Eight watched Fang, wary of the way she trimmed her words and gave short hand gestures. Tightly wound body language hinted at issues unaddressed and he worried what might explode from that compressed air.
"You don't know?" Vanille asked the two guys in the hospital. "But they said you were the only ones they know that were connected to the incident."
Zell shook his head. "I only got shot by an anonymous douche. Trust me, if I knew who to blame for this mess, I'd tell you."
"And… Rejja?" Snow asked. "You don't have anything?"
"It's Raijin, you know. There was a crazy lady screwing with two weirdos, man. They were absolutely bonkers, but no ghosts, you know?"
Fang asked, "That where you got your battle scars?"
"These aren't just scars, you know! They took my freaking fingers!"
Eight thought the hospital an odd place to stow away witnesses. "Describe these two 'weirdos.' How old were they?"
"I don't know, man," said Raijin. "I didn't get their ages. One was… a kid, maybe? But he was tall enough to be a man. Or a woman. Those threads of his was kinda sketchy, you know?"
"And the other?"
"Huge. bigger than your friend here."
"How much bigger?" Snow asked.
"Heads taller, you know. Thing was freaking massive."
"Sounds like a challenge to me." Snow turned to the others. "Let's get this guy!"
"Wait." Zell scrambled to the edge of his bed, pulling taut a skinny tube that stretched from a metal hanger to his arm. "Take us with you."
Fang shook her head. "That's a bad idea, kid."
"I'm not a kid! I'm a graduated SeeD!"
"You can't leave us behind, you now!"
Eight looked at all the equipment surrounding them. "Looks to me like we can and we should."
"We can still work!" Zell tugged at the tiny tube and winced. "Just… get me out of here! Operatives are no good when they sit in a hospital bed for days on end! My skills are rusting as we speak!"
"You can brush up on them later."
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Vanille asked. "Won't white magic fix it?"
Fang said, "Does it look like Dajh is around here? If the magic on this world hasn't fixed it already, I imagine we'd need something mighty powerful to make a difference. Hey, Snow, any chance you could carry them?"
"You bet!"
Zell started. "Hey! No one's carrying anyone! I can—ooph—take care of myself!"
Eight watched him take that metal hanger and drag it around the room while he looked for... something. "We can't take them," Eight said.
Zell snatched up a bag of items. "Just you watch, I can fight like nothing you've seen before!"
"You'll get yourself killed."
Zell pulled gloves out of the bag. "Not if I'm careful about it. I was trained from birth, man, from birth. I can take care of myself!"
"In the case of trouble, we can hide them in a cupboard or something," Fang said.
Raijin pulled a pile of clothes out from under his bed. "I won't fit in a cupboard, you know! We can sneak better than anybody else!"
Vanille clapped her hands. "Our party's getting bigger!"
"I don't know if that's a good thing," Eight said.
"It's good thing, yo." Raijin hauled himself to his feet with visible difficulty. "Just… don't push your luck, you know?"
Zell changed faster than any human Eight knew. "Do you want an alliance or don't you?" Zell asked.
"We don't," Eight said.
Fang shrugged. "I wouldn't say that."
"It's happening anyway!" Snow clapped a hand on Zell's back and sent him sprawling. "Join the party, kids!"
"I'm probably older than you, you know!"
"I highly doubt that," Eight said.
Raijin scowled at Eight. "Stop moving! It's distracting, you know!"
"Just one thing." Zell righted himself. "Can we not go to Balamb? Can we avoid that place like a one-star bar?"
"Depends," Fang said.
Vanille asked, "Are you running away?"
"No!" Zell said. "I just, uh, don't like that place."
Eight didn't believe him, but he gave up convincing the others. It wasn't like anyone timed them or anything, and Bhunivelze probably didn't register time like it mattered, and—yeah, he couldn't justify this.
When they finally left the room, they had six party members. Six party members, and yet a sense of unease settled on Eight's shoulders like a weight.
Eight stopped everyone just outside. "How long has Rinoa been controlling time?" he asked.
"Rinoa controls time?" Zell asked. "Holy sh—!"
"No one here knows," Fang said.
Eight looked about them. "Something's not right."
"It's not just me?" Snow asked. "I worried for a moment there."
Vanille stepped forward. "Lost souls. Could she access the rift between space?"
"Not deliberately!" Zell said. "Rinoa would never do something shady like that!"
Screams down the hall, followed by gunfire. Eight gave chase.
