Chapter 25

In and Out…

x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x

"Call the monsters!"

Squall lifted his hand, holding Zell from moving forward. The group of people in front of them didn't pay any attention to them, and he would prefer it that way.

"Squall," whispered Zell, eyes on the back of several uniformed SeeDs raising their weapons against a Garden Faculty and two SeeDs. "How do we know which one is on which side?"

"Until we find the headmaster," said Squall, "this is none of our business. We're not here to fight anyone."

"But…" Zell heard a buzz from the back. "Damn it!" He lunged to the side, missing the attack of the Granaldo flying towards him.

Squall raised his Shear Trigger and smacked the giant insect right on its attack spike. The Granaldo hit the wall and didn't manage to escape the hand of the gunblader that yanked one of its wings from its body. It shrieked when the gunblader managed to amputate its wing and threw the now useless part to the floor. The Granaldo flopped and flailed to the floor, its green blood gushes out of the wound.

Squall looked at the group of people, who was staring back at him.

"…I never liked bugs, but that's just mean," said one of the SeeDs.

"More SeeDs here!" the Garden Faculty said. He pointed to the newcomers. "Attack!"

"Oh whoa, hey!" Zell shouted. "Listen, we just wanna get through! Let us…" He ducked, Quistis on his back almost grazed, avoiding a Shuriken aimed at his head. He looked up and stared at the deep crack on the wall. "Okay… whatever."

"Zell," said Squall, blocking a sword with his gunblade. He kicked the sword fighter in the stomach and sidestepping one of the martial artists aiming for his face. "Run to the infirmary."

"What?" Zell saw the crowded tunnel. Several SeeDs were punching and kicking the Garden Faculty, others blindly swinging their swords to hit anything they could reach. "…Errr, no."

"Kill them!" yelled the Garden Faculty. "Kill anyone who's siding with Cid!"

"In fact," said Zell, taking a step back when a SeeD walked towards him. Squall blocked the SeeD's path. "I'm gonna get out of here."

Squall wrestled the man to the floor and looked at Zell. "And where do you think you're going?"

"I don't know… um." Zell stayed in place. "To Ma's?"

Squall knocked the man below him unconscious. "If your mother's a doctor, you can run there now."

"Hey hey, no talkin' 'bout my Ma like that!"

"Eargh!" The Garden Faculty, now strangled on the floor by two SeeDs, yelled and struggled to get free. "Let me go! You! Help me!"

"You who?" said one of the Cid's SeeDs holding his arms. All other SeeDs, except three of them and the newcomer trios, were on the floor, bruised and bloodied. "You lose!"

"Yes, we won!" cheered another Cid's SeeDs sitting on the back of the Faculty. She smacked the head of the robed man.

"Ouch! How dare you!"

The infirmary door opened, and the doctor walked out. She stopped at the sight of the tunnel. "What's going on here?" She crouched and checked one of the wounded SeeD. "Oh my... Can you stand up?"

The SeeD frowned. "Why are you helping me? I'm with the Garden Master..."

Dr. Kadowaki sighed. "Stop being ridiculous. I don't care whose side you're on. We need to take care of those wounds now, you hear?" She stood up and noticed Squall and Zell standing at the end of the tunnel. "Squall." Then she noticed the woman on Zell's back. "Quistis…?"

Squall sheathed his gunblade while the doctor walked to them. Quistis had her eyes closed, and she didn't make any noise at all, but from the way she clenched her teeth, Squall knew she's awake. The doctor turned and rushed towards the infirmary.

"What is going on with you two? Don't just stand here. Get in, quick!"

A girl who was bandaging the arm of a cadet looked up when they rushed into the infirmary. She jumped from her chair. "Squall! Zell!"

Zell stopped in his tracks. "Rinoa?" Squall pulled him in and herded him to the empty cot. "What's going on here?"

"I have no idea!" Rinoa finished the wrap and walked towards them. Zell laid Quistis down on the cot. "It was quiet for a while and then everyone's started hitting each other. Rai and Fuu got me out of the dorm and said that I'm needed here!"

