Chapter 37
The Blood Moon
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The long-haired man studied the room he was in. Two guards were standing in front of the round elevator, watching him, his friends and a Moomba they'd arrived with. Machines and tools scattered all over the gray metal floor. Elevator across the console they were working on. There was an automatic door near the console. The room was fenced with railings from the door, to the console, through a narrow walkway to the round elevator. It seemed like he could plunge to his death just by hopping on the railings. They must've been high up the building. The room looked like the science fiction movie set he'd starred in years go. Here he was, fixing broken machines like he had any clue about it.
One guard yelled at him, "The skinny one and the fat one... Get your asses down to Lunatic Pandora! You're gonna stay there and work! The rest of you, get back to work!"
After a slight nod to each other, Kiros and Ward left him and the Moomba, with one of the guards into the elevator.
A man showed up when the elevator opened again and walked to them, with a resigned expression on his face. A security guard stood and watched over them.
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A few hours later, Laguna didn't make any progress on the console. He had no idea what he should do anyway. He sighed to the man as he dropped the tool next to him, "I'm hungry..."
"You! I said no talking! It's only been 3 days, you wimp!" yelled the security guard. When I was young, I worked all day, all night... without sleep...!" he turned to the Moomba, "That beast over there, you, too! No meal until your work is done!"
"Hey... You can't be serious! I'll be done in 2 to 3 hours, but... his job won't get done for days!" said Laguna. The Moomba said nothing, and kept turning the wrench over the loose contraption.
"He just won't get fed for a few days. If he wants to eat... he should work faster."
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"Hey!" called a security guard from the outside of the room two hours later, "Come give me a hand. I can't handle the big guy alone."
"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone. The camera is watching you." The watch guard walked out after giving them a warning glare.
Laguna leaned on the railings and said to the Moomba, "You all right? You look exhausted... Do they feed you all right? Got a fever or something? Or are you afraid of heights?"
"Grr... Grr..."
"Your stomach's goin' grrr?"
The guy next to him sat and started chuckling. "That's funny. I think that thing's 'Grrr... Grrr...' means 'thank you'. Know what? You're the first one to care about his well-being. These Moombas get worked to death for no reason. They only get half the food and sleep compared to us humans."
"That's horrible... You need to get outta here," said Laguna. "When we get outta here, I'll feed you all the food you want. And you'll get to nap all you want! How's that?"
"Grr... Grr..."
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"Experiment! Experiment!" yelled a voice from the upstairs, "Let's just do this! Bahh! This iz a failure!"
The guy shook his head. "Sounds like Dr. Odine's up to something again upstairs."
Laguna realized the Moomba seemed to be looking for something near the narrow walkway. "What's up? You need a tool? I'll go get it. Wait right there." He walked around the elevator, where most of the tools were haphazardly thrown. "I think there was one here..."
Just then, the security guard returned.
"Hey, you over there!" the guard said, "Yeah, standing next to the elevator. Go get the guards upstairs! Tell them, there's an emergency."
Laguna nodded. "Roger that..."
(An emergency... Maybe the guys are... up to something?)
"Go now!"
The guard left. Laguna stood and waved the tool to the Moomba standing on the walkway.
"Alright, I'm goin'. Oh... I almost forgot. Here, catch!" He tossed it to the Moomba, who rose to catch it. It nearly fell off the railings. Laguna jumped and pulled him up.
"Whoa!? Geez... That was close. I'm... so glad... I'm so...so glad!" he hugged the shaking Moomba.
"You're such a...nice guy. Not many guys like you these days," said the guy. "You seem like you'd be a good candidate to be our leader."
"A leader?"
"That's right. A lot of us are dissatisfied with the way Adel's been ruling Esthar. We may be disorganized now... But someday we'll gather our forces to remove Adel from power. We're overthrowing the ruler of a country. A sorceress, far beyond our powers."
The guy smiled. When his eyes shone, Laguna realized this guy wasn't a mere civilian got dragged into this just by walking out on the street.
"A half-baked plan would never work. We're waiting for the right time, now... Most of us involved in the Adel resistance are specialists. It's easy to research ways to fight Adel, but... There's no one to lead the movement. That's our situation right now. We've been looking for someone like you... Someone who's strong and righteous..."
The elevator opened at that moment, and Kiros and Ward ran out.
"Kiros! Ward! Great timing!" said Laguna.
The door opened and a guard walked in.
"Or should I say... bad timing?" said Kiros.
The guard pointed his rifle at them. "What are you guys all doing here? Where's the other guard?"
Kiros looked up, as if he could see through the floor upstairs. Ward shrugged.
"Oh really?" said Laguna.
"What? What?" demanded the wary guard.
Laguna made a motion to the guy and the Moomba behind him. He moved to stop in front of the rifle and moaned, as the guy and the Moomba tiptoeing towards the elevator.
"I can see it! Oh... My sweet Elle..." he murmured, "you make your uncle so happy..."
"What the hell?" Kiros stopped next to Laguna and shrugged his friend's shoulder, as if to wake him from his dream. "Are you hallucinating, man?" behind him, the duo entered the elevator, Ward's body blocking them from the guard.
"Well, I…" Laguna swayed and held his head, "I don't feel so good—" he dropped as Kiros kicked the rifle up the guard's confused hand. Ward threw his fist onto the guard's face, breaking his nose and causing a burst of blood to spray out. The man dropped out cold.
