked God that he had kept his word.
Lance had wandered to the window while Dad explained as much as he could. In that window of time I learnt that Dad, Laguna, and Lance Walters had been part of the same regiment during their time in the Galbadian Army. Years after, Dad had gone on to become the General, and Laguna and two of his comrades, Kiros and Ward – who had also served in the army, had set off for Esthar. There, he was very much involved with politics and eventually was appointed the President by the people.
Lance Walters had moved somewhere in the district of Shumi Village and had kept infrequently in touch with them. When the Shumi Tribe leader was assassinated two years ago the country fell into civil conflict. Dad and Laguna tried to reach Lance Walters to find out if he was all right. It was then that they found out Lance had escaped to Esthar. Neither had thought anything suspicious of the situation, until Lance showed signs of animosity and withdrew from Laguna completely.
Months after Esthar and Galbadia's peace treaty, and after Dad had completely resigned, Laguna informed him Lance was behind the assassination. Both men tried to help their friend come clean, only to find he had connections to President Jugo and believed in a cleaner, completely Estharian nation.
Laguna wanted to get Lance help, but Dad had given up on him. "You're mother had passed away just shortly the year before. My priority was keeping you safe, I wanted nothing to do with a murderer," Dad had said.
With Shumi Tribe being in civil war and no government in rule, there was no one to hold Lance to account. Eventually, Laguna gave up on him and moved his family to a gated community after several letters of harassment. But 8 months ago, after Raine and Ellone were killed in the fire, Lance Walters made a return.
Dad retold the same story I had heard in the basement. They knew Lance Walters had helped Jugo take Laguna out of power and needed to find a way to get him to confess. Kiros and Ward had rigged the Presidential cameras to loop footage of the men talking in Laguna's office. This prevented the security guards from investigating if things began to look suspicious.
Dad's story was near identical. Lance had ordered Laguna to turn off the security cameras in the room. However, the webcam was still running. Lance was perceptive and mocked Laguna, telling him that Squall wasn't safe. That's how the brawl broke out.
Dad said that Lance had changed a lot, but that night in particular, he was almost inhuman. "I think he realised the huge mistake he made getting involved with Jugo. He knew there was no way out. He was responsible for multiple deaths, not just the Shumi Tribe leader and Raine and Ellone. I guess confessing to everything was his way out. Either way, he knew he was a dead man."
"You think that's why he came that night?" I asked.
"Yes, I do. There was no need for him to confess. No need for him to agree to meet us. Lance was very troubled after the war, and being isolated from us most likely affected his psychology. That's probably how Jugo brainwashed him – fed him lies about how the Galbadian Army ruined him. How he would reward him for the troubles he'd face, and a bigger pension than the one he'd be getting. I'd like to believe that even through his mockery and threats Lance wanted a way out," Dad solemnly spoke.
Dad continued recounting the rest of the story. When Kiros and Ward had seen the footage through the webcam they made their way into Laguna's office. There they made a distraught Laguna change into Lance's clothes and leave the Palace undetected. Kiros and Ward had wrapped Lance's dead body in a rug taken from Ward's office and removed the body from Laguna's office and into Kiros's suite. It wasn't until morning when a cleaner ventured into Laguna's office and saw the blood stains that chaos has ensued. Laguna had gone missing. Palace security checked the footage and caught what looked like Lance Walters leaving the Palace.
With the Palace in a commotion, Kiros and Ward had to get rid of the body.
"Rinoa, do you remember the secret passage we had in Caraway Mansion?" Dad asked.
"Yeah, the secret passage in your office, behind the built in shelf? That freaked the hell out of me; it was so dark in there."
"That passage was built as a means for escape during wars. When Galbadia fought against Esthar over fifty years ago, your great-grandfather had that tunnel built, that's why it was connected to the sewers.
"People in the city didn't have access to bomb shelters, so they would create these tunnels that connected to the sewers to allow city dwellers to escape when there was threat of bombs descending, or if the enemy were approaching," Dad explained.
"We had similar types of passages built around the Presidential Palace in Esthar, only instead of the sewers, it was the old underground transport system lines," Lance carried on.
"Like train lines?" I asked.
"Erm, no, not really. You've never been to Esthar have you?" Lance asked to which I shook my head in negation. "Okay, basically . . . imagine a very small elevator, thin in size. But instead of going up and down, it moves horizontally."