'Deposited' her into the care of the doctor was more likely. Squall pulled Zell back when the doctor stepped in and drew the curtain close around Quistis's cot.

Rinoa stood next to Squall and smiled at him. "So you got out safe after all." Squall looked around for a place to sit and she placed the chair she just sat on next to him. "What happened to her? Where's everyone else?"

"It's..." Zell leaned on the wall and stretched his arms. "Getting kinda complicated. We gotta go meet the headmaster and explain something."

Dr. Kadowaki pulled the curtain aside. "Are you looking for Cid? As you can see, he's not here."

Squall stared at Quistis's form. "Do you have any idea what happened to her?"

"Some of her nerves are severely damaged. The wound is infected and she got a high fever. It's a good thing you came here. I'll operate on her as soon as I can find her a blood donor." The doctor opened up her cabinet and searched for something. "We don't have enough with all the battles going on around here."

"But she'll be fine, right?" said Zell.

"After I remove the infected—" Dr. Kadowaki found the vial and turned to her desk. "You don't really have to know the details. Yes, she'll be fine after I operate on her." The doctor found the syringe packs and opened one.

"You guys don't have the magic to cure her?" asked Rinoa.

"It's not that easy," Zell said. "We were separated for more than twenty-four hours after the incident. At the time we found her, it was way past the healing time."

"Huh." Rinoa supported her chin with her knuckles. "I need to learn more about that."

"What's her blood type?" Squall stood up.

"It's A." The doctor filled in the syringe. "You can't be her donor, Squall. Neither can you, Zell. What's your blood type, Rinoa?"

"I'm not sure, but my dad's B."

The doctor moved to inject Quistis. "My blood type is B. We need to find someone in the Garden who is an A, and patients are out of the question."

Quistis shifted a bit when the liquid made its way into her blood vessel. She opened her eyes halfway and whispered, "Nida… Irvine."

Zell frowned. "Irvine's not here."

Squall stared at Quistis's hazy eyes before murmuring, "I think she meant they're an A."

"Really?" Zell tilted his head. "How did she know?"

"Nida… isn't he the SeeD who passed the test with you, Squall?" Dr. Kadowaki pulled out the syringe. "I have never seen him anywhere after the inauguration."

"Does… anyone…" Quistis's eyes rolled to the back. "Evvveeeerrrrrr…"

"Right." Zell clapped his hands. "So, let's find this Nida person and get on with finding the headmaster! Do you know where he is, doc?"

"Hmm... Xu might know. I have no idea where she is though. Why are you looking for him anyway?"

"I need to inform him that there may be missiles heading this way." Squall said. "You should get out of here, too."

Dr. Kadowaki turned around and met Squall's eyes. "Are you serious? Then I'm definitely going to have to stay. If anybody gets hurt, who's going to look after them?"

"Well at least you'll stay to operate on the instructor…" Zell said.

"Just go find blood donors as fast as you can. Not just one person." Dr. Kadowaki slipped something in Squall's hand. "You're out of potion, right?"

The doctor turned her back, as Rinoa said, "Okay! I'm going with you! As a client, the safest place I'll be in this place is near you, right?"

"Yeah, we need everyone who can fight!" said Zell.

Squall pocketed the Elixir and stared at the door and to Rinoa. "Where's your combat dog?"

"Angelo? She's not an attack dog, she's my pet!" said Rinoa. "I left her in one of the empty classrooms on the second floor. She needs to hide; it's getting scary here without you guys."

"Let's get it."

"You're going to bring Angelo along?" Rinoa smiled. "Wow, that's so nice of you!" She followed Squall out of the infirmary, leaving Zell who was making faces behind them.

x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x

Raine zipped up Laguna's outer coat. "Just be careful, okay?"

The latter grinned at her. "Hey, when am I not being careful?"

Deciding she's not going to waste her time with that, Raine patted the man's shoulder. "Don't worry about this village. You can always come home whenever you want."

