A/N: As always, C&C is not only accepted, but encouraged. Soundtrack, ladies and gentlemen, is "Hello Time Bomb" by Matthew Good Band.
"KINNEAS!" someone yelled at him from down the hall. He was just about to head out the door, and he silently cursed. Why was everyone screaming at him all of the sudden? Turning, he stiffened as he realized that it was the Headmaster.
"H-Headmaster Dodonna!" he stuttered, fumbling for the usual charming facade he usually put on for his teachers.
"Where exactly are you going, Kinneas?" the man surveyed him suspiciously with cold, calculating grey eyes. Trens Dodonna was the new headmaster at Galbadia Garden, after Martine had officially handed in his resignation. Garden had offered him back his position as Headmaster shortly after the Second Sorceress War ended, but he refused, saying that he had other dreams to tend to in his own life. So now Galbadia Garden was stuck with Trens Dodonna, a man in his mid-forties with eyes as colorless as his hair.
It wasn't talked much about what Dodonna had done before being offered Headmaster position, or what exactly qualified him as being worthy of the title. He wasn't bad at his job, though. In fact, he was quite the opposite. He simply lacked the charisma was all, and students wondered if maybe he lacked the compassion that was needed to properly direct Garden in the event of another major battle. And what he was doing up at three in the morning was way beyond Irvine.
Trens certainly didn't look like he gave a hoot about what might happen to him after he was found wandering the halls after curfew. Gathering himself together, Irvine searched his mind for an answer that was both vague and satisfactory, but instead just decided maybe he should tell the truth. Worse for him if he came back after skipping a few days. Who knew how many demerits that'd mean.
"--I got a letter, Headmaster." Dodonna frowned, then nodded.
"Ah yes, that. Cid called me a little bit before eleven last night, informing me that there was a crisis. He implored to let you leave campus, so I granted him that much," he smiled, "You're becoming quite the celebrity, even over there."
"Sir, this is no laughing matter. My friends are missing, and two people are dead because of it."
"You're right, that's true," the smile dissapeared, "I was just hoping that maybe you'd let me KNOW before leaving campus for Hyne-knows-how- long." He did have a point.
"You're right, I should have--"
"Ten demerits." Irvine's shoulders sagged, "For leaving your room without permission and carrying a deadly weapon on campus after curfew." the sharpshooter blinked and checked his holster.
"--But, I'm not--" Dodonna handed him his Exeter, "--how did you--?"
"--AND, Mr. Kinneas, you are lurking around the grounds right after a confidential staff meeting."
"Staff meeting? Oh, no sir. I didn't know anything about a staff meeting."
"I'm sure you didn't."
"No, seriously, I--"
"There's a train stopping at East Academy Station in twenty minutes. If you walk at a fast clip, you should make it." Dodonna cut him off.
Okay, this was too weird. What was Dodonna thinking? What secret meeting? That explained why he was out so late, but still...
"...okay. Thank you sir." He saluted the older man. Trens nodded.
"Get going, you're going to need all the time you can get."
"Yes sir." Irvine backed towards the exit, still keeping his eyes on the Headmaster. Dodonna's eyes never left his. Thoroughly spooked, he turned around and jogged out the front gate of Galbadia Garden.
The train ride was Hell, pure and simple. Suddenly the sleep that had eluded him before was now bearing down on him full force, and it was all he could do to keep from nodding off. He took another sip from the mug he held in his hands and made a face. The coffee tasted like it was days old. It probably was.
His legs and back were stiff from being cramped in such a small area for too long. Especially now that the anxiety was starting to set in.
Looking out the window next to his seat, he watched the landscape glide past. The sky was tinged with pink on the horizon, and he checked his watch. 6:00. The train had just recently emerged from the winding under-seas tunnel connecting Balamb and Dollet stations. In fact, if he craned his neck, he could see Balamb growing steadily larger in the distance.
He frustratedly kicked the back of the empty seat infront of him. Just like Squall to leave him with just the right amount of information to make him worry, but not enough to give him any kind of possible explanation.
"Welcome to Balamb!" the annoyingly perky voice came over the PA, "We hope you'll enjoy your stay!"