Laguna stood and pumped his fist up. "Jaaaaaaail break!"
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They got into a control room upstairs, where Laguna'd heard the voice earlier. The room had a big two-way mirror on the wall, where they could see a short man with a white lab suit talking to two scientists.
"To use Lunatic Pandora as a weapon..." said one scientist, "you would need a system to move it. Are you researching that now? I could never come up with such brilliant ideas."
The short man nodded, a pleased look on his face.
Another scientist said, "Lunar Base was built in space to observe the moon. So much money was spent on building it. Now why couldn't they give some of that money to this lab?"
The short man stood straighter, as if he didn't like being criticized. "Zat iz ze way it iz! Accept it!"
"The rumor goes that little girls are being abducted for the sorceress research. I have a daughter myself. It disturbs me to hear such a story. How do you think their parents feel?"
The man waved his hand. "They will be proud to help ze research! Zat iz all zat matters."
Laguna murmured, "I see... Oh!" He ran out of the control room when the doctor turned and saw them.
(Darn it!)
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Outside the lab, he saw the guy and the Moomba from before.
"Hey! You waited for me?" Laguna smiled.
The Moomba grinned. "Grrr... Grrr..."
"Stay on your toes! Don't get captured again!"
The Moomba nodded, turned and ran. Just then, the scientist walked out of the lab. The Resistance guy tapped the man's shoulder.
"He's also an 'Adel Resistance' member," said the Resistance guy. "He's Dr. Odine's assistant. All the hot info about the lab comes from him."
The assistant motioned to Laguna. "Is he a new member? Welcome to our group. You made quite a bit of noise down there... Well, this may be a good time to leave this facility."
"Did something happen to the doctor?" asked the Resistance guy. "Or did Adel stop funding his lab?"
"No, it's Dr. Odine. He... He's done it again. He's found a new toy he prefers over a big one like Lunatic Pandora... Some child named Ellone."
"Ellone!" said Laguna.
"You know her?"
Kiros said, "Know her...? She's really the only reason why we're here."
Ward nodded.
"Where is she? Where's Ellone?" said Laguna.
The assistant shrugged. "Dr. Odine would probably know her whereabouts."
"So I have to see Odine, right? We're going back! Thanks for all your help. Better go some place safe now. Adios!"
The Resistance guy stopped them as they turned back. "Wait a second! I still owe you!"
"If you're looking for that girl, Ellone, you'll eventually need help," explained the assistant. "Facing Esthar... and Adel with only the 3 of you will be difficult. Why not let us help you? We'll provide you with all the information you'll need."
Kiros nodded. "It's not a bad idea... We don't know anything about Esthar. I never want to go through all this again."
"Okay, fine! We'll accept your help. In return, we'll help your Anti-'Azel' movement or whatever," said Laguna.
Kiros said, "Its 'ADEL'. Start listening more closely, 'cause it's getting embarrassing-is what Ward would say. Can't you see it in his eyes?"
Ward rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, sure, I always see it! But... who cares!? I speak with passion, from the heart! That's what matters most."
The Resistance Guy smiled. "Yes... That's right! It all sounds crazy, but... I like you! I really want you to be our leader..."
Laguna huffed. "Leave it to me! Once we find Ellone, I'll take up that offer! Well, let me go pay a little visit to Odine. Wait right here!"
(Darn it, did it again! Why don't I ever think things through before I answer? Well... It's been ok 'til now. I'm sure things will work out…)
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The short man looked behind him and noticed three unfamiliar men running inside his precious room. He turned and tried to shield the massive tube containing his life work and his secret passion with his small stature. Both guards in the room turned around at the same time and held their weapons out.
"Dr. Odine! Where's Ellone?" demanded the long-haired guy.
"Can't believe you guys came back..." said a guard.
"You fools!" shouted the other guard.
Not four minutes later, the doctor looked down to where both guards lay unmoving. The fat man and thin, tall man held the rifles previously owned by the guards. He shied away from the rifle, but still not moving away from the tube.
"Vat are you saying?" said the doctor. "I do not know any... Ellone."
Kiros and Ward cocked the rifles and pointed it at him. Laguna stared at him.
The doctor paled and put his back on the tube. "Okay, I vas lying! Ellone... I know Ellone!"
"Wait a minute…" said Kiros. "Move away from there. What is that?"
The doctor glared. Kiros walked to him and kicked him to the side. Ignoring the doctor's groan, the man stared incredulously to a blonde-haired baby inside the tube, curling into itself, gently floating up and down with the liquid in the tube.
"The hell?" said Laguna. "You sick man! You killed a baby! A newborn?! You sick—" he reached towards the doctor, who batted his hand.
"Iz my bebe!" yelled the doctor. "Iz alive! Mine! I made the bebe caz I can't have a vife!"
Kiros stopped himself short of shooting the doctor. He blinked and turned towards the baby. "…Thank goodness you didn't make the baby look like you, huh?"
Laguna frowned. "You can do that? Make a baby without a woman?"
Ward made a motion with his free hand and set his palm flat on a toddler's level next to him.
"Right!" said Laguna. "Ellone!"
"Don't zoot my bebe!" said the doctor. "Pleaze!"