"I'll come back as soon as I'm done," Laguna said. He looked down and patted the hair of a toddler hanging on his leg. "Come on, Elle. I'm not gonna go far."

The girl looked up at her uncle. "Just wwrite hewwre…"

"Hey hey, I can't write a travelling book based on my imagination alone." Laguna smoothed Ellone's hair. "Besides, it's just a few weeks, I'm gonna be back before you know it."

"It's gonna take a while," said Solange, looking from the village gates. "They're going to cuddle, they're going to say something, and he's going to cry and say he's not going…"

"He's done that three times this week," said Kiros, fastening his backpack and testing it next to the girl. "Can't really waste any more time, we need to get going." He turned to her. "So you're really not going to come with us? We're going to the same station after all."

"Naah." Solange waved her hands. "I got a lot more things to do around here. Snow's not sold yet, and I haven't finished the registration of some newborns. It'll be at least a week more that I'm trapped in here."

Kiros looked at the Chocobo herds near the gate. "You're really not going to come back here?"

"One summer's enough. Besides, once I'm in my studies, I might never come home until all's done."

Kiros stared at the ground. "You never told me where your campus is at."

Solange smirked. "Why? How's that gonna work? You're gonna drop by every few months? Naah."

"…Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's not really plausible."

Solange patted the man's arm when Laguna strolled their way. "Just go. We got a great summer. I know this Timber Maniac building, so I'm gonna send you two a letter."

"Let's get going, man," Laguna said passing them. "I can't stop now and look back or I'm gonna miss our train again."

Kiros stared at Laguna's back and sighed. He turned to Solange. "So…"

Solange pulled him for a hug and released the man just as quickly. "Bye." She waved as the man nodded and ran to catch up with Laguna.

Raine smiled at her when Solange walked to her side. "Is your fever's down yet?"

Solange grimaced. "Not really. I still don't feel that good."

"You know you can't really travel until you're feeling better." Raine entered the pub, Ellone and Solange followed. "Shame you don't even want to drink something to help you sleep."

"I don't feel like it," Solange said. She sat on the counter. "My head's killing me. So dizzy. When my uncle said I'm gonna get the Chocobo flu I didn't believe him." She placed her head on the bar. "I'm so miserable. I puked from every meal, I'm so tired all the time and now Snow doesn't even want me to ride on her. And the university entrance test is three days from now."

"Thewwe, thewwe," Ellone said patting her legs. She grinned up to the feverish girl. "Yaww gonna ged bedda."

"Sure I'm gonna get better," said Solange. "Cheered by a baby… I mean what could possibly be worse than this?"

x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x

"Water!"

"What? What do you mean water? I thought we had fixed that damn hole!"

"Can't…" Thump, thump. "We gotta get out of this pod!"

"What do you mean, 'out of this pod'! It's ocean out there!" A rough shake on her. She fell from the seat, head hitting the front console. "Get up! Get up!"

"Aw!"

"Get up! Don't sleep! We gotta get out!"

Selphie groaned and massaged the bump on her forehead. She glanced to her right and left seat. The men were standing up on their seats, both pushing their own pod lid in panic. She looked down. Her feet were… submerged… in… water…

"AAAH!" Selphie hopped up her seat. "Water! Water!"

"Selph!" yelled Seifer. "Find the button to open your lid! Do something!"

Selphie crouched and pushed away any button she could. A spark from the submerged button flared up her arm. "Ack! Electrocuted! Wait… is that a fish?" She plucked up a flailing Pisces from the water. "Hey, it's a clown fish! I wonder why it's here…?"

"The button! We're drowning, you damn filly!"

"Oh, right!" Selphie dropped the fish and searched around. "I'm not going to touch any of them again, I'll get electrocuted again!"

"Oh great." Irvine stopped his panic actions and took a deep breath. Then he continued banging the lid with his damp rifle. "Open! Open!"

"You… you… when I'm getting out I'm gonna keep your head down, you damn…" Seifer hit the lid with his gunblade hilt. "Aargh, I'm not gonna die here!"

