Squall's team is reunited under duress - the Lunar Cry has decimated the city of Deling into rubble, while Zidane has been badly beaten in combat with Gilgamesh and Tseng, the Dimensional Guardians of Fire and Water, because he disobeyed his master Golbez's orders to kill Squall and the others. Squall's thoughts now turn to the mysterious Cloud Strife, who escaped the devastation of the Lunar Cry with the others on board the Ragnarok, and to the captured Tseng, who is being held in the vessel's holding cells
Chapter Thirty Six
Real Time
Squall, Irvine and Quistis sat, subdued and exhausted, in the cockpit of the vessel.
"So like…what are we going to do now?" asked Irvine.
Squall sat contemplating his options. As he did, the radio he'd taken from a dead Galbadian soldier started to crackle.
"…Leonhart, do you read? Squall Leonhart of Balamb Garden, can you hear me?"
Hesitatingly, he took up the radio in his hand and looked at Quistis, who nodded. He pressed the button on the side of the radio to speak.
"This is Leonhart."
"Mr. Leonhart, you are speaking with the newly appointed President of Galbadia. Go ahead, Sir, he can hear you." A new voice emanated from the radio.
"Mr. Leonhart, this is the President. You have a lot to answer for, young man."
Squall pursed his lips, and then made his response. "With all due respect, Sir, I have nothing to answer for. And please, call me Squall."
"Well then, Squall, our records show that our General Caraway – who is missing, presumed dead, like the rest of the citizens in Deling – had arrested you in conjunction with an imminent terrorist attack upon our nation. An attack that later transpired to be the Lunar Cry, a most unspeakable and heinous act."
"I agree, the Lunar Cry is the worst conceivable attack any one person could make to any nation. And regarding the status of the General, I think you can safely say he's dead – he and the rest of the citizens of Deling. No one could survive the Lunar Cry."
"Now allow me to fill in the gaps. You escaped custody from the military transport train, somehow evading or emerging victorious over an entire battalion of men, and arranging for your colleagues to come and rescue you on board your – now illegal – Ragnarok class vessel, on which you now hold several dozen Galbadian citizens hostage to ensure we do not shoot your vessel down immediately."
Squall sighed, and then depressed the button. "Those accusations are false, Mr President, however it sounds like you've already made up your mind. I wasn't responsible for the deaths of the people in Deling City, nor am I holding these refugees hostage. I will arrange for them to be returned to the nearest Galbadian outpost once we have established there's nothing more we can do for them. However, you do what you have to do."
"Thank you for your approval, Mr Leonhart. What I have to do, then, is to announce that a formal state of war now exists between the nation of Galbadia and Balamb Garden. Goodbye, sir."
Squall set down the radio, not bothering to acknowledge the President. The transmission clicked off.
Quistis and Irvine regarded him gravely. He started to give orders.
"Irvine, get us out of Galbadian airspace. They might decide to shoot us down anyway. Quistis, head back and see how the civilians are doing, and then go speak to our new guest. I'll be along shortly." She left the room. Squall loitered several moments after she did so.
Irvine finally turned to face him. "I know."
"You disobeyed a direct order, Irvine."
"I know," he reiterated. "And I'm sorry. You were right, I was wrong. We couldn't save everyone. I just…" He looked away, a vague horror sweeping his face. "I couldn't do it, you know? Like…all those people, we weren't at capacity, and I just thought…if it was me out there, I'd want to know the person on the ship had done everything they could. Even if I didn't get rescued, at least they'd done their best."
"We did do our best," said Squall. He was struggling with his own emotions surrounding the atrocity they had just witnessed, and even under normal circumstances he wasn't the best person to give advice about a person's feelings.
"I know…but I just wanted you to know, that I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"I doubt that sort of thing will happen very often, so it probably isn't an issue," said Squall, backing down. He couldn't blame Irvine for disobeying under such circumstances.