"What do you think we are, you sicko?" said Kiros. "We're not you!"
The doctor studied the intruder's faces. Relieved at what he'd seen, he stood and ran outside the room.
"What…" Laguna ran after him. "It doesn't mean we won't shoot YOU! Hey! Come back here!"
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Laguna hopped out of the car they used to follow the escaping doctor. They were in front of a different laboratory, this one the size of a small house.
"This is Odine's Private Lab, right? This place sure is weird... Hey?" Laguna looked at the closing door. He bolted towards it, leaving his group who walked outside the car at a normal pace.
Inside the small lab, there was a circular device in the middle of the room. Laguna scratched his head and sat on it. The device rose as his friends walked into the room.
"Hey!" called Kiros.
"It's weird!" reply Laguna as he was lifted up. "So many unusual gadgets here! Come after meeee!" He was taken through a tunnel, his voice faded as he disappeared through the tunnel.
"I swear, that guy…" murmured Kiros.
Laguna stepped off the device and saw the room he was in. He walked to a transparent wall and looked down. "Hmm?"
There was a little girl downstairs, crying.
Laguna thumped the wall. "Ellone! Ellone! ELLONE! Darn, she can't hear me." He looked around and moved to a console. He pressed buttons and moved some switches. A large warning 'ERROR' blinked on the display.
"Umm..." said Kiros behind him. "Do you know what you're doing?"
Ward, who arrived with Kiros, stood behind Laguna and crossed his arms. Laguna shrugged and punched some more buttons. He heard a sound of unlocked doors.
"Let's go!" Laguna ran to the lifting device and sat down. This time, his friends sat down before he could play solo again. The device ran through another tunnel and into another room with an open door. They arrived in front of Ellone. The girl stared at them, unsure of what she was seeing.
"Ellone!" Laguna hopped off the plate and took the toddler into his arms.
"Uncle Laguna!"
Laguna whirled with her in his arms. He hugged the girl as tightly as he could. "See... I told ya I'd come save you... Sorry I'm a little late, but..."
"Uncle Laguna… I have friends here! Can you help them as well?" said Ellone to her uncle's neck. The man nodded, saying nothing, only holding his baby girl tight.
And he woke up with creepy blue eyes staring at him. He rose and smacked his forehead into Zell's.
"Ow!" yelled the martial artist, falling back. Squall groaned and massaged his forehead. "What's that for, man?"
He'd fainted right after they stepped out of the elevator. Squall glared and kicked Zell away from his private space. He looked around. Quistis and Irvine was talking next to the elevator that had brought them up from Great Salt Lake into the private country of Esthar. Rinoa was lying next to the Commander. Selphie was talking to Seifer, a few meters away from him. He also just woke up. Edea stood straight, eyes and body turned to Esthar.
Squall saw Esthar in front of him, landscape unchanged since Laguna arrived decades ago. He looked down and sighed.
"Back from your adventure, Squall?" said Irvine.
Edea pointed in the distance. "There's something coming."
Squall had no doubt that a country with the high technology that could hide the entire country from anyone's eyes like this, already knew they were coming. They probably laughed when they saw the team fainted right after they stepped outside the elevator, like civilians after their first G6 flight.
A car showed up from the distance. Stopping in front of them, the door opened. A man stepped out.
"Sorceress Edea?" said the man.
Edea nodded. "Yes. We came to see Dr. Odine."
"Please explain what this is regarding."
"Yes, of course."
Squall said to the man, "I want to see Ellone. Where is she?"
The man's expressions grew guarded. "... Ellone?"
Edea raised her hand. "Squall, calm down. Trust me. Let me handle this."
The man waved his hand to the car. "Please come with us."
The street they took with the car was long and more modern than any SeeDs in the team had ever seen.
"If Adel no longer rules this place, then who is?" murmured Quistis.
Squall had an idea, but if he mentioned it, then it might turn out to be real. He'd like it to only be his guesses and not reality. As if that man could rule over something this big.
The Presidential Palace was bigger than anything in Deling City, and with high tech devices all over. They sat on the same device Laguna and friends had in their dream, and it took them into a big room where the man who had accompanied them introduced himself as President's Aide.
The team waited in what seemed to be a round meeting room as Edea talked to him. Selphie even found Occult Fan IV in the stacks of magazines in the corner.
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"…That is the very reason I am here. I seek the doctor's help. I wish to be free of Sorceress Ultimecia's control."
"Zat will be easy." The doctor walked into the room, still as short and haughty as he was years ago. "We zuz exorzise the zorcerez. There iz nothing Odine cannot do."
Edea smiled when she saw the doctor. "I leave everything in your hands."
The Aide said to Squall, "So you want to see Ellone?"
"We have to bring Rinoa to her. We need to see Ellone now."
"Do as he says. I give the permission." Doctor Odine walked to Rinoa, whom they'd placed on the couch. "But under one condition. You must let me observe this girl." He stopped and stared at Quistis.
"Are you the President?" said Seifer. "Why do you give permission to see Ellone? Is she yours?"
Odine blinked. "Huh?"
"I said, is she yours?"
"That sounded wrong on so many levels," said Selphie.
"Vat… no, no," Odine said, shaking his head, eyes kept staring at Quistis. "You… vho are you?"