"Ifrit! Please do something!"

You're asking too much of me in such a small space. I can't risk grilling my host, little one.

"Diablos!"

What? Seriously, what do you think I can do? I can't even get out if there's not enough headspace! You wanna get clawed and demied?

"My GFs can't do anything!"

"They are never useful in the first place!" said Seifer. "And just now you learn something about having a damn monster in your head!"

"Heey!" someone shouted from the outside of the pod. "Look what I got! A Steel mermaid!"

"Whoa! You fool!" said another voice. "It's a pod! A Galbadian one! Get it up here!"

The trio fell to the front as the pod tilted and rose up. Something shook the pod rough and it hit the hard surface. The pod residents bounced and hit the consoles. Little by little, the water pooling around inside went down.

"Whew." Selphie sat up.

"You think there's a soldier inside?" asked the outside voice.

"Who knows? We gotta get someone to open it. Hey, isn't that old monkey man good at this thing? I'm gonna call him."

"I gotta report this to the Mayor. Should we prepare something, like a banquet or stuff? You know, to say we caught them in peace, like what the Mayor always said."

"Who knows? You gotta ask Flo 'bout things like that."

x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x

The elevator door opened for them, only to find Xu with her knives raised.

"Whose side are you on?" she asked. Next to her, Angelo sat still and stared at her, then to her master. She gave a confused whine.

"Neither." Squall raised his hands and walked out of the elevator. Zell and Rinoa followed. Angelo sneaked behind Xu towards her master. "We have urgent news. We need to see the headmaster now. Where is he?"

Xu narrowed her eyes. "I'm listening..."

"Galbadian missiles may be heading this way."

"Here? All right. I'll inform him right away."

"Where is he?"

Xu glanced at Angelo, who was at Rinoa's side. She lowered her knives. "In his office. We made it look like he's hiding, but he's been there all along. Follow me." She walked past them into the elevator.

At the third floor, Xu motioned for them to wait. She walked into the headmaster's office. After a while, she ambled out.

"Anyway, where's Quistis?" she asked.

"In the infirmary." Squall thought about it. "Are your blood A?"

"No, it's AB. Why?"

"Never mind. Is he in there?"

"He's waiting for you. I'll go tell everyone to evacuate."

Squall knocked on the door before opening it a bit and peered in. "Sir."

Headmaster Cid leaned on his desk, motioning him to come in. "Xu has told me about the missiles. The intercom is down so we can't announce the order to evacuate."

Squall walked in and saluted. "Xu, Raijin, and Fujin are taking care of that."

Headmaster Cid waved the salute away. "I want you to assist them and then evacuate."

...What's on your mind? "But I have a lot to report."

"You can tell me later."

You might be dead later...

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"Sir… what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to stay here and see this to the end. After all, this place is like my home."

Zell shook his head. "You're plannin' on dying here?"

"No...!" Rinoa said. "You can't! Just come with us, please! You can always rebuild this place!"

"I'm going to try something. There still may be a way to save the Garden."

Against missiles...? How? Squall watched when Cid ambled, ever so slowly, to his chair.

"…Think I'm too old for this." Cid sighed and placed his arms on the desk.

"Sir," Squall said. "I'd like to handle whatever it is that you're planning."

"And why is that?"

Squall looked up. "My feelings have nothing to do with it, sir."

Cid smiled. "Quistis was right. You do have a hard time expressing your feelings." Squall probably tensed up, because Cid just raised his hand and waved it. "Well… It's much better if Quistis is here too. This building used to be a shelter." He drew something out of his drawer and tossed it to the gunblader. "Use that key to open the lock on the elevator. It'll give you access to the MD level. Further, below, there is some control system. It was used when this place was still a shelter, so I've never seen it. I have no idea what it does. It was used for the shelter, so it might prove effective against the missiles. That's what I'm betting on."

Squall studied the key in his hand. Sounds far fetched. "I understand. We'll find the control system and check it out."