"How did you know, anyway?" asked Irvine. Squall looked at him, puzzled. "If we hadn't have moved right then, that last bit of red monster goo would've hit us. We'd have crash landed in the city, and been dead now."
"I didn't. I just got a feeling," said Squall. He turned and left, walking towards the cargo hold.
He thought about what Irvine had said. If Squall hadn't given the order to move, they would have crash-landed. But Squall was on the verge of agreeing with Irvine, and he remembered what Cloud had said about having to leave "them" behind. But how did Cloud know? He had said that to Squall before he even knew what the Lunar Cry was, let alone that it was going to hit. He was in one of those strange trances the entire time they had fought Kefka, and 'woken up' just after he'd given Squall the warning.
He went to walk to where he suspected Cloud was being held, but the intercom sounded. It was Reno.
"Hey Squall, would you mind getting your ass down to the cargo hold?"
The SeeD leader shook his head, clearing the cobwebs of thought from his mind, and turned to change direction. He would need to get some sleep soon, before he collapsed from exhaustion. He, Irvine and Quistis had been going at this the longest. He thought back and the last time he remembered being unconscious for reasons other than being hit on the head was when they had taken the SeeD carriage on the train to Deling City. When it had still existed. That was…as far as he could figure out, it was two days since he had slept. Or eaten properly. Red had given them food in the Midgar slums, but only Locke had used the kitchen facilities in the SeeD hideout in Timber. The Galbadians hadn't provided their prisoners with food.
As he neared the cargo hold, an angry chatter slowly filled the air. He trotted the last few steps to see Reno holding back the assembled crowds of the Galbadian refugees. With his pistol.
One of the citizens went to rush him, but he spotted the movement and waved the gun in the man's face. "You don't want to do that," he said, pulling the hammer on the weapon back. "Don't test me on this."
Squall raised his hands, and the civilian's noise lowered to a murmur. He saw Avira sitting on the upper gangway, keeping the people from going to the upper levels of the ship.
"Can I have your attention, please. You've probably heard reports through your radios that I'm sure some of you are carrying that you're being held hostage. I assure you, this isn't the case. You probably also heard that I was the one to set off that Lunar Cry, however that is also not the case. We are currently in negotiations with your government to arrange for your safe return. In the meantime, please try and remain calm. You have to stay in this cargo hold for your safety; this ship has a very strange configuration, and we don't want people wandering off and getting themselves hurt. We will provide food, water and medical attention as much as we can, and I'll keep you apprised of the situation as it develops. Thank you," he finished.
The crowd seemed vaguely satisfied with this explanation of events, of back away from the entrance. Reno holstered his pistol.
"You can be quite eloquent when you want to be, huh?" he asked, and Squall just shrugged. "That's more like it," Reno approved, and Squall rolled his eyes.
"Try and keep things calm down here," said Squall. "I don't know how you used to do it in the Turks, but waving a gun in a frightened crowd's face isn't generally the best way to keep them subdued."
"I'll bear that in mind," said Reno, snapping Squall a mock salute.
He nodded at Avira from across the distance, and she smiled back at him. Communication didn't seem necessary with Avira; at least, verbal communication didn't.
He saw Zidane sat leaning against a bulkhead and went to speak with him.
"You look in a bad way," he said, and Zidane just stared bemusedly at him. His eye was still swollen shut, and his bottom lip looked three times its normal size, but Avira had cleared most of the blood away so only bruising remained.
"So I hear you're mixed up in this portal affair?" Zidane just nodded. He looked very downcast at the moment, and Squall couldn't help feeling a little pity for the boy. Only a little.
"Yeah. I was the Dimensional Guardian of Air. Now look at me."
Squall considered this. "Well, I can't say I know much about you, but I know what it's like trying to balance orders with your conscience. And it looks like you picked your conscience over an order, so that tells me you're at least capable of being a good person."
Zidane looked a little brighter after this analysis.
"Besides, I think you'd have to really piss someone off to give you a beating like that."
Zidane looked a little resentful, but then almost smiled. "I was lulling them into a false sense of security."