"Yeah, I think I know what you mean," I said.
"These "elevators" we call pods, and the pods were used in emergency for the same reasons your Dad stated. It's been a long time since we've ever had to use them, and we have different escape procedures in replace of them," Lance clarified.
"So you used this tunnel system to remove the body." I deduced.
"Yes, Kiros and Ward are a lot smarter than I. They think quickly on their feet, they saved my sorry ass a number of times when were in the army. Kiros placed the body in the pod and got in himself. Ward took a hired van and met him at the end. Poor Kiros was in that pod for two hours before Ward got there. I owe him . . . both of them," Lance sighed.
Dad concluded the story, "The body now removed from the palace, Ward drove it to Great Salt Lake at night and dumped it in the sea. Three days later the body was found and Kiros and Ward were called to verify it as Laguna".
It sounded fairly believable, and it matched identically with Kyle's story, but not what was circulating in the news.
"But I remember in one news report, they said a security guard at the Palace confirmed Laguna leaving that night, citing he was tired," I reminded them both.
"An unnamed security guard," Lance corrected. "Which means he doesn't exist. The Palace probably had someone on the phone give an unauthentic report to water down any rumours. Or the news reporter made it up."
"It seems like everything worked out a bit too well. Like, how did you manage to do all this under Jugo's roof without him realising?" I said disbelievingly.
"Jugo knew what we were up to," Lance replied. "He allowed it to go unnoticed because he was probably done with Walters. He presumably knew that there was no way I would try to gain back power after I'd killed a man. I was defeated."
"But, wouldn't that just give him more leverage over you? Like, why didn't he hand you over to the cops?" I kept enquiring, unsatisfied with the conveniently handled situation.
"I wonder that myself," Lance replied.
I realised that my questions weren't the only ones that were unanswered. There were probably a number of things Dad and Lance didn't know the reasons behind. I felt guilty for my earlier behaviour; demanding information when they probably didn't have the answers themselves.
"So what happens now? I mean, sure you and Lance Walters look alike, but you can't hide here forever," I was curious to know the next stage in their plan.
"Laguna will stay here as long as he needs," Dad answered instead. "As for Jugo, there's nothing we can do right now. We couldn't save Esthar from losing Laguna, and I couldn't save Galbadia from Vinzer's gluttony, but I'll be damned if we let Cid fall victim to this corruption."
"Wait, what's this about Galbadia?" I asked in haste.
"Unfortunately, our President is nothing but a puppet. His greed for money exceeds his love for his people. Sadly, I only noticed this after I resigned. Jugo and Deling are no doubt working together."
"To do what?"
"I'm not sure. I presumed it had something to do with the United Global Nations; to be the superpowers of the world and establish laws that only aids them. But I'm not so sure now. Esthar has provided aid and money to Shumi Tribe after their war, and is in the process of selecting a government for them. They did the same for Centra twenty years ago when President Carter was in power."
I nodded at Dad's words, remembering some of this from my Government and Politics classes at school.
"But Balamb is still the only remaining independent power country not in alliance with Esthar. Galbadia and Balamb have a treaty that if any country were ever to invade the other, each would come to the other's aid. Esthar can't harm Balamb without Galbadia having to get involved."
"Esthar and Galbadia have a treaty too," I added.
"Three-way tie." Lance stated. "All three countries are safe."
My current questions were answered, yet I was still none the wiser. What could President Jugo want with Balamb? Did the country have an infinite supply of oil or magical stones? How could all this go on and no other country be of any help? Did other politicians know of this?
"You don't think Esthar's out to take over the world, do you?" I asked feebly.
Both men started chuckling. I knew it was a silly notion even before the idea left my lips.
"Oh, my dear Rinoa," Dad sighed, a lopsided smile on his face, "I wish this were a movie where a superhero could come save the day. Unfortunately, I have not an atom's weight of an idea regarding Jugo and Deling's plans."
"But you seem to be on good terms with Deling."
"I have to be, it's the only way I can keep him off my case. He doesn't have a clue that Laguna is here." Dad ran a hand through his grey hair.
The house phone chimed and Dad went to answer it. Lance and I were alone in the room so I took the opportunity to ask him some further questions.
"Lance—"
"Laguna," he smiled at me.
"Sorry, it's gonna take some time getting used to that." I smiled back at him, realising that all this time I was still calling him by his pseudo name.