The others followed, but he was faster. Steps light, no heel, only the destination and the promise of war. Times like this made him feel like a child at Mother's side again, asking for better weapons and pushing himself to prove he could handle bigger and better missions.
He twisted around the corner and found students shooting down twisted and ink-black distortions. The kind that would have followed Noel and Serah through their adventures, that sometimes peeked through his nightmares in Akademeia.
Lost souls and monsters twisted by the distortions between time and space. Drawn to the light and life they recognized in him and the others, yet unable to attain it for themselves. It drove them mad.
Eight flexed a wrist and tapped his foot before rushing into the fire and dodging bullets to attack a raging snake-like bird.
It grabbed him, but Eight twisted in its grip to get at the middle. Nearby, Fang let out a primal scream and took on two others while Vanille flanked. Zell and Raijin showed a surprising deftness in their movements while they handled the biggest monster here—an oozing flan. Somewhere outside Eight's view, Snow shouted, "And that's why you don't take on the heroes!"
Eight maneuvered his way into his monster's blind spot and gripped it by the neck while it flailed itself into exhaustion.
One of its skeletal hands gripped his and Eight broke its wing-fingers. It shrieked, then jumped and rammed them both into the ceiling.
Something snapped in his leg and Eight's breath caught in his throat. They hit the ground and he went rolling.
Shouts around him and more students stepped between him and the monster. No. No no nonono—
Bullets rained as the kids loaded the thing with lead. It gargled before collapsing in a heap.
A girl flew past him with a cry and Eight looked to see the twisting spine of a beast that twitched and snarled in unnatural motions.
Instincts kicked in and he grabbed a fallen rifle and shot the beast. It shrieked and he shot again. He shot it so many times that the machine went dry and the monster let out a death howl before collapsing to the ground.
Eight dropped the gun and stumbled back. His leg hurt like hell and he knew he suffered a broken bone, but he couldn't bring himself to care when he saw a body dead before him. Dead because he cheated.
Eight needed a splint. Splint and a crutch. And then a crap ton of white magic.
The habit of reaching for phantoma felt as a mockery and he clenched a fist against the cold ground, bitter memories woken afresh from the rounds. Those hands looked so clean yet he still lived. Even as blood pooled at his feet and stained his shoes a muddy, purplish red.
Snow kicked the body of a monster over and grimaced at the gross sludge that oozed off the thing. "What are these things?"
"Rift wanderers," Eight said through gritted teeth. "Those lost from time and space and forced to traverse a hellish dimension until their minds and bodies are ripped beyond repair."
"Like cie'th," Vanille whispered before dropping to Eight's side.
Fang, splattered with dark blood and wearing a freakish grin, spun her spear in place. "Any more want a piece?"
"I think that's it." Zell groaned and leaned against the wall, gripping his stomach. Most of the remaining students left, but some rolled about on the floor with pained whimpers. Zell looked over them and said, "We need medical staff here pronto."
Snow looked around. "Do you have a phone or a sphere we can use?"
"It's not that hard, you know!" Raijin punched the wall and it rattled. More students stopped to stare. "Hey! We need a doctor! Someone GO GET ONE!"
Commotion. All upright the kids panicked and went running, with some picking up phones and devices. Snow wondered if they would get a dozen doctors coming their way before he realized some of the kids held their phones up as if to record them.
"Uh-uh!" Zell threw his hands up and shooed most of the kids away. "I don't want my pain getting turned into a viral video, thank you very much! Get out of here!"
A medical team arrived and got to work. Eight refused treatment at first and Vanille had to talk him out of killing himself, using efficiency as her main argument.
"You wouldn't have to heal," Fang told him, "but it's a right bitch finding your way here again and none of us got the patience to wait for you, alright?"
Eight went quiet at that, though Snow noticed a strange glimmer in his eyes that reminded Snow of times in Luxerion. Snow took Fang aside and whispered, "He'll be okay?"
"Beats me. These guys seem pretty prone to breakdowns, so we'd best keep our guard up."
"I can hear you two," Eight said. "I'll get past this."
Vanille nudged him. "You're upset. You've gotta face it now or later, so you'd best make a decision."
"… Then I'll face it later. We've got work to do."
"Good."
"Snow!" Everyone looked to see Yuj running their way. "Boss! Where've you been?!"
"Whoa!" Snow jumped and tackled him in a hug. Gadot appeared around the corner and let out a cry of triumph. That man was followed by a walking… cat? "Fancy meeting you here!" Snow said. "What, you gonna make a habit of showing up when people get hurt?"