"Sure you were," said Squall, and patted Zidane on the shoulder. "I'll speak with you later."
On his way outside, he stopped by Reno momentarily, all good humour gone from his face. "Watch him, and if he's tries anything…" He trailed off, intentionally leaving the order ambiguous.
"With pleasure," Reno murmured.
The SeeD nodded and went to walk back towards his original objective: Cloud.
The man was truly an enigma. Back in the Shinra Tower he had tortured Quistis for information, yet he claimed to have no knowledge of the event. He seemed to be three people; the quiet, catatonic, brainwashed man they had found working for Domino, the ruthlessly effective fighting machine they had seen fight Sephiroth, and the man he seemed to be now.
Squall didn't know which one had somehow gotten a hold of the timer indicating the remaining minutes and seconds until the Lunar Cry arrived, but he intended to find out.
He found Cloud in the engineering section, with Quistis. As he approached them, he frowned at Quistis. He had meant for her to go and speak with the prisoner she had caught at Timber, not with Cloud.
"I'm fine," she said. "Really."
He nodded, and turned to Cloud. He was staring at them with an open, plain expression on his face. He was certainly confusing.
He decided not to tackle the issue of his apparent multiple personality disorder and went to the thing that was most bothering him. "Back in Deling City, you told me that I had to 'leave them behind.' If I hadn't ordered the Ragnarok to leave when I did, we would've been hit and destroyed. What I want to know is: how did you know, if that's what you were talking about then, and if you weren't, then what did you mean?"
"I honestly don't remember."
Squall regarded him silently. If he wanted to play difficult, Squall could play it that way too.
"I mean it. I remember that man appearing in the train, and then I must have blacked out. I woke up sitting on the ground with you and Locke."
"So you don't have any recollection of the time in between?" asked Quistis.
Cloud shook his head. Exasperated, Squall turned to walk away.
"Wait," said Cloud. He was gazing thoughtfully at the ground, squinting in concentration. "I remember…I remember something. I remember seeing…everything."
"What do you mean?" asked Quistis, but Squall already knew what to ask him.
"Could you see?" asked Squall, echoing the words he had heard Cloud speak every time he had sunk in and out of the trance. "All of it?"
Cloud looked at him in shock. "Yes. Those are exactly the words I was thinking. How did you know that?"
"I've heard them spoken before. So what did you mean? What could you see?"
"Well…everything. I'm still not certain, I don't remember exactly…but everything that's ever happened."
"That's a bit vague," admitted Quistis. Cloud exhaled impatiently, but at himself.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could be more helpful. Because then I might be able to figure out what exactly is going on. I hate this feeling…it's just like him."
"What do you mean?" asked Squall.
"In the past, I've been controlled by others, I haven't been in control of my actions. It would be just like him to find some way to do it again, but that's impossible."
"Why is it impossible?"
"Because he's dead."
"Who is 'he'? Sephiroth?"
Cloud's eyes widened. "Yes. How did you know? Aren't you from an another dimension?"
"Yes…but I have some bad news for you, Cloud. Sephiroth is still alive."
Cloud's mouth opened and closed several times, trying to find words to say. Then his eyes creased at the edges, as if he was going to shed tears, but then his face hardened.
"How long?"
"We don't know any more than you do. All I know is that he was running around the Shinra Building while we were there, and when I fought him he was very formidable."
"You fought him and lived?" asked Cloud.
"Yes. I had help. Lots of help. He escaped, though."
"Typical," Cloud snorted.
"Listen, if you remember anything else, let me know."
He went to walk away again, but Cloud stopped him once more.
"I remember seeing a girl. She was…she looked familiar. Green eyes? Was I imagining her?"
"Avira?" asked Squall. "No, she's in the cargo hold."
Cloud's eyes looked hopeful for a moment, and then he frowned. "Avira? Are you sure?"
Squall nodded.
"Oh…well. It must not be her then."
Squall nodded at Cloud and Quistis in turn, and then left the room.