I was disgusted to admit that even though he had murdered another man, I felt more comfortable around him than ever. Knowing he was President Loire and having no relations with the other Lance Walters, the murder didn't affect me as much. I guess it partly had to do with his explanation – Walters had asked for it.
"Laguna, why didn't Lance go to Esthar with you after you left the army?"
Laguna thought for a moment. "Lance wasn't originally living in Galbadia. He was a dual citizen of Glabadia and Trabia, his mother being Galbadian. After the war he was intending on going back, but I guess he stopped by Shumi Village instead."
"I don't know, I think maybe if he had stuck with you guys, all this wouldn't have happened." I couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the other man. What a waste of life.
"It would have happened, but not in the same way. That's something I've had to come to terms with, Rinoa. Sometimes there's nothing you can do to stop harm coming your way." Laguna's words were piercing to my heart.
I always felt that there was always a way to stop harm from reaching you. But maybe he was right. If Walters hadn't been the one to help Jugo maybe it would have been someone else.
Laguna chuckled, breaking me from my reverie. I looked at him in surprise. He smiled before explaining himself, "I find it ironic sometimes that I was part of the same army that fought against the country where I was elected President."
"Yeah, but that was years ago, and it's not like you were the one fighting in that war," I countered, but nevertheless finding humour in the situation.
"I know, but still. Maybe that's why Jugo hates me so much; probably thinks I'm a hypocrite." Laguna shook his head.
"Why did you join the army?"
"My father. Squall's granddad was in the army, and sadly, he had fought in the war against Esthar." Laguna made a wincing face and gave me a wink.
"Ooh, now that is ironic."
Dad walked into the lounge and announced Cid was on his way.
"I should tell Squall," I curious where our anti-social guest had disappeared.
Upstairs, I checked the guest room only to find it empty. Squall's handhold bag was left on an unmade bed but he was nowhere in sight. I checked my room and found the balcony door open.
Squall stood with his hands spread out on the railing, looking out at the back garden as the breeze gently played with his grown locks. I approached with caution, clearing my throat to alert him of my presence. The last thing I wanted was for him to have a heart-attack, or fall over the balcony. He briefly set his eyes on me, but turned back to his view seconds later.
"Erm, Cid is on his way over."
When Squall didn't say anything, I looked around for something else to talk about. I didn't want to argue with him since we had gotten off to such a bad start at the hospital. Stating something obvious would most likely irritate him more.
"Squall, I'm sorry for reading your diary."
"I don't care," he muttered.
"You seemed to have minded a lot at the hospital," I blurted, immediately wanting to kick myself after the words left my mouth.
I didn't like the awkward silence and there was no way I could stay in my bedroom while he was in the balcony. It was weird and getting weirder the longer the silence dragged on.
"Look, I know right now I'm probably not your favourite person, and I know I shouldn't have read your diary, but I'm glad that you're not dead," I tried to convey my feelings.
Squall's narrowing eyes turned to me. I was sure I was making a fool of myself the more I spoke, but I couldn't help but continue.
"I was disappointed when I had read that you'd died. But when I saw you were alive, I was happy." I tried again, but Squall just stared at me with the same reaction. "Because you were interesting to read about, and your diary entries were funny . . ." I continued failingly. "Obviously, I don't mean the one about Ellone's illness."
Oh my God! Stop.
I clamped my mouth shut, mentally cursing my stupidity.
"Squall!" the sound of Seifer's voice came from my room. Soon enough the blond walked into the balcony. "Hey, you all right?" Seifer grinned.
"Yeah, what's up man?" The faintest of smirks graced Squall's face.
Seifer completely ignored me and grabbed Squall into a bear-grip.
"Long time, dude. Glad you're safe," the blond mumbled.
I felt out of place standing here while the two had their bromance moment. I briskly left my room and hesitated in the upstairs hallway. The sound of Dad and Cid talking downstairs could be heard. Laguna was presumably with them.
I entered Dad's bedroom and sat on his bed. I was happy Squall was alive, happy that Lance turned out to be Laguna. Dad had finally answered some of my questions, and hopefully, would be willing to answer more in time.
Yet, I still couldn't shake this feeling. My chest still felt hollow and my heart seemed to ache for something unknown. I had thought this feeling would have been removed once Squall woke up. But it hadn't.
I still felt alone.