Part I

It was Kodansha and Juri's first night aboard the Garden, and they were probably sleeping better than Alex was. He turned over again, opening his eyes to see his quarters dimly lit by starlight from his slanted window. He sat up and looked out at a distant star, shining brightly.

"(How I wish I could hold Jennifer right now, share this with her. I know I can't, not ever. When am I going to realise that?)" Alex shook his head. "(…But to share it with anyone would feel better.)"

"(Yet like every other night when I gaze at those stars, I'm alone. Alone, like I always have been. But that's fine. I'm not afraid of being alone, I don't want to depend on other people.)" He sighed and hung his head as if looking within himself for resolution. "(People don't like me because I don't give a damn about the way things should be done. I do what I like, and anybody who disagrees can get outta my face. I work *better* alone.)"

He lay back again, taking comfort in the soft sheets he lay on. Even though it was fairly cold at the time, Alex normally slept on top of the covers in his clothes. He just did. It was a habit, mostly because the warm climate of Balamb made his first few nights after Trabia an insomniac nightmare.

He'd loved the cold winter climate of Trabia, just as much as anything else about it.

He was a winter wolf… Trabia was where he should have stayed, the happy world he belonged to that he was snatched away from, like a spirit plucked from heaven and condemned to earth. The rain and snow were calming and beautiful, and with them came the atmosphere that would always remind him of the short happy time at Trabia Garden.

"(I gotta stop living in the past.)" He lay down again. "(But unless I'm in the past, I don't feel I'm living at all.)"

He lay on his back, taking in the beauty of the starlit sky again. He felt the loneliness in him, taking the joy of the beauty and turning it into sorrow. He was empty but for an empty wish.

* * *

Despite the fact it was late morning, Kodansha had only just got up. Balamb Garden had crossed the ocean in between Galbadia and Centra overnight, after spending the day moving down the east Galbadian coastline. A few had got off at Timber, including the renound Squall Leonhart and some of his old team to do a mission.

The previous few days in the desert had been long and she was still a little tired, but nevertheless hunger had kicked in as the dominant factor and now she was wondering the hallways looking for the cafeteria. Galbadia Garden was probably about the same size, but at least it was slightly symmetrical. She turned a corner and walked straight into a tall, white-haired woman coming the other way.

"RAGE!" The woman scowled, giving the girl a harsh look before continuing down the hallway.

Kodansha stood and dusted herself off briefly. "(Jeez... some people. But she *was* kinda cool though.)" She thought with a slight smile.

"KODAAAANNSSHAAAA!!!!!!" Came an expectant call from a high-pitch voice.

"(That can only be one person…)" the SeeD rolled her eyes.

"Heya!! You're up, sleepyhead." Liana bounced over, grinning.

"Yeah. Are you always this annoying in the morning?"

"Are you always this blunt?" Liana countered with a wide-eyed look.

"Uh, yeah."

"Ditto!" she closed her eyes as her grin grew, and began to hop a little. She turned around and began to inspect the soles of her boots absent-mindedly.

"I'm gonna go punch something." Kodansha grunted, shaking her head as she headed for the training area.

Liana breathed in deeply and let out a short sigh of contentment. She was even happier today for some reason. What was it? Who knows. Sometimes you're just happy, and you might as well make the best of it. She headed for the upper undamaged balcony almost in a skip. As she ascended to classroom level and reached the balcony, she saw Alex standing out on it talking to Juri.

"Morning Liana." Alex nodded as she bounced up to them.

"Good morning." Juri said too.

"Heya! Oooooh, lookie," Liana pointed at the reddish, rocky shoreline ahead of the Garden in excitement, "It's Centra!"

Alex nodded. "Yeah."

"Isn't it beautiful?" Juri grinned.

"…" Alex gave his usual reply.

"So they think Annie Tilgari's gone to Centra?" Liana enquired.

"Seems that's what Galbadia Garden is saying, yes." Juri gave a nod.

"I wonder what she's looking for…" Alex said to himself, looking to the floor and thinking hard.

Juri shrugged. "Centra's a dangerous place, but the things you'd find there would interest a magic bandit muchness." She grinned. "Like a deadly island of treasures."

"So what were you guys talking about?" Liana winked.