He wondered idly who Cloud was talking about for a few moments, remembering he had heard Reno saying something about Avira being a dead ringer for someone he had met. Probably someone in their distant past.
The final item on his agenda: speak with this newcomer Quistis and the others had captured. Luckily the government of Esthar had extensively retrofitted the Ragnarok after the incident with Ultimecia, and this stretched to include a holding area for detaining prisoners. It was there he walked to, and there he found Tseng.
"I don't think we've been formally introduced," stated Squall. "My name is Squall Leonhart."
"Pleased to meet you, Mr Leonhart. My name is Tseng."
"No last or given name?"
"Simply Tseng."
Squall nodded. "I understand you're involved in what's going on around here."
"If by 'what's going on around here' you are referring to the nature of the multiple dimensions, and if by 'you are involved' you are referring to my status as the Dimensional Guardian of Water, then yes. You would be correct."
"Care to fill me in on any of those details?"
"I believe the former Guardian of Air has informed your subordinate of everything that needs to be known. I sensed he had informed another when I touched his mind."
"Why don't you give me a recap?"
"Very well. There are four Dimensional Guardians, one for each element. We are all presumed dead in our home dimensions, and forbidden from travelling there by our superior. We have physical characteristics representing our elements. We have a low level telepathic link with one another. I think those are the basics."
"What about why you want to kill us? I assume that's why you're being so open with me."
"Indeed – you will all perish soon, so informing you of the situation brings no harm. It merely makes the game more interesting. You have repeatedly meddled where you should have walked away and returned home. Even now, you are violating the natural order by bringing extra-nationals into your home dimension."
"But we would have died."
Tseng shrugged. "A small price to pay to preserve the natural order of things."
"So why are you so adamantly trying to kill us? I'm sure you don't go around massacring everyone who accidentally wanders into another dimension."
"You would be correct in your estimation. You are a strange group, formed by chance. Under normal circumstances, perhaps, you would be a welcome addition to the forces of good, however as it stands you are unnecessary. There is another team of warriors wandering the dimensions, battling Sephiroth. They are lead by a man named Kain, and they have been tasked with this trial. You, however, have stumbled into this game by accident, and are therefore a liability. An unknown factor. Better to have rid of you than to risk you upsetting the balance."
"I have news for you, Tseng," said Squall. "Sephiroth isn't your only problem. There are other threats wandering around out there. A man named Kefka attacked us at Deling City. Someone has unleashed the Lunar Cry upon this dimension, and somehow linked with that event is a man named Cloud Strife, a, like you referred to them earlier, extra-national."
"Strife?" asked Tseng. "He was responsible for that?"
"I didn't say that. He's involved somehow."
"This is most irregular," pondered Tseng. "I did not think Strife was capable of an act of genocide. How is he involved?"
Squall smiled faintly. "So we're not without our uses."
Tseng narrowed his eyes. "…Perhaps not. But I have had my path set before me, and I must follow it."
"No you don't," said Zidane from the doorway, where he had been listening unnoticed by either man.
"That is because you are a traitor," Tseng nearly spat.
"No. You know me, Tseng. I'm as committed as you are to keeping the dimensions inviolate. But something else is going on here, these people aren't just a random element. They've uncovered, or started to reveal, other factors that have nothing to do with Sephiroth. They may end up being more of a threat than Sephiroth poses. Don't throw this resource away."
Reno jogged into the room, slightly out of breath. "Uhm, sorry Squall, he kind of slipped away from me," he said. Squall's eyes widened in surprise upon actually hearing an apology from the former Turk. He seemed to pick up on this. "That is…what I meant to say was…he slipped away from me – no…wait. I've got it. If you'd have wanted an eye keeping on him, you should've done it your God damn self. "
"I see you haven't changed much, Reno," said Tseng from his holding cell.
Reno shrugged. "You know, same old, same old."
"Women and beer?"
"Not so much recently. I'm working on it, though."
Tseng mulled over some thought in his head.
