Chapter Thirteen
Shumi eyes watched me as I left the elevator and wondered through the village. They recognized me, of course. But they didn't dare come near or talk to me. They ignored me.
I stumbled to the lodge where I used to live. Everything was exactly as it was when I left. Toys, old clothes, and emblems. Dust everywhere. I flinched when I saw my mom's old outfit, that she often wore, on the table. It was a light blue duster with light angel wings on the back. Memories surfaced at it's sight that have long faded away from my mind. I let them bubble.
" ...wishing they would be heard. I saw you smiling at me. Was it real or just my fantasy?" she used to sing that lullaby. I only could remember a few of the words, but the melody flew through my mind as if she was right there, humming.
" ...my last night here for you. Same old songs, just once more... so let me come to you, close as I want to be... and stay there as I whisper, how I loved your peaceful eyes on me..." she would sing as she rocked me gently.
" If only they could see you now," she told me once before I slipped into sleep, " My cute little secret and nothing to be ashamed of. You'll make me proud. No one can harm you as long as you're here with me. I promise to be there when you need me, my sweet Matthew and disregard the one who tells you're scorned child. There are strangers out there who would give their life for yours, just as I would sacrifice my life for any heirs of theirs."
I smiled confidently. For some twisted sadistic reason, I wasn't sad now. She didn't shut herself away from the world because she didn't want anyone to come looking for her. She was full of hope and love, not bitterness. I knew she was a sorceress because she told me herself. She told me that a lot of people didn't like sorceresses and were afraid of them. Sidney must have chose me not out of random, but because of my blood. There were thousands of people in the world with better magic and fighting experience than some stray boy. They would have made a better ally. Rinoa was a sorceress and Seifer was a knight.
From the vision, the woman had said that Seifer's ancestors all had the same basic dreams. I wasn't sure if that was true or not because my dreams tended to differ. I knew a sorceress had to pass her powers to someone else when she was dying. I don't think she passed them to me but I knew she had to have passed them out to someone.
If I found that person, presumably a girl, would I have to be their knight? Would I want to?
I searched the lodge and found a large wooden trunk. I opened the lid. There were old letters and clothing stuffed inside. One of the letters were entitled To Squall. I was extremely tempted to read it, but something else in the trunk caught my eye. It was a dark gray ashen colored trenchcoat with Sidney's symbol embroidered onto the sleeve. It was folded there in the box, as if it was waiting an eternity for me to touch it. I lifted it from the trunk and examined it closer. The back of the coat shown a strange cross with tiny angel wings on it's outside. How long had it been here in that box? It doesn't make sense...
" Almasy?" a voice said from the door.
" Why do you always like calling me by my last name?" I shrugged.
" It suits you well," Katrina walked closer.
" What the hell are you doing here?" I scowled, with no desire to be alienated with her dumb comments.
" The Headmaster gave orders to find you."
" And he sent you?" I sneered.
" No, actually, my father did. He said I probably understood you best..."
" You're kidding, right?" I laughed. Yeah, oxygen.
" I'm serious."
" Yeah right! What do we possibly have in common?" I wondered as she leaned back into a old chair.
" We're both of us are best of our class. Talented. Both orphans," she began.
" I'm not actually an orphan. I have a father," I shuffled through papers, trying not to pay too much attention. I wasn't interested in arguing with her right then. I had more serious things to do.
" Still gnawing at the bone, aren't we? Anyway, I'm not an orphan anymore. I was adopted."
" Who could forget? The prestigious Leonharts," I rolled my eyes sardonically.
" At least someone wanted me!" she snapped back. Her harsh words stung. I turned to face her across the room. She sat smirking, anticipating a reaction from me. I held back the ache to hit her into the wall. Disappointing her meant ignoring her.
" Katrina, I'm not interested in that anymore. All this rivalry and competing for the title of the better fighter. I'm sick of arguing about it. You can have it. And I'm not going back to the Garden. At least not yet. Not until I do what I have to do. So just leave now," I pointed towards the door.
" You can't just leave the Garden like that without informing anyone? People might think you're dead or hurt. They'll be looking for you. You shouldn't make people have to be concerned," she protested. She stood up but didn't make a move for the door. She looked at me with that defiant expression I've seen for years.