"Is Quistis around? She can help. She was there once or twice before she was made a permanent teacher."

What? Why?

Seeing the frown on Squall's face, Cid chuckled. "You have to ask her that yourself. Anyway, good luck to all of you."

"Sir… I have to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"What's your blood type?"

x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x

He bumped against the SeeD on the door.

"Oops. Sorry, man," said the SeeD, hand clutching his other arm. Squall watched the man walk away.

"Hey, isn't that Nida?" Zell walked in. "So someone told him Quistis is here and he's donating his blood? That's cool."

The doctor, still wearing her mask and gloves, shushed them. "She's just out of the surgery, she needs some sleep. And Nida was here for a headache a few minutes after you guys left."

Rinoa hummed. "Really? What a coincidence."

Squall peered into the half-drawn curtains surrounding Quistis. She was tucked in a plain blanket, her body in a white clinic gown. Her eyes closed. "How's she? Is the blood enough? Nida's just one guy."

"Nida got a few of his friends to donate too, so there are no worries about that for now." The doctor removed her mask and gloves. "She's going to need a rehab; she won't be able to move both of her arms for a while. I'll keep her in meds for a— what are you guys doing here anyway?" She threw the mask and gloves into the can. "You're not hurt, so stop strolling in here all the time. She's going to be fine without you three hanging around."

"She can't move her arms…" Zell said. "Damn it, there goes our plan."

"Is she awake?" asked Rinoa.

There was a groan from the cot. The woman in question opened her eyes and gazed at them. "Whaaattt…"

The doctor rolled her eyes. "She is now."

"…She can't move her arms!" Zell pushed the curtain open. "Quistis! I'm taking away my necklace!" He patted around Quistis's neck. "…Huh?"

"Whaaaaaddaaayuuuuddooooiiinn n…"

Squall smacked Zell's hand.

"Where's my necklace?" Zell said. "My necklace!"

"I took away all her accessories and clothes for the surgery," said the doctor from her desk. "Nida already had his friend took them to Quistis' room."

"Why Nida?" asked Zell. "My necklace!"

"But Quistis' room is locked!" said Squall.

"He has her room card, somehow. I don't pay attention to that while I was doing the operation." Dr. Kadowaki pulled out a new file from her drawer. "Just ask Nida about that."

"Uaaaah!" Zell clutched his head. "My necklace!"

Squall looked down. How come Nida has her room card? How did she know Nida? He's a new transfer…!

"Niiiiidaaaa…" Quistis's eyes glazed over. "Heeeessaaagooood boyyyyfrrrieeeennddd.."

"…She's so drugged," Rinoa said. "She's an instructor, right? How can she date a new SeeD? Wasn't he her student just before the test?"

Squall frowned. "What's wrong with that?"

Rinoa's mouth opened. She looked away at the drawn curtain. "…Well, I guess… it's just kinda… weird. I don't know. Is he her boyfriend?"

"No," said Squall.

"No," said Zell. "Seifer's her boyfriend."

"Zell!"

Zell clamped his mouth with his palm, eyes wide. Rinoa stared at him. Then she stared at Quistis.

"Is this true?" she said. "You're his girlfriend?"

"Whooo?" Quistis gave a weird smile. "Aaaainttgotnoboyyyfrienddd…" She moved her head to the side. "…Thaaanggg…"

"Well… I guess it's fine." Rinoa shrugged. "It's… already been a while since we broke up anyway."

Wait, what? "You broke up with Seifer?" asked Squall.

"What do you think I am, showing interest in someone…" Rinoa trailed off. Squall was staring at Quistis shaking her head left and right. "I mean… I'm not that kind of girl."

"Well Seifer's with Selphie now," Zell said. "I don't know what I'm talking about. Sorry."

"Selph?" Rinoa was lost in thought. "I don't think he is?"

"He's not?" Zell asked, disbelieving. "That means he's with Quistis and Quistis only?"

Squall narrowed his eyes. Can't be.