"Talk to Golbez," said Zidane. "He'll listen to you, more than the others. Try and make him see that we can work together on this. We don't have to be enemies."
Tseng pondered for a few more moments. "If I do – if – this will not be an act of disobedience. It will be asking my master to rectify his thinking, to merely ask whether he is sure this is the correct course of action. If he disagrees with me, I will be bound by duty to kill you all as before."
"We understand," said Squall.
Tseng closed his eyes, and started murmuring. Before long he was pausing to listen to a reply in his mind, and then murmured something in response.
Over the course of the exchange, his expression ranged from rapt attention to bewilderment. Finally, he uttered one last phrase and a look of muted disbelief washed over his face. He opened his eyes slowly, but didn't speak.
"…Well?" asked Zidane, impatiently.
"He…I…" said Tseng. "I'm no longer the Guardian of Water."
"What?" exclaimed Zidane.
"He told me that questioning his commands indicated to him that I was already in league with you, and as a result have failed in my duty to kill you."
"That's ridiculous," said Zidane.
"Not to Golbez. He told me that in a time like we currently exist in, he does not have time to worry if his orders would be carried out without question. Since I raised a question, this was apparently enough for him to deem me unfit for my duty in the capacity of Water Guardian and released me of my position."
"How does it feel to get fired, Boss?" asked Reno.
Zidane walked over to the restraining field that lay across the door, focusing on Tseng's eyes. After a moment he turned back to Squall.
"He's telling the truth. It's not in there anymore – he's like me now."
The intercom buzzed, and Squall jumped slightly, so wrapped up in the conversation he was.
"That's an interesting development," he said, walking to the door. "The two of you stay in here, talk with him. No offence Tseng, but I'll be keeping you locked up a little longer – even if what you say is true."
He flipped the switch on the wall outside. Irvine's voice floated out of it.
"We're picking up a transmission. Low bandwidth, almost didn't notice it."
"I'm on my way," said Squall. He jogged to the cockpit, where a monitor awaited him to receive the radio hail.
"Put it up," he said to Irvine, and the monitor flickered to life.
Laguna Loire, the President of Esthar's face filled the small monitor.
"Hi Squall," he said amicably. Squall nodded awkwardly in reply; the small camera mounted above the seat he sat in picking up his movements and broadcasting them back along the radio waves. Squall was reasonably certain that the President was actually his father, but had never gained the courage to broach the subject with him. Fortunately, Laguna had the same suspicion and inclination and so neither man knew for certain, which was how they both preferred it at the moment.
"I hear you're in a spot of bother?"
"Nothing we can't handle," replied the SeeD.
"Actually, it might be a little out of your league," said Laguna. "We're picking up frenzied G-Army transmissions, all of which are about your Garden."
"What are they going to do?" demanded Squall.
"Okay, don't panic now," said Laguna. "There was a bit of a situation with the Garden after you disappeared to…wherever it was you went."
You wouldn't believe me if I told you, thought Squall, but simply nodded.
"The Garden got infested with these horrible little critters that seemed to come out of nowhere. They were on their way back from Trabia when they were hit, and they had to forcibly land the thing on Esthar soil. I helped out, naturally – I couldn't say no to Selphie and Zell after all us guys went through. Everyone got out with minor casualties – Zell and Selphie are fine – but we can't clear the structure of the little nasties."
"What do they look like?"
"I'll send you our collected information. We've got pictures, a couple of autopsies, that kind of thing. They just keep appearing as if from nowhere, and we couldn't find a nest. In the end we powered the Garden down and it's just sitting there, swarming with these critters."
Squall waved to Irvine. "Can you send this information down to Zidane? See if he recognises anything about them." Monsters appearing 'as if from nowhere' sounded suspiciously familiar to Squall. "Where are Zell and Selphie? At the Garden?"
"No," said Laguna. "They're here in the presidential suite, enjoying themselves on behalf of the Esthar taxpayer's money. I wanted to keep their whereabouts a secret, too. Just in case."
"Okay. Anything else?"
