-Balamb Garden-
After successfully getting their clothes back, retrieving Vincent and following Squall- the group was led down an elevator and eventually left to wait at the opposite end of some long decorated hall of the school. Barely any students were about, which was good to the group of hero's that huddled together. It only meant that no one would overhear the odd things they had been talking about, that, and no one would look at them funny and make comments about their attire..
Zidane grunted as he looked down to his vest and cravat before staring dully.. So what if the people here thought he dressed weird.. He thought he looked rather stylish, hell- way more stylish than Vincent.
He snickered before glancing at the stoic man in the very back of the group before covering his mouth childishly to continue laughing. Though Tidus and Cloud were sure to raise their brows, they made sure that they didn't say anything.. The figured that most likely, Zidane was just bored and wanted to cause an argument or something..
Shutting his eyes and glancing down the hall, Strife watched Squall continue to talk with Quistis who juggled speaking with him and dialing a few numbers on her phone. Cloud honestly wondered how long it was going to take for Squall to tell her something as simple as: Yeah I got warped to another world with a couple of guys and now were trying to find the bad guy behind all of this.
He was growing impatient and unfortunately Tidus could tell- The way Cloud would dull his eyes and narrow his brows became readable over the time they had hung out.. He just hoped that if they stayed silent for just a little bit longer.. maybe Cloud would calm.
Though fate would grant the Spiran a moment of silence, Zidane would keep snickering, which made Cloud grunt some more as he glanced and Squall and Quistis- eventually leading Rikku to begin to tap her foot and Lilisette to sigh with her hands on her hips..
The group was growing a little more impatient.. and the Spiran couldn't blame them, after all, they had been waiting for Squall for almost 30 minutes now.. But still.. he stayed silent.. he didn't want the group to get more irritated than they already were..
" . . . "
Silence was granted to the group again, however as he did before, Zidane laughed making Cloud grunt some more and Lilisette and Rikku to groan as well.
Vincent could feel the groups impatience, and had actually been mentally counting down the seconds until they reached their boiling point. Why?.. Just to see if he was right of course..
'-6...5...4...3... 2... 1..'
Zidane snickered again, however screeched as Irvine stepped on his tail and yanked his ponytail. "Dammit monkey, Will you shut up! Stop laughing at things that aren't even funny!"
"You don't even know what I was laughing at asshole! Lemme go! Lemme go!" he screamed kicking and flailing his arms about.
"Will you two idiots simmer down.." Cloud hissed cutting them a glance.
This made both boys flinch and watch as Strife shut his eyes and folded his arms- still continuing to speak which made both Zidane and Irvines blood boil.
"You two are acting like kids.. Even after all of this.. I can't believe you've made it this far.."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!-?" Zidane questioned with a squinted eye.
"You got somethin' to say blondie?" Irvine added squinting an eye as well.
"I'm only saying what the rest of the group is thinking.." Cloud spoke. "You two need to settle down and act like adults.. It's irritating hearing your daily squabbles every other hour.."
"Hey don't go speaking for me Mister MeanJeans!" Rikku voiced. "The only one who has a problem with everyone here is you! Why don't you try being nice for a change!"
Cloud actually looked to Rikku as if he didn't know who she was for a moment, but eventually turned to her slightly. "You're still here? Tell me when do you plan on going home kid.."
"KID!"
"Hey calm down guys!" Tidus eased with waving hands. "We're all a little tired and worried about the current situation... Let's not take it out on each other alright! We're better than that!"
"Just what are you talking about? This whole jumping worlds thing?" Lilisette questioned before sighing and turning away from the group slightly. "Whatever.. If you guys are worried about something as small as this, that's fine, but I'm more worried about Cait Sith- and I'm not leaving until you help me find him!" she finished glaring at Cloud.
"As I said before, you'd have a better chance finding him on your own, because I'm not helping you." Strife uttered glancing away.
"H-Hey!"
"No- You 'Hey'!" Zidane snapped. "No one was even talking to you Lilisette! You're not even officially apart of this group! So be quiet!"
"No you 'Hey' that Hey!" Irvine hissed grabbing the kids collar. "Mind your manners monkey, that's a lady you're talking to."
"Don't you lecture me you lousy hillbilly!"
"Guys!" Tidus voiced.
Vincent shut his eyes and simply meditated or did something close to that.. though.. he could admit he was using most of his energy to tune out the boisterous noise beside him, making him a little weary..
He had never wished for isolation as desperately as he was now..
The yelling, easing, shouting, and screaming continued amongst the group leaving Quistis and Squall to pause their conversation and give the party a glance. After a moment, the woman looked to the brunette with a sympathetic smirk.
"S-So.. you've been travelling with that group this whole time?"
He nodded. "You could imagine the hell I've been through.."
"Well.. it's a lot different from Zell and Seifer's little spats.."
"Exactly.. Anyway, will you be up to it?"
He was referring to what they had been talking about prior- the issue of Quistis needing to protect the school and possibly the world with the remaining hero's of this realm.
The blonde woman nodded before aligning her glasses. "We'll be a little undermanned.. but I don't think it would be too much of a problem."