"Yeah, me too." Irvine shot back at the plastic grate over his head, grabbing his gun off the seat next to him and hauling it off the train.
Stepping into the third floor office of Balamb Garden, one might think that Squall would've kept things a tad more under control. But that would make too much sense.
Cadets and SeeDs alike were running all over the place with no apparent destination. Squall was leaning over a computer console, keeping his eyes trained on the screen but barking out orders nonetheless. Nida was scrawling something on a nearby information board so fast it was practically indecipherable, at the same time pointing things out to a boy with green hair leaning lazily against a wall. Zell was nowhere to be found.
"I need all able-bodied personnel with student IDs ending in even numbers to resume transporting injured students to the infirmary. Students with even informal training in medicine are to report to Dr. Kadowaki. Odd-numbered students are to be stationed in various areas of Garden as to keep watch. Their stations are determined by where they are designated the first hour of the day." Squall never had failed to impress Irvine. He had come so far in his training as a commander, now even situations as monumental as this one didn't break his cool exterior. His voice was complete authority, and a girl standing still long enough to listen to him quickly nodded and hopped on the elevator leading to the PA system on the bridge.
Irvine strode over to Squall and tapped him on the shoulder. The SeeD commander turned to face him, and blinked.
"I wasn't expecting you here so soon."
"I got on a train as soon as I heard," he motioned to the chaos around him, "So, like, what's the story?" Squall pointed to a chair.
"Sit down," Irvine complied, "Okay, as of 2300 hours last night, I recieved an intercom message from Quistis in her dorm. It was garbled and as far as I could tell there were sounds of struggle in the background. I couldn't make out what was being said, but one word that she kept saying was 'messenger'. When I got to her dorm, she was gone along with her weapon, and the place was a complete mess. There was no blood on the floor. I called everyone to a meeting five minutes later, but we noticed that both Xu and Selphie were missing. When checked, their dorms showed the same signs as Quistis: No bodies, no blood, but definite signs of struggle. We also discovered that several other females had been attacked within that same time frame, almost all seriously injured. One lethally."
"So what happened to the other person who died?"
"The other person was a male. He was in the same room with a girl who was attacked, her name was Kina Troupe, and when whatever it was tried to attack her, he got in the way and was..." Squall hesitated a little, "dismembered." Irvine felt his stomach fall to his feet.
"Did the assailants leave anything behind?"
"No. But that's not all. Around 600 hours this morning, I got a call from Zone and Watts. Apparently, Rinoa had been attacked too that very same night, but was not abducted. She was found unconcious by Zone in a pool of blood. We believe that her new powers as a Sorceress may have helped her ward off the attacker." Now Squall was visibly swaying. Irvine stood up and put a hand on his shoulder to steady him.
"--Hey, I'm sorry about that, man. Listen, if you want--"
"No. No, I'm fine. You need to know what's going on if we all want to get something figured out."
"Could anyone recount what they looked like?"
"Almost every account is different. We've got stories of wolves the size of bears, ruby dragons, we've even got a few Adels running around, apparently." he chuckled a litte, but Irvine frowned.
"You're hiding something," he observed, "What were some others?"
"Well...there's a girl down in the infirmary who is convinced that I was the one who attacked her. She said that I threatened to cut her tounge out, and when she screamed, I sliced her side." he sighed, "And you know what's odd about that, too? Every single account matches the wounds on that girl's body. The one who said I attacked her? The gashes on her body are the exact same kind caused by the Lionheart."
This was all too much. All of this dumped on him all of the sudden, he felt himself starting to give way. His hand shot out to catch himself on the edge of a computer console. Squall stepped back, giving the sniper room to breathe.
"Are you going to be okay?" Irvine nodded. Now wasn't the time to crack. Squall had probably been running himself ragged since this whole ordeal started, the Garden was wide awake, and he simply couldn't be the only one gasping for air. Too much was at stake. Quistis. Xu. Selphie. He couldn't let down all those girls in the infirmary. He couldn't let Squall down.
Selphie...
No. Just find out what it was you need to do. Don't stop to think. Don't stop to let it all sink in. Just block all those facts out of your mind, take aim, and fire. That's what you're trained to do.
"What do you need me to do?"