" That's too bad, isn't it?" I resisted.
" Don't you want to be a SeeD? Won't those years of practice and dedication amount to nothing? Always sneaking out at night to train, thinking nobody's ever noticed. You proved to everyone that you were more than they thought you'd be. That you have shown the potential to be much more. You earned their respect. You're throwing it all away! And for what? So you can look for some deadbeat loser! Stop being a moron!" she demanded.
" You were there at that mountain too. Didn't you see anything?"
Her usual self-assured aura suddenly shifted. She started to shake her head slightly.
" All I saw, was you getting the crap beaten out of you. Nothing else means anything," she managed to say. She forced her lip to stop trembling.
" Nothing else means anything? What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned as she headed for the door.
" I saw something, but I was also being held down by powerful energy. That could have easily manipulated with my mind," she walked out the door. I followed her and stepped in her way. She stopped but avoid contact with my eyes.
" Please," I touched her hands. She stood motionless for a few moments. Then finally nodded and went back to the old lodge.
" It wasn't really a vision of the future. It was a distorted glance at one of my memories," she confessed once she reentered the room.
" Memory? Did it have anything to do with that creature?" I asked.
" No, not that I can tell. But it had to do with my family. My real family," she said.
" Tell me," I sat her down into a chair. She was silent for period of time. Then she spoke.
" Before I was adopted, I lived in a tavern in Dollet with my parents. When it got busy, my brother and I were sent to go play on the beach. One day, Tyrell talked me into going to the communication tower nearby. I didn't want to go, but he dragged me along anyway. He found a way in. He was in there for a while, so I went in after him. I thought he went up to the roof. I looked around on the top but he wasn't there. Then a warm breeze came in and I saw a woman standing at the edge of the railing. She looked human, except she had feathery wings. Angel wings, I guess. She didn't look like a guardian force though. She wasn't scared at all, considering she could easily fall to her doom. She held out her hand and offered me her powers. I didn't take it seriously, and at that age, I liked to pretend to be some magical creature. So it seemed like a game. Afterwards, she fell from the edge and vanished.
I found Tyrell on the beach. He kept denying that he ever went to the tower, insisting he was at the shore the whole time. I told my mom about it. But she didn't take it seriously. My dad ignored it. Over the weeks, the powers began surfacing and they awaked when I got emotional. One day, Tyrell ripped the pages of my favorite book and I accidently almost burnt down the tavern, nearly killing my family. Neighbors were terrified of me and started to threaten that they would hand me over to some researcher quack named Odine in Esthar. My father was convinced evil had taken over his daughter and stayed away from me. He wouldn't even look at me. He would freak out every time something went wrong and blame me. But my mom heard of a sorceress that had a orphanage and said I would be safer there. I was scared to go, so Tyrell came with me. Dollet would never treat him the same either.
Edea took care of me. She taught me how to control the powers. Two years later, when I turned eight, the Leonharts adopted Tyrell and me. I hid my powers from them because that's the reason I had to leave my first family. So I focused on my fighting. I became Trepe's best student. Then you came along and I had to compete."
I didn't interrupt her at all. She spoke so bitterly, about her family and the Garden. I was a bit surprised though. She was farther from what I thought she was. Katrina had never shown her vulnerabilities before. I didn't have the heart to crush her, though only weeks ago, I would have tried to agitate her in any way possible. Now she seemed like a lost child. Was that how she saw me after so long? If so, is that why she appeared so desperate for me to return back?
" Asshole," she added after some silence, not knowing what else to say.
" Sorceress Katrina. It does seem to have a ring to it?" I commented, ignoring that.
" What's it to you?" she remarked. Katrina would never had thought that the strange angel may have been my mother. I paused and thought. This all must be a sign. She was with me when I met Sidney at the mountain. She contracted my mother's powers at six, the same age I got the tattoo. If Rinoa thought she would be worthy of receiving the powers of a sorceress, would that mean I could start to trust her?
But is that reason enough to request her to tag along?
Up to now, she was my worst enemy. We always fought verbally or physically, and it seemed we would always came to a tie towards the end. On the surface, I hated her, but I knew I didn't actually despise Katrina. It came along with the territory and rivalry that existed.