"Me?" Quistis pointed at herself. "I'm sure we've never met?"
"Don't be zo zure," said the doctor. "You are?"
"Wow," said Zell. "Creepy doc crushing our Commander. Or should I say, 'zruzhin'?"
"It's not nice to mock on one's accent," drawled Irvine.
"Where is Ellone?" said Squall. "And she's Balamb Garden Commander—keep your distance!"
Odine stopped himself from reaching for Quistis's hand. The Commander looked at the doctor, brow lifted in question. "Ah. Yez, yez." He bowed a bit, eyes full of questionable tears. "Nice to meet you again, my dear."
"I'm really, really sure we've never met," clarified Quistis.
"More than creepy," said Zell. "Zreeepy dozdor iz zreepy. Ewew old zreep."
"He doesn't really sound like that," said Irvine.
"Focus!" yelled Squall. "Stop flirting with her!"
"Ztop telling me to ztop!" yelled the doctor at him. "Am not flirzing! Not to my bebe!"
"Bebe? Ewww!" said Selphie.
Quistis grimaced. "Are you all right?" she said to the doctor whose face had gone red. "Do I remind you of someone?"
"No, no, you are your own perzon!" Odine grabbed her hand. "You zame back zo me!"
"Get your filthy hands away from her!" Squall launched himself at the doctor. The doctor released his grip on Quistis. They landed on the sofa. Right on top of Rinoa.
"Aack!" said Selphie. "Guys! Not on top of her!"
"Seriously?" said Zell. "This is how you deal with a zreepy zreep?"
"Shut it with the accent!" said Irvine. "Some people just can't help it!"
"Squall!" said Quistis. "I mean, Leonhart! Lieutenant Commander Leonhart! Stop it!"
"And you choose to be formal with him now?" said Seifer. "Why don't you just pull out a dagger and be done with him?"
"Away from Rinoa!" said Selphie. "Guys! Roll down! Roll down!"
"Is this how he usually reacts?" said the Aide.
"Teenagers," said Edea, as if it explained everything.
"Something in the water," said Quistis. "Or air. Or maybe he's not over his dream just yet."
"If you're asking me," said Seifer. "Maybe he's just—"
"I'm not asking you," said Quistis. "Definitely not."
"Well, what kind of a Commander are you of never asking your Lieu's opinion?" said Seifer, sulking a bit.
"A smart one."
Odine and Squall rolled and tried to punch each other, and Squall fell from the sofa with the back of his head first. A loud thump echoed in the room.
The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness the second time of the day was Seifer, asking their Commander if this meant he could be the sole Lieutenant of Balamb Garden due to the other getting a lifetime jail in Esthar from unprovoked assault.
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He woke up when his chest met the harsh sand. Squall coughed when the dusty sand got into his mouth and looked up. Quistis had walked away first, leaving him, between Zell and Edea. Selphie and Irvine hopped over him and ran following the Commander. He heard a familiar voice behind him, and a feel of just leaving a very cool air conditioned place on his skin.
"'Bout time you get up." Seifer stepped in front of his face. Not touching his skin, but Squall could smell all the creatures layering his boots from the moment he wore it in his cadet-dom. "Let's go."
"Where?" the gunblader said, pushing his body up the sand. He looked behind to Seifer the moment Rinoa was pushed onto his back. His forehead smacked hers and he stumbled a few steps back cursing.
Seifer sighed, holding Rinoa upright under her arms as if holding a toddler. "Come on, Pubey, we don't have all day."
Squall saw a car behind Seifer. The vehicle just turned and left them on the faded path leaving the country. "They kicked us out?"
"Keep hoping they'll do that and you won't be executed for attacking the Presidential Doctor," said Seifer, pushing Rinoa into his hands again. Squall accepted Rinoa and lifted her in his arms. "Lunar Gate. See that thing?"
Squall turned and saw a building in the distance that looked like a giant rocket planted on the ground.
"Ellone's in Lunar Base. So, go." Seifer went past him, leaving him to struggle alone switching Rinoa to his back.
Squall sighed and looked back towards Esthar. Despite the zreep—he meant creep, he had to admit Esthar and its technology was glorious.
What an incredible city.
He spun towards the Lunar Gate, Rinoa on his back, the whole team in his line of sight, and began walking.
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"Space?" said Zell after the Lunar Gate staff explained what the human-sized capsules in a room next to them were for. "We're going to space?"
"Yahooo!" Selphie jumped. "I'm going! I'm going!"
"And what, exactly," said Seifer, "are you going to do there? You know, aside from sightseeing?"
"It's space! There's satellite, and moon… and…"
Ignoring the excited chatter of the team behind him, Quistis asked the staff, "How many of us can go at one time?"
"The girl in blue has already undergone 'cold sleep' and has been loaded in. There's room for 1 more."
Well, then, the choice was obvious. "Leonhart, Rinoa and…"
"You're not going?" said Squall. "You're the commander."
"What exactly is the point of me being there? You're the one who needs to see Ellone."
"Rinoa needs to see Ellone," said the Lieu. "Who accompany her isn't the focus."
"Well, then, you can go with her, just the two of you, and be out of focus for once, with her, like you always wished for."
He gave her a blank stare and said, "No."