"What's with all the bad thoughts about Seifer?" Rinoa folded her arms. "He's super touchy with me, and he didn't do that with Selphie so I'm sure he's not with her. He flirted a lot but he's actually loyal when we're together. He's only a playboy in words."

"The bully's a one-woman's man?" Zell shook his head. "Can't believe that."

Rinoa shrugged. "You weren't dating him; you wouldn't know how he really is."

"Ssseeiiffeeerrrrrgoooddddboy yyy…" said Quistis, now swaying her head in the motion of a wave. "Weeeeeirrrrdddgooooddddbooyy yy…"

"Let's stop talking about this," said Squall. He moved to the door. "The missile's coming. Quistis's not sober right now. We can't ask her to draw us a map. There's no time. Let's get to the underground by ourselves."

"Whoa," Zell said, following Squall to the door. "That's abrupt."

"Sorry, we got lost in talking about Seifer and boyfriend thing," Rinoa said. She slowly drew the curtain. "I'm sure you don't like hearing about your rival like that."

"Unnnderrrgrrrounnndddd?" Quistis said. "Sheeeeelllteeeerrr… Ikneeeeewwwwdaatttplaaaceee…"

Squall stopped. He turned his head to the direction of the closed curtain.

"Squall?" asked Rinoa.

"You were saying…?" he said.

"Mooooovveeeeiiitttt, moovveittbooomboommbooom moooove… I caaannmooovveeeiittt…"

x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x

"So I know we never actually did things the way normal people did, but carrying a practically immobile drugged person with us all the way down?" Zell said, folding his arms. "A new record."

With his fur leather jacket tied on her hips to cover her, Quistis mumbled something on his back. Squall pretended not to hear anything. Rinoa watched the digit on top of the elevator door.

"The doctor's pretty angry," she said.

"Oh really?" said Zell. "I suppose we kidnapping the instructor had nothing to do with it?"

"It's necessary," Squall said. "We need directions. We don't have much time. Not after you two ranting about love and boyfriends."

The elevator shook when it reached the MD level. Zell groaned when the lights dimmed and the room darkened.

"Not nowww…"

"Haaaaaattttcccchhhh…" murmured Quistis. "Dooowwwwnnn…"

"Zell," said Squall in the darkness. "Open it."

"On it," said the voice near the floor. A thump. Small light shined from the hole in the floor. Zell climbed down the hatch.

"Alright!" he said from below. "Down, everyone!"

"How are you going to get her down?" asked Rinoa. "Shouldn't we just leave her in the elevator? It's not safe with you two down the ladder like that."

"Just get down," said Squall. "I'll be right behind you."

"Careful," Zell said, holding to Rinoa's legs until she reached the floor. They looked up and saw Squall climbed down with Quistis strapped on his back, with two of his belts. "Wow. So those belts do have their functions."

Squall studied the deep elevator channel down and the steel tunnel in front of them. "Nobody's been here for a while, so be careful."

Zell was the last to enter the steel tunnel. Something slammed behind him. They turned to see the last of the elevator cable down the channel. A screech of metal grazed against the channel, and then… nothing.

"Onnnwardddss… doooowwnnnn."

"We need to get down another hatch," said Squall from the end of the tunnel. He crouched and climbed down.

Rinoa glanced to Zell. "…Nothing?"

"No… explosion?" Zell tilted his head. "Bottomless… that's worse."

Squall looked around the metal tunnel. "It's an oil stratum..."

"Fireee…" said Quistis. "Junnnctionnnn elllemmmennttal attach…attackk…"

You hear that, Shiva?

-Yes. I'm doing it right now. I'm not good with Fire magic but it'll do. -

Rinoa looked lost for a moment. "Seems like Siren's not really the best GF for me. I don't feel stronger…"

"Done with Quez," said Zell.

"Ok, let's go." Squall walked following the adjacent pipe. The area around them was dim and damp, with only a bulb in the long tunnel. Zell and Rinoa followed behind. Squall walked down a slope and saw a big valve in front of a pipe.