"Yes. The Galbadians have located the Garden. I don't know how, I kept it under wraps as best I could, but someone got wind of it and they're, long story short, gonna blow it up."
"Gee, this sounds familiar," commented Irvine.
"Hey Irvine," called Laguna, and the cowboy leaned back into view of the camera and waved.
"Isn't that like, exactly what they did last time?"
"Makes sense," murmured Squall. "I mean, all of their generals are dead, so they're probably using old operational files for guidelines and procedures."
"The bad news is, they've already launched the missiles," said Laguna. "The silver lining is that no one is left on board, so the only loss will be the structure itself."
"Well, that's something," said Squall, subdued. He had managed to prevent the destruction of the Garden last time, barely escaping the tactical missiles the Galbadians had launched. Now, exactly the same thing had happened, and he was powerless to stop it.
"Couldn't we find them and blow 'em up in the Ragnarok?" asked Irvine.
"No," said Squall. "They're armoured missiles, the bullets would bounce off and we'd be too close to use the laser. We'd be destroyed along with the first missile, and there are dozens more like it to carry on. Is there no way to power up the Garden in time?"
"No, unfortunately there's nothing I can do for the Garden," said Laguna. "It's too heavily infested with those creatures. But I can help you guys out."
"How?"
"When the missiles impact the Garden, the new Galbadian government failed to take one very important factor into consideration."
Squall's eyes widened. "That the Garden is in Esthar controlled territory."
"Exactly. Launching cruise missiles at my land could – and will – be construed as an act of war. Then once the formal declaration is out of the way, I can pronounce you protected by the state of Esthar, and you can ride out the storm within my borders."
"Nice!" exclaimed Irvine.
"I thought you'd approve," said Laguna. "How quickly can you get into Esthar airspace?"
Squall looked to Irvine for the estimate. He was frowning at the console.
"We used up most of our fuel reserves making it to Deling City in record time," he said. "I'm going to have to fly at a lower speed to make the rest of it last, because the only place we can fill this thing up is in Esthar, since they're meant to be illegal."
"Best guess?" said Squall.
"Maybe…maybe three hours."
Incredible that the same aircraft had flown across a quarter of a continent in less than fifteen minutes would take over three hours to get to Esthar, but there it was.
"Okay," frowned Laguna. "Those missiles are going to impact in less than an hour, so there'll be a couple of hours where you're open season for the G-Air Force. I can't offer you protection until those missiles hit. After that, all diplomatic considerations go out of the window."
Squall nodded. "We appreciate this, Laguna."
"No problem Squall. No problem at all. I'll contact you when the missiles hit. Oh, before I forget. Is it true you have a cargo hold full of Galbadian citizens?"
He didn't know what made him think of it, but a chain of thoughts went off like dominos toppling into each other inside Squall's brain. The citizens made him think of their escape, and the escape made him think of the strange words Cloud had spoken to him. The words made him consider Cloud's trance-like state, and that made him try to remember at any point in the past where he had felt a similar feeling. And that made him remember travelling in the SeeD carriage on the way to the G-Garden, and when he had lived Laguna's past through another set of eyes.
"Squall?"
"Yeah. Yes, that's true. Listen Laguna…have you heard from Ellone lately?"
Laguna blinked, unprepared for the question. "Well, yeah. She has been staying with me here in Esthar City, but she went out to meet the Garden survivors when we received the distress call. So she's close to the Garden – but don't worry, she won't be hurt by the strike."
"Thanks Laguna. I'll be in contact," said Squall, and Irvine killed the transmission.
He leapt to his feet. "I'll be in the rear of the ship for a while," he announced, and left the slightly bewildered Irvine to adjust fuel consumption charts.