She frowned when her Lieu stepped in front of the staff and said, "Quistis Trepe, the Commander of Balamb Garden. Squall Leonhart, Lieutenant Commander of Balamb Garden, and Rinoa Heartily, SeeDs' client."
"Princess of Nothingness," added Seifer from the back. "The Human Mascot of Timber Owl. The Caraway Traito—" he stopped only when Quistis glared at him. "SeeDs' Client sounds underrated, especially since we saved her ass more than five times and you guys haven't spent more than six months around her."
"Maybe both of my Lieus can go instead of me," suggested Quistis.
Squall gave her a withering look that said, 'why do you torture me so?' Seifer rolled his eyes.
Edea mumbled, "In the meantime, something must be done to suppress my powers..."
"But it'd be too dangerous for you to be alone!" said Quistis.
Zell's hand rose. "Then let me be her escort! C'mon Quistis, what do you say?"
"Are you sure you can handle it...?" Quistis said.
"Oh, hell, no." Seifer sighed.
"Why can't it be ME!? Because I'm a Chicken-wuss?" Zell pointed his finger at Seifer before he confirmed it and looked back at Quistis. "Then let me prove it to you! I'm a SeeD, just like you ARE!"
Edea nodded. "I, too, would prefer Zell by my side. It would give me a sense of security..."
Quistis pushed Seifer aside before he started another petty fight in the space station. "I have no objection to Zell remaining," she said.
Selphie's hand rose next to Zell. "Me, either!"
Irvine shrugged. "Then it's decided."
Quistis frowned. "Ok. I'll leave it in Zell's hands."
"Balamb and Rochester, part two," mumbled Seifer.
"What was that?" said Zell.
"Exactly what you just heard."
Zell decided to ignore Seifer for once and jumped in place, waving his fist all over the place. "OHHHH YEAHHH! I'll do whatever it takes to watch over you. Don't worry about a thing! Quistis, don't worry about us!"
"Am not," said Quistis. "Seifer's your backup." And Matron is a sorceress. Don't forget that.
While Zell's jaw dropped, and Seifer ran a palm over his face, Quistis chose the moment to go into the capsule room. Squall followed behind.
"No! Quistis! Bring him along!" whined Zell.
"Yeah, bring ME along!" shouted Seifer. "You're a damn sadist, Instructor!"
"Let's go so we can get back before Gaia turns to dust because I left them together," said Quistis. She chose the left capsule. Squall took one beside her. The moment the capsule covers came up her front, she felt faint.
A man said from out of the capsule, "All capsules are in place. Conditions inside the capsules are normal."
Quistis's sight grew dim.
"Boosters on standby. All systems normal," a woman said.
"Launch error correction, plus 2. Orbital correction, minus 1. Corrections complete."
"I wanna gooooo!" shouted Selphie.
"There's always next time," said Edea.
"When the moon gets blown up after her visit, will you say the same thing?" said Seifer.
Another man said, "Go!"
"Clear."
"Clear."
"Clear."
Quistis closed her eyes the moment she felt the booster pumped her capsule out.
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Zell watched the capsule shot into space. "Man, I hope everything goes well."
Irvine smiled. "I think they're in good hands."
"They'll be fine!" said Selphie.
"Let's pray for their safe return." Edea motioned to the exit. "Ok, shall we go?"
At that moment, the building shook. Zell and Edea fell down, while Selphie squealed and flattened herself voluntarily to the ground. Seifer and Irvine leaned on the wall until the quake subsided.
Zell looked at his teammates. "Let's go outside!"
Seifer stopped in front of the exit. "What was that?"
A giant black square, lined with blue stripes, floated over them.
"What the hell is that? It's humongous!" said Zell.
"Say," said Irvine, watching the direction where the square floated to. "Wasn't the city in that direction?"
Selphie said, "Uh-oh! Dr. Odine might be in trouble!"
"Just for the record, we care about this man because he might be able to help Matron, right?" said Seifer.
"Zell, we'd better head for the city at once." Edea said, "Dr. Odine might know what's going on."
Zell nodded. "Alright! Let's go!"
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"Dr. Odine is in a good mood right now." The Research Assistant let them enter Odine's Lab. "He hadn't been this cheerful in quite a while."
Zell turned to his team and counted. Matron, Irvine… huh? "Wait. Where's Selphie and the Snob?"
Selphie and the Snob arrived on top of the city lift a few seconds later, and sauntered to them. He waved a Combat King 004 in his hand. "I met that soldier who promised to lend me this again."
"I bought Potions, Ammos and stuff," said Selphie. "Since Quisty's not here, I better use the party money to stock up!"
"Seriously? Now?" said Zell. "You… you…"
"What's the rush? Obviously that box hasn't got here yet," said Seifer, reading the magazine.
"Don't even bother," said Irvine, accepting the ammo boxes. "Just get on with it, Zell."
Zell raised both shoulders, arms wide and looked up to the sky once before stomping into the lab.
The team sat on the lift plate and got tunneled into Doctor Odine's office. The Doctor was walking in a circle around his desk. His assistant stood near the big window, watching the giant black box float closer.
"Why iz Lunatic Pandora here now? Who iz moving zat thing?"
"Galbadians, sir," replied the assistant. "They're the ones that salvaged it. We must sound the alert in the city now!"