"Did you get in contact with Selphie?"
"Yes just now.. I told her to meet me here awhile ago. I only hope that she'll be able to take all this in as easy as I did.."
"Knowing her.. She will." Squall spoke shutting his eyes. "So.. has there been anything strange happening here lately?"
"No not at all. Other than you, Zell and Rinoa's disappearance, not much has happened here. The weather's been a bit more intense lately but.. that's all I could really say has been weird."
"No other students have disappeared?"
"No.. all of them have been accounted for.. I'd know.."
"I see.. That's good.." he mumbled before turning to walk over to the group.
Quistis cautiously took a step, but followed him until she found herself walking beside him. "So what are you going to do now?"
"Right now, the others and I have to find a way back to Spira.. We have a lot more places to go to there before we end up searching places in other worlds."
"I see.. Do you have any idea how to get back?"
"Not at all, but I was told that there are voids or 'rifts' in each of our worlds that connect them all together. If we could find one here that leads us back to Spira, then we'll use that to finish what we started there, and then head back here."
Quistis stopped making Squall copy. All the woman did was hold her left arm as she glanced away with a sort've bothered look on her face.. Leonhart couldn't exactly pinpoint the emotion but regardless he wanted to help..
"What's wrong?"
"I don't exactly know what power this 'being' that's making all of our worlds merge, has.. but he must be powerful.." She muttered. "..Do you think.."
She didn't finish... She didn't have to. Her words were enough for Squall to understand her concerns.. and so.. he answered honestly.
"...I don't know."
"I was afraid you'd say that." The blonde woman muttered easing a bit of hair behind her left ear. "So.. when you return to Spira, and find what you need to find.. what are you gonna do?"
"You mean if I find Insinda?"
She nodded leaving Squall to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose. He was thinking.. mostly because he didn't really know. Yes, he and the others would rant and rave about needing to stop Insinda and save the others, but it was as Quistis said.. A being that could merge worlds must've been powerful, so what chance would he have against it?
He didn't want to think about it... But one thing was for sure.
Squall retracted his hand before turning slightly, looking to his party in the distance. As foolish as they looked debating and arguing with one another, Leonhart knew that if he gave his life for them to get closer to stopping this threat, they'd definitely succeed.
Regardless of their childish behaviors, each and every person in the group had a drive- a passion burning within them that wouldn't die until their goals were a reality. Squall shut his eyes knowing this..
"Squall?" Quistis spoke up making him glance back to her. "How long do you have?"
"Not long. We have to get going immediately.." he muttered, before approaching his group.
Being he was the main reason everyone was arguing, as soon as the party noticed Squall step within their midst, they all stopped and looked to him- Cloud being the first to dull his eyes and make his usual smart-ass comments..
"Well, you finished up quickly."
Squall glared. "You could've gone on without me."
"And listen to Tidus' incessive bickering about how I should wait for you? I think not." Strife uttered making Tidus flinch.
"Hey! I wouldn't of said a thing!"
"Well, now that we're all done waiting for Squall, where should we go to?" Zidane questioned before turning to Irvine. "This is yours and Squalls world right? Where do you think we should go to now?"
The cowboy shrugged before easing his hands into the pockets of his coat. "Nothing really comes to mind.."
"Lets get this straight-" Squall spoke getting the teams attention. "Our main priority as of now is to find a way back to Spira. Were not done searching there, so there's no reason why we should just up and start a new search."
"What if we can't manage to find a way back?" Cloud asked in a 'that's exactly what's going to happen' kind of tone.
"From what I was told, there should be rifts in this world that should lead us back to Spira. Once we find it, we'll use it later to return to Balamb when we need to." Squall let out.
"What if the rift we find ends up leading us to completely different world?" Strife asked, continuing to crush whatever optimism was left in Squalls being.
The brunette narrowed his eyes. "Then we search for another one that leads us to Spira."
"Won't that waste time?"
"Do you have any better ideas?" Squall snapped.
Cloud simply shut his eyes, "We ask around, see where that gets us-"
"Yeah as fun as that sounds, I don't see that making this trip any quicker." Irvine groaned. "We did the same thing in Spira and not a soul knew what we were talking about when it came to Insinda or the girls."
Squall blinked at that sentence before looking to Quistis who rose a brow to his action, though she was sure to lift a brow as Squall glanced back at his party again, then cup his chin leaving everyone guessing as to what he was thinking about.
"Hey!" Zidane spoke up hitting the boys shoulder. "What's up? You got an idea or something?"
"..Why is it that no one in Spira know's who Yuna is.. but Quistis and Seifer are still able to remember Rinoa."
Irvine flinched before snapping. "!- Hey, that's right! That's kind of weird.."
"Who's Yuna?" Lilisette questioned looking to Rikku who shrugged in response.
That action only made the guys think on this conundrum some more. It was strange.. the fact that no one in Spira had recalled a Yuna ever existing, however every student, and member of the faculty knew that Rinoa and Zell were missing.. Cloud only wondered if his world was the same as Squall's or Tidus'.. It was confusing, but he figured that he'd have to find a way to go back to his world to find out.. only then could he make accurate assumptions of what was going on.