"Turrrrnnnn… haaarrdddttoobeeeonnne…"

"What's she saying?" Zell walked to the valve. He turned the valve to the side, only to have it wheeled back.

"It needs more than one person," said Squall. "Rinoa, go help him."

Rinoa held on to the side of the valve with Zell on the other. Together, they turned the valve all the way to the left.

"Aandddddhbacckkk…"

"Man, how did she know all this stuff?" said Zell. "What was she doing here?"

Squall turned and headed into the room they just passed through.

x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x

"I'm out of Fire!" said Rinoa. She ran to the end of the tunnel, where Squall had run first.

Squall threw Fira to one of the two Oilboyles sliming all over Zell, who was on the opposite end of the passage.

"Aagh, yuck!" Zell crawled away from the monsters. "Fira! Fira! Whatever! Quez, out!"

"No! We're all covered in oil!" yelled Squall. "You're in a tunnel, Zell! No GF!"

"Oh, and you think throwing Fira at them when I'm right here is-" Zell kicked the slime monster away from gnawing his legs. "Okay?"

"Wwwwheerree…" Quistis murmured, half-groaning. "Amm I?"

"All right, so whatever, right?" said Rinoa. "Umm… Cure!"

"What the hell?" said Zell, when the ball of healing magic crashed against his head.

"What are you doing?" said Squall.

"Well sorry for not having any magic!" said Rinoa. "I got nothing left! Nobody's ever taken me out to stock up on things like this!"

"Okay, no Quez!" Zell struggled against the slime the Oilboyles smeared all over his body. "Brothers!"

"No! We're all gonna die if the shaft fell apart!" said Squall.

"Well what do you want me tobblblblblr…" Zell was drowning inside the slime pool. "Nnnrblb!"

"Where…ow." Quistis groaned. "Ow. Ow. Ow."

"Oh no. Oh no. She's out of her meds!" said Rinoa, clutching Quistis's shaking body.

"Argh! Agh!" Quistis clenched her teeth. "Wha… Ow!" Her eyes opened wide, as the owner of the orbs took notice of her surroundings. "He... here…? Ow. Ow. Ow…?"

"Zell! …Sorry, Quis!" Squall removed the belts from his waist and let Rinoa held on to Quistis when he let her go. He ran to the opposite end of the tunnel and unsheathed his Shear Trigger. Rinoa helped the shaky Quistis down to the floor.

"Oilboyle…" Quistis watched Squall attacked the slime. "Wrong… wrong." Then she saw Zell inside the monster slime, struggling to get out. "Rinoa… tell Squall… Reflect … on us. Zell… Firaga on him…"

"Squall!" Rinoa shouted. "Summon Carbuncle! Zell! Firaga on yourself if you can hear me!"

When the waves of green bathed their bodies, Quistis closed her eyes, waiting for the hot explosion from the mountains of oil in the damp canal. Rinoa screamed when the force from the combustions hurled them out of the tunnel and smashed them against the standing console at the bottom of the stairs.

"Aaahhh Hyne..." Zell murmured from the floor. "That was extreme. Fun… not gonna do that again. Ever…"

Squall moved into a crawling position next to him. He tested his body. "Fine."

"Define fine," said Rinoa, lying next to him. "That was hell fire chasing us."

Squall looked around and saw Quistis leaning on the console. He crawled over to her. "Are you OK?"

With a blood trickling from the back of her head, Quistis gave the gunblader an unidentified expression. "Wish I… fainted."

"My body's in pieces," said Rinoa. "Someone… someone who has a healing magic…"

Squall cast Cura on Quistis's head wound while looking around. They were in a circular chamber, down from the ladder of the tunnel. Quistis was leaning against a single console in the centre of the chamber. The floor was made of a giant steel grate. Under the mesh, he could see gears and contraption stacked neatly below their level.

After casting the last of his Cura on Rinoa, Zell stood up and studied the console. He scratched his head. "Oh man...What the hell do we do now?"

Squall stood up and saw the buttons in front of him. He pushed buttons here and there.