"It will not attack us. This city iz not ze target."
"I hope so... I hope you're right."
"But Tears' Point... Hmm?" He noticed the party. "So we meet again. This iz exiciting."
"What's so exciting about this?" said Zell. "This and that about Galbadia and all?"
Odine smiled. "It has been a long time since I last saw Lunatic Pandora." He frowned. "Where's your commander?"
"Leaving Gaia," said Selphie.
The doctor's expression grew sad.
Zell waved his hand to make the doctor look at him. "That Lunatic... whatever, that big thing? What the hell is that? What the hell is going on?"
"Oh! You vant to hear my story?" The doctor grinned. "Zat iz nice. I would be happy to tell you. I've been investigating ze Pandora since it was excavated. So we serviced it..."
Zell growled.
"And investigated..."
Zell snapped, "I don't care about that!"
Odine's lips thinned. "Vat do you vant?"
"What's gonna happen? What do we do?"
"Zat iz what I'm about to..."
"The enemy's comin', right!? And there's no time! We'll do somethin' about it! Just tell us what to do. Make it short."
"You vant to go inside to stop it? Then look at zis." The doctor waved his hand, and a holographic map appeared in the center of the room. The Esthar continent. "Lunatic Pandora's zurrent location iz here." He pointed at one dot on the map. "Lunatic Pandora's ezpected courze. It will undoubtedly pazz over ze city. Ze city haz 1 outer zkyway and 2 main inner zkywayz, all leading zo ze palaze. Lunatic Pandora will head eazt, from ze vicinity of zis lab zoward ze zhopping mall. The time it will zake zo crozz ze city is eztimated zo be…"
Selphie's eyelids grew heavy.
"Well done, Wuss," said Seifer.
Zell closed his eyes.
Fifteen minutes and a long drone later, the doctor said, "…That iz equivalent zo zree minutes left on your zimer. End of briefing."
Selphie almost fell off her standing position when Irvine nudged her. "Bwhuh? Uh?"
The holographic map turned off, the doctor looked at the team, chin raised as if expecting praise.
Even Edea massaged her temples.
When nobody said a thing, he said, "Zat is how it goes. I give you this." Odine handed small radar to Seifer. "Look at it… Ze problem iz..."
"Aie!" said Selphie.
Zell snatched the radar from the Lieu and put up another hand in the air. "Alright, alright...! We'll get goin'!"
"If ya don' have an accent," burred Irvine, "Don' try to make one."
"I vant to talk some more…" Odine looked resigned as the whole team ran outside. "Ze culprit iz not Galbadia… Vhy nobody lizen?"
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" There it is!" yelled Zell as they ran through the street. "It's heading for the center!"
The Lunatic Pandora stopped briefly at the first contact point, hovering above.
"Oh... man..." mumbled Zell.
"We're supposed to get on this thing...?" said Irvine.
"Anyone got a better idea?" said Seifer.
"Yeah," said Selphie. "Let's pinch ourselves and wake up!"
A hatch opened on the bottom side of the monolith, and two guards jumped out.
Zell ran forward and tackled one, while Seifer swung Hyperion to another. The guard avoided it. Selphie's Nunchaku shattered the man's right kneecap. Irvine's ammo pierced through the back of his head, ending his torture. A dose of Bio from Edea drowned the head of the tackled guard. The martial artist looked up to the hatch. It hadn't closed.
"Now's our chance!" shouted Zell. He ran after the monolith and jumped. He managed to hold on and pull himself up. Inside the room with the hatch was a flight of stairs. Zell moved in, leaving the room for the rest of his team to get in by themselves. He ran up the stairs and saw a hall with elevators.
"Which one?" he asked his team when they all regrouped. The inside of Lunatic Pandora was dark and silent, with gray floor similar to what Zell had seen when he became Ward in a dream earlier.
"Doesn't matter, right?" said Seifer.
Zell thought about it, and pointed at the left elevator. They headed up and arrived on another hall… with a giant robot waiting for them.
"The hell is that?" Zell stepped towards the robot as it rose and started charging. "Well, no time to be ponderin'... Let's do it! Arghhh!"
The robot shot forward and rammed the entire team. They flung far back.
"Doesn't matter?" screamed Zell. "It does matter!"
Seifer answered with a groan.
"Arghhhh! M...My body... I can't move!" said Zell
"Ugh!" Edea said.
"Noooooooooo!" screamed Selphie.
The next thing she knew when she opened her eyes, she was back in Esthar streets. The team was standing watching the monolith faded into transparent square as it floated away.
"Dammit!" said Zell. "Kills me to let'em go!"
They watched as the faded box past a gear-shaped building in the distance, and the blue stripes marking the black box started to glow red.
"What's that building?" asked Irvine.
"Tear's Point," said Edea. "I wonder…"
Zell sighed. "I guess we better fall back for now."
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"Initiating quick-thaw. It's gonna feel a bit itchy."
No kidding.
"Ok, done."
Quistis opened her eyes the same time her capsule opened. She flew out and floated in the Zero-G room. The commander looked around and saw Rinoa and Squall floated around her, having been released from their capsules.
"Lock on to rotation ring unit. Lock engaged. Generating artificial gravity."
They floated down and touched the ground. Quistis looked down to her feet and wiggled her fingers.