"You don't think they killed Yuna already do you?" Zidane questioned almost in a gasp.
Irvine instantly hit the monkey over the head, refusing to answer the question, however state some appropriate words to share with the kid. "Geez! You're a sensitive little brat arent' you!"
The monkey flinched but instantly looked to Tidus waving his hands about. "W-Well! I didn't mean dead like- no longer alive! I meant it like.. uh.. well..!"
"The only way we'll be able to know how Yuna or anyone is for that matter, is if we hunt down Insinda and find them." Squall explained firmly before nudging Tidus. "So don't loose faith alright.."
The blitzplayer nodded. ".. Thanks.."
"Whatever.. We should get going and hurry to find a rift."
"And how exactly are we going to find one? They're nearly invisible!" Zidane whined.
Vincent shifted his crimson vision from the group to only one party member- the one had got them here in the first place. "..There's always Tidus.."
The group flinched before actually looking to the Spiran who stared at them stupidly. "Who me?" he blinked, pointing at himself for confirmation.
"Who else?" Cloud questioned rhetorically. "Back in Spira you led us to the rift that brought us here."
"Hey that's right!" The Genome voiced with a point. "Just do whatever you did back there to take us back!"
"Don't get me wrong guys.. I'd like to, but I don't even know how I knew how to get us here." he let out before using his gloved hand to cover his forehead. ".. I think.. I heard a voice back at Macalania."
"Macalania?" Quistis repeated.
Squall only held up a hand in a way of telling her to stay silent. He knew it would be a waste of time to tell her all the lands and weird names of places he had to learn in Spira, not only that, he knew what Tidus was saying was important, and he wanted her to focus.
Tidus held his head some more as he thought back to that life-or-death moment the group was faced with back in Spira. That voice he had heard, it was familiar.. something felt he hadn't heard in a long time. The more silence he was given the longer he thought on it, eventually getting closer and closer to the answer.
That voice..
Hurry into the Cloister!
It was light.. and almost childlike..
The Pedistal!
It was also insightful and yet nostalgic..
Tidus held his head some more as he strained to think- Insinda wasn't making him forget the bearer of this voice was he? The group gave him more time to think, and silently rejoiced when they watched the blitzplayer lift his head and almost gasp.
"It was the Aeon!"
Cloud rose a brow. "Aeon?"
"-The dream! The fayth!"
"What?" Irvine let out, confused and bewildered.
"Rikku! The dream! The fayth! The Aeon!" Tidus let out jumping.
She blinked, but began to start jumping with him for the hell of it, leaving Zidane to blink and step to the Spiran who looked like he had to go pee or was seconds away from spasming.
"Tidus you alright man?"
"What helped me, guided me! Was a dream, a fayth! An Aeon!" he rejoiced. "A long time ago, Yuna banished them, but I bet you anything because Insinda is trying to create a deathless utopia- the Aeons and dreams that were banished and becoming restored!"
"Whoa whoa whoa back up!" Irvine spoke with calming hands. "What's an Aeon? And what do dreams have to do with-"
"No time to tell, we gotta go!" Tidus voiced running over to the elevator.
He was mashing the button madly stepping into the metal container seconds after, making the group flinch and follow.
-Road To Balamb-
Selphie darted down the road from Balamb, heading toward the school just a mile away with a half-eaten doughnut in her mouth and swinging her bookbag about. After leaving the school earlier in the morning to complete her personal investigation as to where Zell, Squall, Irvine and Rinoa went she ended up being distracted by freshly baked, doughy snacks that just happened to preoccupy her time all day, well.. until Quistis called. Hearing the blonde woman tell her that both Squall and Irvine back made the woman want to run a marathon! After so long! She was so worried about the two, and to hear that they were alright and back at the school calmed her a bit- despite the adrenaline running in her veins.
After successfully finishing off her baked treat, she hurried, seeing Balamb just around a curve growing more excited the closer and closer she got.
"Maybe I should call Quistis!" she let out. "Yeah- then she'll make my arrival and big and important!"
She was panting more, so she couldn't talk out loud for lunch, though she fumbled through her work-bag only to pull out a sea green cell and mess up to dial the numbers. After 3 steps, she stopped stumbling before the entrance of the school, smirking as she looked to her phone, breathing heavily through her nostrils as her thumb traced a few buttons.
However before the woman could even bother to dial the abrupt slam of the schools glass door opened making her focus on a blonde who dashed passed her.
She blinked. "..What's his rush?"
"Tidus! Wait for us dammit!"
With that she watched another blonde with a tail sprint after the character just ahead making her flinch. Wait a minute.. that was a tail she saw right?
"Hey Tidus! Wait up!"
Again Selphie looked back at the door, this time seeing a blonde haired girl race after the boys with a red-haired woman following quickly behind her. After that, another blonde man, and after that Quistis and Squall, then Irvine, then some dark man in a cloak.
The brunette blinked once before dropping her phone and recalling the colorful characters that passed, however, she quickly floundered to pick up her phone and focus, she dashed after the group. How could they all just pass her like that and not say Hi!