Ellone…Squall had read somewhere once that if you eliminate the impossible, that whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. He was far from having a concrete suspicion about the situation, but certain factors fit the bill. If she was somehow manipulating Cloud it would account for his trance, and it seemed familiar, but the situation had reversed itself somehow. Instead of showing him the past, she was showing Cloud the future. That was not what Ellone did. She could show people what had already happened. But then again, she was responsible for the Time Compression, so who was Squall to say what she was and wasn't capable of? And why would Ellone turn Cloud into a sadistic, aggressive fighter, who had repeatedly attacked Squall? Something about the situation didn't add up.
As he walked past the holding area, Zidane called his name. Delaying his questions for Cloud, he walked back into the room where Tseng stood, imprisoned.
"What is it?"
"I know what these creatures are," said Tseng.
Zidane nodded in agreement. "They don't have a name, but they live in the Negative Zone. I've never seen them in another dimension; as far as we can tell, they live in the void and have never ventured out."
"You're sure?" asked the SeeD, and Tseng nodded.
"Absolutely."
"What's the Negative Zone?" asked Squall.
"According to Monkey Boy, it's the space between the dimensions, where nothing exists." said Reno. "Just the monsters, and the Path."
"It's where we used to travel between worlds," said Zidane. "Before portals started opening directly between the dimensions."
"Where were these creatures found?" asked Tseng.
"On board our home base, the Garden."
"Is this a stationary structure?"
"It is now, but as I understand it they started to appear while it was in transit. Why do you ask?"
"This is most irregular," muttered Tseng. "If these creatures were to appear in a moving structure, it would indicate that the portal they were travelling through was moving with the structure."
"Which isn't so strange in itself," input Zidane, "Because portals sometimes move around. But here, the portal has moved with the Garden, and then stopped when the Garden did. It's a strange coincidence, if it is a chance happening."
"And what are the odds of that?" asked Squall, nervous energy building inside of him.
"Slim to none," answered Tseng. Squall nodded, lost in deep thought. The weariness he had felt previously abated slightly, now that he had new mysteries to solve, and new problems to face.
"Is it possible to control these portals?"
"What do you mean?" asked Zidane.
"He means if it is possible for someone to navigate a portal along a set course, driving these creatures through it, in order to cripple the Garden. To answer the enquiry, I do not know enough about the portals to accurately say."
Squall snapped his fingers. "But I know a way you might figure it out," he said. "I'll be right back."
He marched with a purpose out of the holding area and towards the engineering section. When he arrived, he found Quistis staring sullenly at Cloud while he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.
"Quistis," he almost gushed. She blinked at his enthusiasm.
"Yes?"
"Where is that Galbadian memory storage device?"
"It's right here," she said, puzzled.
During their mission to the underground G-bunker, they had acquired the database of the research facility. At the time they had hoped it would shed some light on what they now knew was materia, but now Squall wanted other information that he knew was bound to be stored on it – namely the research they had gathered on the portal they had travelled to Red's and Reno's world in.
"Take it to holding and plug it in. Allow Tseng access from inside his cell – wheel a portable display unit inside while Reno holds him at gunpoint. Tell him how we acquired it, and work with him and Zidane to figure out what you can about the portals. Between you, you should be able to figure what the hell is going on around here."
She nodded, and then paused on her way outside. "I'm glad you're back," she said.
"I know what you mean. Me, too," he said. She hurried along the corridor.
"Cloud," he said. The man blinked out of his daydream and rolled to regard Squall. "When you said you remember seeing everything, do you recall seeing a short girl? She has brown hair, and she wears a green and blue dress, and her name is -- "
" -- Ellone," both men said at the same time.
"Yes, I remember that," said Cloud.
"Come with me," said Squall, and led him towards the cockpit. His purpose flared back to life inside of him, and for the first time he felt like this situation was beatable. He could win, and succeed, despite facing an unbelievable situation they had previously known nothing about.
He entered the cockpit, and indicated that Cloud take a seat. He walked to where Irvine sat at the controls.
"We're altering course slightly," said Squall.
"Oh?"
"Take us to the Garden. We're going to get Ellone."
Squall sighed and smiled to himself contentedly as the engines flared to life, changing the direction they were travelling in.
What a difference an hour can make.