"All accounted for," said Squall.
A door opened, a man with tech suit and a man with a lab coat entered. Quistis walked towards the technician standing near the automatic door and pulled out her prepared letter. On hindsight, she already knew she'd be going to space. Otherwise, she should have given this to Squall earlier.
"Here's the letter of introduction from Esthar's ambassador," she said.
"Wow... What is she, 17, 18..." the one with a lab-coat squatted in front of Rinoa, taking her pulse. "... Is she dead?"
"No," said Quistis.
The man nodded at Quistis. "My name is Piet. Nice to meet you. Let's get her to the med lab and we'll talk there. Please follow me."
Squall picked Rinoa up and followed Piet out the room.
"Let's go to the control room," said the technician. Quistis followed him to another room across the hall. The commander looked up at the view, and her breath hitched.
"My goodness!" she said. "Look at how close we are to the moon!"
The man sitting on the control machine said, "This is no time to be impressed. Look at the monitor there."
Quistis walked closer to a display near the controller. "This monitor?"
The display showed a red bump over the moon's surface. It swelled and moved.
Quistis frowned. "Monsters..."
Squall walked in as the controller nodded. "The lunar world is a world of monsters. Didn't you learn that in school? As you can see, the monsters are gathering at one point. History's starting to repeat itself. The Lunar Cry is starting."
Lunar Cry… the monster infestation? But why?
Squall looked at the same monitor Quistis was staring at, and he noticed something else on top of the machine.
"Is that Card?" he said.
"Yeah," said Piet. "We play a lot. There's nothing much else to do here."
Squall drew out his Card box and uncapped the cover. "Shall we?"
Piet smirked. "What Rare do you have?"
Squall pulled out Edea Card and showed it to the medical staff. Piet nodded and pulled out Alexander Card from his pocket.
Quistis took a deep breath and walked out when the men inside began to boast. She entered the medical bay and looked at Rinoa, who was placed in a medical capsule in the center of the circular room. The floor she stepped on was transparent, and Quistis could see the space beneath her.
She studied Rinoa's face.
"What exactly is wrong with you?"
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Half an hour later, Lieutenant Leonhart found her on the second floor, talking to Ellone. Sis was sitting on the right side of the room, while she took her spot on the left couch.
"Squall," greeted Ellone. "I'm so happy to see you again."
"Me too."
Ellone smiled at them both. "I'm so sorry. I got you involved in so many things... so much hardship."
"It's alright," replied Quistis. "I understand. Were we of any help?"
"Of course! You were my eyes. Thanks to you guys, I was able to see how much I was loved. I couldn't change the past but seeing it was more than enough. Thank you so much."
"You said you can't change the past?" asked Squall, sitting next to Quistis.
"You can find out things about the past that you never knew. And from what you've learned, you may see some things differently in the present. You're the one that changes. Not the past."
"This is about Rinoa," said Squall, glancing at Quistis. "I want to find out what happened to her, and I want to try to warn her..."
"You want to save her. Squall, I can't. I told you I can only send people I know in the present into people I knew in the past."
"We brought Rinoa with us," said Quistis. "She's resting in the med lab. Please come with me."
In the middle of the hallway, the alarm went off. Squall glanced around.
"What's going on?" said Quistis.
-Red Alert! Red Alert! All units report to med lab. Stat! -
"Med lab... Rinoa? It doesn't look good." Quistis pulled out her whip. Squall already headed to the stairway. "Ellone, you'd better go wait in the control room."
"Okay. Be careful, alright?" said Ellone.
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Squall stopped in front of the med lab, halting Quistis from rushing inside. Behind him, she saw Rinoa. A standing, swaying Rinoa, shambled towards them. A man slumped on the ground away from her. Squall moved back and pushed Quistis out of the way when Rinoa's hands reached at his jacket, pulled him towards her and flung him across the room.
Quistis staggered back and raised her whip, but this version of Rinoa dragged her feet to the Commander and grabbed both of her wrists. She yanked Quistis, and with a power Quistis never realized Rinoa had, hurled the Commander to the wall. Quistis fell down, half lucid, half confused. Rinoa lurched into the control room.
"What is this?" yelled Piet from the room.
"No!" screamed Ellone.
"What happened?" groaned Squall.
"Adel's Tomb's seal!" shouted Piet. "No!"
-Adel's Tomb Level 1 Seal Deactivated. Level 1 Seal has been deactivated.-
Quistis crawled over to the control room. A hand gripped her hair and yanked her to the side, tossing her away like a rag doll. She spun twice in the air, ended up smashing her chest and elbows on the floor, and grimaced in pain.
"Quistis!" said Squall.
Quistis looked towards the med bay. Squall ran to her. When she looked behind her, Rinoa had disappeared behind another corner of the hallway. She shook her head when Squall hesitated either to run after Rinoa or stay behind.
"Don't," she said. "I don't think we can talk to her right now."
Squall pulled her up. Quistis pushed herself away from him and wobbled into the control room.
"Remind me to never initiate a cat fight with her," she said. She stared out the window and froze.
On the moon's surface, the red mass grew larger.
Squall breathed next to her, "It's overflowing with monsters."
"It's finally starting..." said Piet.
"The Lunar Cry..." Quistis murmured.