"We're heroes, man! Here to save people?" Yuj bumped Snow on the forearm, though Snow barely felt it for the lack of strength in the kid. "Dude, you're different! Like, you feel like a l'Cie again!"
"Not that different, I'm afraid. But I don't have to worry about turning to crystal this time around. What about you, though? You don't look so good."
Yuj gave a nervous chuckle and stepped back. "Nothing to worry about. Just some side effects from travel, is all."
"Don't know where he got it," Gadot said. "This space sickness of his is way worse than mine."
Snow looked between them. "What roads did you take?"
"Does it matter?" Gadot asked. "Just gotta find Maqui and Lebreau and we'll be in shape!"
Yuj gave a weak smile and felt at his sides. He kept smoothing down his vest, even more so than Snow knew him to. The kid was a fashionista, but he also knew how not to bring the wrong attention to himself.
"Who're these guys?" Zell demanded while a nurse fussed with his bandages. "Friends?"
"Most," said the cat. Everyone startled except Vanille. "Oh, come on, it's not that uncommon for animals to talk on other planets. What did you expect? I can walk and not talk?"
"He knows his stuff," Yuj said. "You should hear what he has to say."
"Aye," the cat said. "But let's take it somewhere private, a'ight? You've got enough gawkers in this place and I'd rather not make us look any worse than we do."
"That's impossible," Eight hissed.
"I'll try, anyway. And while we move, let's introduce ourselves because I ain't got an idea who half of you are."
Deuce followed Rinoa through the winding halls of Galbadia in search of more "weak points." They spent hours at it already, but Rinoa was never satisfied. Deuce wondered how much point there was to this, but she also trusted Eight to find the other possessee. She told him about the kid she already surrendered to the authorities and she knew how to keep it under wraps until they were ready to send the right person to extract the shards.
"Why doesn't he talk?" Rinoa asked Deuce. "Trey, I mean."
"I do talk," he said.
"But only sometimes. Why?"
Trey didn't look Deuce's way and she said, "I can't tell you what caused it."
Rinoa hummed and clasped her hands behind her back. "You two both seem really down. Let's do something fun!"
"Fun?" Deuce asked. "Like what?"
"Let's hit a carnival!"
"But we're on a bit of a time constraint."
"Then how about a quick game of 'guess what I'm thinking?'"
Deuce couldn't summon the energy to play along. "We should focus on our job."
"You can focus after."
"Do we really want to do this?" Trey asked.
"Yes! I'll start—with stripes of red and body of black, it strikes and kills as well as it groans. What am I thinking now?"
"About us," Deuce said.
"Bingo! How about something harder? Before ground and before sky, this formed an inescapable corridor to which all swore fealty. What am I thinking of?"
"Time?" Trey asked.
Rinoa beamed. "There you go! It's working!"
"Speaking of time," Deuce said, "Have you made any progress?"
"Not really." Rinoa pulled out her phone. "Let me make a call. Quistis will want to join us before we reconvene with the others."
Deuce shot Trey a look and he returned it with skepticism. Deuce would have to talk with Eight later about abandoning them with this lady.
"Oh, she's close. You know what, I'll leave you two to it."
"Just like that?" Deuce asked.
Rinoa didn't respond before running off and disappearing through a timeslip of hers.
"Right," Deuce said. "I guess… we'll wait here, then."
"How the tables turn." Trey took a seat by the wall and leaned back. "You realize this is a ploy of hers, right?"
"You're talking again. Did her ploy work?"
"I just… didn't want to process with her around. What do we know about possessee itineraries? Where do they like to go?"
"I haven't thought much of it. Why?"
"We could have the answer to our troubles lying before our eyes. Do they have a headquarters?"
"Not that I've noticed. They just.. go places."
"Where Bhunivelze sends them. And he doesn't stick to one region, either. Would he, though? If he had one? Would he save up if he wasn't stuck on the run? Damn, it's on the tip of my tongue."
Deuce took a seat by him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Take your time. Your mind is like a crisscrossing network of broad strokes missing its fine details. Once you remember your details, your purpose will come back to you."
"… I don't know what my purpose is."
"Not right now, you don't. But you'll find it again. Just have patience and faith in yourself."
"Do gods worship themselves?"
"That's something I should ask you, isn't it?"
Trey quirked a smile and Deuce warmed at his progress. They may not find a clue to the other possessee's whereabouts, but at least she got something out of this.
