Chapt 2

Chapt 2

Keave Zedar dragged his feet slightly as he followed Squall and his team out. Once out of the Bridge Squall resumed his position of commander and ordered them to pack a few items and to meet at the Ragnarok in 20 minutes.

Without a word Keave turned and headed towards his room, before feeling a hand on his shoulder.

"Keave? Wait a second please."

He turned and noticed Squall standing behind him. "Yeah?"

"Just wondering, what type of weapon do you use. I need to know that so I could put you in the best party if we meet with situations where we need to separate."

Keave glanced at him warily, before answering monotonously. "I'm a martial artist."

Zell perked up at these words and jogged over, extending his hands once again, "Oh really? I do martial arts too, see this mighty gloves of mine," he indicated his Ehrgeiz's. "They're my only weapons," he punched his hands together.

Keave smiled in what seemed more like a smirk before turning and retreating, leaving Zell staring open-mouthed behind him.

"What a bastard, wouldn't he like to go to hell!" he commented before jogging off as well.

Squall looked after them both, before shaking his head slightly and following. He thought about how like Keave he was once. Was he really that hard to take? He reached his door and went in, taking his Lion Heart out of its case, gleaming in the faint sunlight. Feeling vaguely guilty he headed towards the Ragnarok, where it was parked in the car park, shining a bright red. He noticed that he was the first one there and entered it. He sat down and waited, wiping his already perfect gunblade with a piece of cloth.

"Hi Squall."

He looked up and noticed Quistis standing in front of him. She smiled, "Punctuality never fails."

She sat down beside him. Curious about their new group member, she couldn't help asking, "So what do you think of this young mysterious SeeD who have just joined our team?"

"He's rather ignorant, but I'll think he'll be quite useful in battle when the time comes," said Squall.

Quistis grinned, "Aren't you just describing yourself here?"

"Whatever."

Selphie and Rinoa entered at this moment, with Zell and Irvine trailing behind them and the conversation was immediately dismissed.

"Hi Squall, Quistis! Are we all here yet?" asked Selphie, once again in her hyper mode.

"Not really, Keave hasn't arrived yet. Did we forget to tell him to meet us at the carpark?" Quistis replied.

"Well, he should have to brains to come here anyway," commented Zell gruffly.

"So, Squall. What do you think of this mission, a new sorceress, who might that be?" piped in Selphie, hoping to be able to calm Zell down.

"I'm not sure, I've always thought it was only Ultimecia, Adel and Edea...well, now Rinoa's one, but her power was transferred. Perhaps there are more sorceresses than we think. We'll find out everything once we get there though."

"On the subject of getting there, we should be starting now. That...Keave is already 5 minutes late. Who does he think he is, keeping us waiting like this," commented Zell.

"I think of myself as a person, nothing more, and I'm here now, was a little held up, if you'd excuse me," came a voice behind them.

They all turned to see Keave step into the room, face calm and collected.

"A little held up? FIVE WHOLE MINUTES!! What, how many girls did you pick up on the way here?" glared Zell.

"Zell, calm down, it's only five minutes," said Squall. Zell sobered up.

"Ok, now that we're all here," continued Squall, once again regaining the posture of leader, "Let's get started. We'll fly the Ragnarok to Esthar," he nodded to Selphie, who responded with a wave of her hand, "Once there, we'll go and talk to President Laguna and hopefully, he'll brief us on this mission." he finished.

"Let's go," they all filed into the cockpit of the Ragnarok, except for Keave, who headed towards the Passenger Deck, found himself a seat and hunched up on it, thinking.

What a strange bunch of people, and that Kinneas, what's he doing here. Isn't the Sorceress War over? Why is he back...WHY IS HE BACK???

* * *

Irvine quickened his pace as he strode through the corridors which would lead him to the Passenger Deck. I can't believe he's here. What if he still remembers. What if Selphie finds out. Oh shit...

He entered the Passenger Deck and glanced around before locating the hunched up figure on the seat.

"Hey...Zedar..."

Keave looked up, "Oh look," he said, a note of anger evident in his voice, "It's good old Irvine all-the-girls-love-me Kinneas. Have you hooked onto another one yet? The one in the yellow dress? What downfall is she gonna meet?"

Irvine sighed. So he does remember.

"Listen...man, I'm sorry for what happened before. It was a total accident. Forgive me man. Just....please don't tell Selphie about it, ok?" he pleaded.

Keave fixed him with a cold hard stare, before turning and walking swiftly out of the room, but as he passed him he hissed softly, "You'll meet what you'll deserve Kinneas. One day, something's gonna happen to make you hurt, a lot."

* * *

Quistis stepped out of the Ragnarok and stretched out her slim arms. Squinting in the bright technology of Esthar city, she watched the others come out, Keave last. For some reason, that guy intrigued her, with his mysterious handsome looks and the way he speaks, so mystifying. She realized that she's never seen his eyes, since it was always shaded by his hair and imagined them to be a dark brown, beautiful and deep. He glanced up and met her gaze. Embarrassed, she quickly averted her eyes.

"Hi Kiros," she heard Squall say, and quickly hurried over.

"Welcome, SeeDs. Laguna's waiting, come on, this way," Kiros turned and started walking. The rest of the group followed Kiros into a large, grand room. Quistis spotted Laguna staring out of the window, deep in though.

"Laguna, they're here," said Kiros, before backing out.

Laguna turned and broke into a large grin, "Hi kids, how're ya all? Hyne, it's so lonely now, being president isn't really all that cut out as you think."

"Hello President Loire," said Quistis.

"Ah...just call me Laguna why don't ya. President this, president that, gettin' a bit sick of it," he waved his hand.

Quistis smiled, adjusting with his carefree personality.

"So what's our mission, Sir Laguna?" said Selphie, jumping up and down on the spot.

"Yeah, right. Um, the other day, a couple of bodies were found, Cid should have told you about it and that Sorceress stuff. So we were hoping you could find the culprit, Sorceress or not, although Odine insists that it's the work of a Sorceress. I'll leave you guys to see what you'll do."

"Ok," said Squall, "We'll separate into two groups. Quistis, Rinoa, Keave and I will take a look at the bodies and the scene of the murders, and see what we can come up with. Zell, Irvine and Selphie can go and visit Doctor Odine and ask him about any existence of new Sorceresses and information about them if possible, " he commanded, careful to not put Zell and Keave in the same group.

"Ok, punks, let's go kick some ASS!" said Zell, jogging out of the room, with Irvine and Selphie behind him.

"The bodies are...well, Kiros will take you there...ugh" muttered Laguna as his leg cramped up once again.

"Hmm...take care Laguna," said Rinoa, before following Squall out of the room.

Outside, Squall told Kiros about the bodies and Kiros silently turned and beckoned them to follow him. Quistis thought about their mission-a new sorceress? New threats? Once again, she felt the whoosh of excitement and anticipation that she receives before any mission and quickened up her pace to keep up with Kiros's fast strides.