"We have to stop her. If she plans to free Adel, she'll have to go out there." Piet pointed at the moon and the red mass. "The Level 2 Seal is located on Adel's Tomb."
Quistis turned and rushed out the control room. In the hallway, a crew member pointed at the window. She stopped.
"Look! The moon!"
The red mass grew larger, and larger, and rounded into the stream before bursting into a high-speed red jet to the planet under the moon. Squall and Quistis stared as the monsters flew into Gaia.
"Tons of monsters...!" said a crew member next to them, "I know that land… they're headed for Tears' Point..."
Quistis shook her head and ran through the passageway.
"Then, that means Lunatic Pandora is at Tears' Point," said a researcher as she dashed past him, "When did this happen?"
"Have you seen a girl come by here?" asked Squall behind her.
"Yes. She went into that locker room," said the researcher.
Quistis burst into the locker room and saw Rinoa inside a sealed hatch. She had already donned a spacesuit.
"Rinoa!" Quistis and Squall yelled at the same time, and they watched as Rinoa floated out the hatch into space. She flew past another astronaut who was just floating in.
"Huh? What's this?" said the astronaut. "Who is it?"
"Get her!" shouted Quistis to the astronaut. "Quick!"
The astronauts moved and reached out to Rinoa, but the door closed after her, and he swung on empty space. He hit the hatch door and raised his hands in resignation.
"Who's that?" he said. Two men ran into the locker room and circled the sealed hatch, talking at once.
"The flood of monsters is drawing near Adel's Tomb."
"At this rate, Adel's Tomb might fall somewhere near Esthar!"
"Why is everything happening all at once?" said the astronaut as he moved from the sealed area into the locker room. "This is crazy! It's like someone planned the whole thing! Who could've set this up?"
Quistis and Squall shared a look. A sorceress from the future?
"It's much too dangerous now! We must leave Lunar Base at once!" shouted the man on the left.
"We have to evacuate! Please hurry to the pod!" said the one on the right.
"Forget about me, just go!" the astronaut wobbled to the locker.
"Please sir, we must hurry!" said the left one, and gripped the suit and the man inside it. Together with the one on the right, they dragged the man out of the locker room.
"Aaah!" said the astronaut. He pointed at Squall and shrieked, "Hey, you! Take care of Ellone! Ughhh!"
Quistis glanced at Squall when the men had dragged the astronaut away. "You know him?"
Squall shook his head. "You?"
She shrugged.
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Inside the control room, Piet didn't look any happier to see them.
"You couldn't catch her?" he said. "Dammit, the seal's gonna be broken!"
They watched from the monitor to another area of the moon that's previously not on display. A massive coffin-like relief of a tall woman was carved into the moon' surface. On it were several switches. They looked when a suit floated to the Tomb. The astronaut, that could only be Rinoa, pulled the switches and the Tomb ejected itself from its place on the moon's surface. The people in the control room could only look when the coffin fell down, and integrated into the red jet of the monster stream to Gaia. The suit floated after it ejected the coffin, and the astronaut released her hands from the switches.
"This can't be happening," said Squall.
Quistis saw Rinoa floated into space.
"Come on. We have to evacuate!" said Piet. "Now!"
"We can't leave Rinoa! We have to do something...!" said Quistis as they made their way to the Zero-G room.
"Next!" called Piet in front of the private escape pods. "Hurry!"
"She's gonna die," said Squall. "I—I'm not sure what can we do."
Quistis focused on Ellone. Beside Piet, they were the only three who hadn't been inside the pods. "Take us to Rinoa... to her past."
Ellone nodded. "It may not work, but we'll try, ok?"
"Come on! We have to go now!" Piet pulled Ellone into a pod, and got into one himself. Ellone waved at Squall and Quistis before her pod burst into space.
Squall and Quistis looked at each other, and Quistis mumbled, "I have a… crazy plan."
Squall listened.
"We wear the suits, we attach ourselves to each other, and then… we'll try and grab her."
He didn't hear any good note inside the plan, at all. "And then how will we get back?"
Quistis grimaced. "If we attach ourselves to this base, we'll die when the monsters take it over and eat us alive anyway. You have a better plan?"
Squall looked at the last couple of pods, and then at Quistis.
"Does that plan include Rinoa?" said Quistis.
He sighed. "Fine."
They nodded, and moved to the spacesuits hanging on the wall. Squall wore his suit quickly, and stopped Quistis before they both wore their helmets.
"Hmm?" said Quistis.
He moved forward and planted a light kiss on her. When he pulled back, Quistis was frowning. That wasn't what he was aiming for, but all right.
"For luck," he explained. Her lips thinned, her eyes narrowed and she looked like she wanted to bash his head to the pod.
Fine, whatever.
"Let's go," Quistis said, apparently rushing to get her helmet on. They checked on their life supports and tied a death knot on long cables to each other's waists, making sure they wouldn't go anywhere without each another a few meters behind.
As the base shook around them, Quistis made the first jump from the open hatch into space. She felt a tightening of her knot as Squall followed a few seconds later.
After they moved away from the base, she spun back to point him the direction of which she thought Rinoa had flown. Quistis saw Squall floating without movements in his suit. She pulled at him with the cable and checked him through his helmet.
Her Lieu, her lifeline in space, fainted.
Oh, great.
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To be continued…