Alex gave her a dark look, as Juri replied. "I was just about to ask Alex what type of gunblade he had." She turned to him.

"Twin Mythril." Alex said monotonously. He drew the gunblade and looked at it. "Looks a lot like Revolver, but the blade is stronger because it's made of mithrilite. Also, it holds eight bullets at a time and a special bullet above the breach that's capped with a depleted uranium tip and can punch through anything."

"Coolness." Juri nodded.

"So how do you fire the depleted uranium thingy?" Liana asked.

"A master cocking mechanism controls whether I fire a single round or a normal round and uranium bullet at once. See?" Alex explained, showing her the detail.

"Oooh yeah…" Liana nodded with a grin.

They continued to talk as the Garden drifted over the shore of Centra continent and began to make its way across the landscape southward.

Kodansha ate while talking with Carlie, who'd led the ninja to the Cafeteria after meeting her in the training center. Carlie, being polite, had offered to keep her company and bought a drink.

"So, you're a student from Galbadia Garden."

Kodansha nodded, taking a bite from her hot dog. "I grew up in Timber, though. Parents got killed trying to bring it independence, and I ended up with Garden." There was little trace of emotion in her words, she said it fairly casually.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear it." Carlie looked down into her cola.

Kodansha shrugged. "I never really knew them."

"Alex is from Timber too, Liana tells me. He doesn't say much about himself though."

"Alex…?" Liana said again, as the gunblader seemed to wake from a daydream.

"Wha-?"

"Alex, you weren't listening again!" Liana folded her arms, fed up but not entirely serious about it.

"Yeah, um… sorry." He muttered awkwardly. He continued to stare at the horizon ahead.

Juri, who was standing between them, turned to where Alex was looking. She did a double take, looking harder.

"What do suppose it is?" Alex mumbled.

"Huh? Whadda you guys talkin' about?" Liana whirled around to see what it was that was so interesting. Her mouth fell open as she realised what was ahead. "What the spooney is *that*?" she exclaimed, pointing to the strange flying object before the Garden's path.

Whatever it was, it was distant, although clearly many times larger than the Garden. It hovered like an island in the sky; crowned with tall, lit buildings that looked just like Esthar ones, enough to be a small city. As the Garden approached it, a large circular feature on the front-most part of the island became apparent. It looked like a huge metallic disc intersected with hundreds of thin strand-like beams across it.

"I haven't seen anything like it, even in Esthar." Juri gazed in wonder.

"It does look a bit Esthar-like." Alex nodded.

"Esthar things look like *that*?" Liana stared with wide eyes. She continued to look at the odd island, which now looked barely five hundred meters from the front of the Garden.

They suddenly jumped slightly as a series of bright flashes and sounds like thunder preceded a stream of glowing pulses that flew toward the Garden.

"Shit." Liana braced herself as the pulses slammed into the front of Balamb Garden. The three of them held onto the balcony rails and each other as the structure around them shook violently. The powerful shots tore gashes into the hull of the fragile and graceful academy, although by the looks of things they weren't as bad as they could've been.

Xu slammed her fist on the control deck in frustration. "Damn, not again! Nida, do we still have rudder control?" She helped him back to his feet.

"Yeah, the Garden Masters report our engines have been knocked down to forty five per cent maximum capacity, though." He brushed himself off a little, and then took control of the helm again. "A full turn around?" He asked.

"Seems like our best bet." Xu leant over her controls again.

Lights in the cafeteria dimmed as everywhere shook like an earthquake again. A cup fell crashing to the floor, followed by several other items of crockery and glass. Carlie and Kodansha exchanged a look of equal surprise and concern, holding onto the table they sat at in case that decided to fall over too. As the Garden stabilised once more, they felt it had begun to bank gently…

"Quick, we gotta go see what's going on." Carlie stood and binned her empty cola with an impressive long-distance throw.

"Not likely." Kodansha replied. "I'm eating." She added in a serious tone, although Carlie knew she wasn't mad enough to actually *be* serious.

"Jeez, you're unbelievable…" Carlie rolled her eyes in despair, and then disappeared out of the cafeteria door.

"My hot dog would get cold…" Kodansha added quietly, in the now-much-emptier Cafeteria.