" Katrina? Considering how I'm probably not returning to the Garden, would you like to come along with me?" I asked.
" Who says you're not going back to the Garden?" she glanced defiantly at me.
" What are you going to do? Drag me back?" I laughed. She crossed her arms and winked.
Suddenly, a surge of fire appeared at the doorway. It spread to the walls and surrounded us. I heard the joyful cry of victory of soldiers outside. Katrina started to cough from the smoke. I stumbled back to the trunk and grabbed whatever else I could. The trenchcoat, the letters, and whatever my arms could hold. I put the coat on and stuffed everything else into my bag. Covering her mouth with cloth, she yanked me towards the door.
" I don't want to leave anything important behind," I rasped. I could still breathe.
" You have everything you need with you. Don't be stupid Almasy!" she yelled.
We rushed through the fire quickly. Luckily, we managed to get out of the lodge without any burns. We fell to our knees on the ground to catch our breath.
" That was fast. You delivered yourself. How sweet," a woman appeared in front of us. It was the sorceress that had threatened Seifer in the vision. She brushed her red hair back. She looked younger in person, more esteemed.
" Who the hell are you?" Katrina snickered.
" Oh, what do we have here? A little sorceress?" she laughed, " Wow, and she was given her powers from Rinoa herself. Isn't that ironic Matthew?"
" What are you talking about?" she glared. She still had no idea.
" Matthew didn't tell you yet?" she looked down at me, " Some knight... how can you protect her honor if you aren't even honest with her? Not good."
" And I'm sure you are the sincere one?" Katrina spat at her, trying to play along.
" Such a rude girl. Strong, but so horribly trained. Too bad dear, that you're on the wrong side," the sorceress replied.
" Where's your knight?" I stared at her, right into her baleful eyes.
" Well, now I have you. I don't need his services anymore," she grinned.
" What do you do to him?!" I leapt up. Soldiers tensed up and cocked their guns.
" Shut up boy. He's not dead yet. He's probably just returning to old home of his to look for you. Did you know he's hasn't been the Garden in about seventeen years? I hope they can recognize him after everything I inflicted on him while torturing. He has a lot of scars. Probably a little more psycho too. They usually are after being broken."
In the tension of the situation, I instinctively reached for my gunblade at my side. But I denied my natural intuition. A dozen soldiers would have a shot at me and Katrina before I could slice the sorceress. I noticed Katrina was analyzing the same ordeal. That was a smart move.
" Bring the boy!" she ordered as she turned to walk away.
" What about the girl?" a soldier asked.
" Well, if she was just any girl, I'd have her killed, since I have no need for worthless people. Maybe Odine, that scientist maniac, would love to bargain over her. That should make a pretty penny... Bring her along too, but separate them into different ships. I don't want any trouble. But if one does decide to be an idiot, torture them in any way you please, as long as it doesn't kill either one," she answered.
Katrina jumped to her feet hostilely, but she was restrained by three or four lean soldiers. They hulled her away. We didn't have a chance. I was escorted, by at least, seven soldiers to a ship that waited at the surface. I could have easily taken them down, my training would prove so, but I wondered what would happen if I did. I'm such a coward. How could I get Katrina in this mess? Now she'll end up that lunatic's sadistic experiment. A new toy.
My old home was still burning bright. Fortunately, the smoke would rise into the vents and not suffocate the Shumi. But my home still burned and no one had tried to kill the flames that engulfed it. The moment I glanced back at it, would always haunt my memories. I was cut off from it. It stood like a memorial, reminding me of everything I loved and everything I had ever lost. I was too disturbed right then to mourn.
I was brought aboard the ship and locked in a lower deck. The soldiers took away my gunblade and chained my arms to the wall. They didn't care about my bag so they left in the same room. At least now I know my father's alive and safe. That was the only thing to console me.
At what price though? I had no conception on what the sorceress intended to do. If she was after Sidney, would she use me as bait? Or was it something else?
I have to escape soon. I vowed to Katrina that I'd return to the Garden with her. I would have to honor that promise and return. Hopefully my father will still be there waiting.