"What the heck are you doin'?" asked Zell.

"I don't know! What else can I do?" Squall looked down at Quistis.

"No idea..." said Quistis.

"Oh, great." Rinoa sat up. "Now what?" She glanced around when the grate under her moved. "Heyy?"

"Everybody down!" Zell said.

Squall crouched and gripped on the grate when the floor began to spin. Zell lay down on the mesh, eyes wide as the gears under the mesh started pushing the steel bar up. The platform burst up, hitting everything above its level, up and up. Rinoa screamed as their bodies hit ceilings of the Garden levels, the grate not stopping even after crashing bulbs, woods, steels and tiles. Squall lay low on the floor, hands covering Quistis's head. She lay down under the console, eyes closed tight.

"This is not happening!" screamed Zell. "Help! Help!"

The platform stopped at one level. Squall opened his eyes. Cid's startled eyes were staring back at him. The headmaster's hands were in the air, folders and files lay forgotten on the floor.

Squall tossed away shattered tiles and woods all over him. He looked at the office window and shouted, "Missiles incoming!"

Cid whirled to the window and saw four missiles flying towards them.

"NO!" screamed Rinoa.

"Guys!" Zell jumped from the scattered ceilings around him. "We're moving! We're leaving!"

Squall watched as the missiles flew down, and landed in the middle of the Fire Cavern.

"We're moving?" he asked. He looked down from the massive window and watched as Balamb Garden glided above the sand. He turned back and looked at everyone in confusion.

The giant fire cave shattered, flames bursting out, torching everything nearby. The Garden that had departed from its resting place just missed the land of infernos grazing its foundation.

"Wait… weren't they supposed to hit… the Garden?" Zell said. "Why the Fire Cavern?"

"I see... So this is the secret..." Cid glanced to Quistis. "So you were right."

Quistis sighed. "That's the only way… to escape."

"Oh no!" Zell pointed at the window. "We're gonna crash to Balamb!"

Cid headed to the console. He pushed the buttons and pulled the switch on the pad, then scrunched his face.

"Headmaster?" asked Squall.

"I don't know what to do! We're going to crash into the town of Balamb if we don't do something!"

"Man...!" Zell shook his head. "This can't be happening!"

Cid looked at Squall. "Squall, can you think of anything?"

...No!

"Squall, do something!" said Rinoa.

"Someone… help me up," said Quistis. Everyone looked at her, and then Zell lifted her. She stared at the console and hummed a song.

"Do something!" said Rinoa.

"It's ancient pad. Just hit whatever… so you'll turn the gear inside," Quistis said. "It's so rusted… nothing else is going to work."

"Wha…" Zell said. "Really?" He raised his fist and smashed the buttons.

A buzz sounded from the floor below them. The Garden's slow movement towards the town of Balamb halted in place. Then, it started turning right, into the sea.

"Yes! We're turning!" said Cid.

Rinoa cheered. "Alright, Zell! You did it!"

"We're gonna crash into the sea!" said Zell.

The headmaster ran to his desk. "Everybody hold onto something!"

The Blue Garden crashed against the waves, rocked back and forth, before sliding into the ocean.

Headmaster Cid looked out from his window. "...Phew. Everyone, a job well done. I think the worst is behind us for now."

Squall folded his arms. "...Where are we heading?"

"We'll drift along for the time being...Until we figure out how to manoeuvre the Garden. So, it looks like we can finally relax for a while. And spend some time considering what to do next. So much for my room." He looked around, grimacing. "Where am I going to change now?"

"In your bedroom, of course," said Zell. "In the dorms?"

"Zell, would you mind… taking me back to the infir…" Quistis closed her eyes. "Nobody… is allowed... piggybacking me… ever again…"

x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x

To be continued…

x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x

Author's Note: For Tesake, boredsenseless2, Faoiliterna, Good Ol' Fashion Cola, and of course my dear illutiamist, sorry for the long update. I wasn't in front of the computer/laptop often the last couple of months. But enough about reasons, I gotta update more often, wooo!