Turning gradually, Balamb Garden glided in a banked turn, smoke drifting gently from a number of small tears in the hull. It came about to the direction it had come, with the island appearing to move in pursuit. A number of powerful shots flew forward again, exploding around either side of the Garden.

Although they didn't appear to damage anything, they nevertheless knocked around the Garden's many inhabitants including the three teenagers on the balcony.

"They seem to be trying to cripple us, I think they're trying to capture the Garden." Juri assessed, hands firmly gripping the railing.

"You may be right, but why?" Alex questioned, staring at the huge island that was gaining on them much quicker now.

"Yeah, why would Esthar even fire at us?" Liana frowned.

"That's not quite an Esthar ship. Even Esthar couldn't make something like that." Juri shook her head. "I don't know what it is."

"This is looking really bad." Liana became anxious; as the island got so close it nearly spanned the view of the horizon. A dark shadow began to cover the Garden, like a huge predator had finally caught up with its prey.

Without warning the Garden seemed to be engulfed by pulsing ambient light, as Nida and Xu's controls went dead.

"It's some kind of controlling beam, it's disabled the rudder and throttle control." Xu brushed back her hair and sighed.

"Nothing seems to be responding." Nida shook his head. "We can't do a thing now."

"Wait, the Ragnarok is approaching!" Xu exclaimed. "We can get them to rescue us!"

Nida shook his head. "The Ragnarok won't stand a chance alone, they'll have to go and call for help."

Xu took a moment and realised Nida was probably right. She leant over the communications speaker and pressed the button.

"Ragnarok, this is Balamb Garden. Do not return. Unknown attackers are attempting to capture us. Please bring assistance. Go now, Ragnarok! Over."

The function of the large disc on the front of the island became immediately obvious. The spindly beams parted and the disc slid open in tiny fragments to reveal a pitch-black interior. Slowly the island advanced on the entrapped Garden until the jaw-like hole had swallowed it up inside the colossal bulk. As the doors of the gigantic hangar began to close, Liana closed her eyes.

"What's happening? Is the Garden lost?" She said despairingly.

"What can you do?" Alex looked at her in the dim green, alien light.

"Nothing." She replied, opening her eyes. Alex caught a look of need in them. She wanted to feel better. She didn't want the truth. She didn't need the truth right now.

Alex sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Don't worry, then. We can only worry about what we can do. I think we're all a little scared right now."

A lie. He wasn't, because there wasn't anything to be afraid of when you welcome death with open arms. He simply took what life gave him until it decided his time was through. Without Jenny, he was un-afraid of death. Without death, fear had little meaning. Not that anyone would ever believe him.

"Things should be fine." Juri said, though there was an edge to her voice that suggested she was reassuring herself as much as anyone else.

Alex nodded, and looked back at Liana who had turned to look out across the deserted insides of the hangar.

Carlie appeared at the balcony doorway as the Garden stopped with a slight lurch. Alex turned his head to her as she looked around the inside of the hangar in bewilderment.

"Where are we?" she said quietly.

"Inside whatever attacked us." Alex informed her.

"You didn't see it?" Carlie frowned a little.

"No, we just didn't know what it was." Juri explained.

"What's up with Liana?" She asked.

The SeeD gunfighter turned around and looked at the three of them. "I've got a bad feeling about this place." She said slowly.

"Don't worry, we've just gotta try and do whatever we can, remember?" Juri said.

"Let's see what's going on at the boarding gate." Alex suggested. The others nodded as Kodansha joined them and they walked toward the Garden's exterior hatchway.

"Since when were you leading anyone?" Kodansha eyed Alex darkly.

Alex groaned. "Xu talked to me because I'm older than Liana, and you guys aren't Balamb students." He switched on the twin torches attached to his shoulders as he stepped off the boarding ramp onto the strange green flooring of the vessel that had ensnared them. The other four did the same, as the torch collective began to light the dark and deserted passageway ahead. "Don't think of me as a leader, because I don't wanna be. It was just Xu's request."

"Still, a recon mission deep into a huge desolate alien island is a bit of a request." Liana said, stepping behind Alex closely. "Couldn't you have told her to get lost or something?"

"I have trouble saying 'no' to girls…" Alex smiled a little, inspecting the strange organic walls.

"Oh, *great*…" Kodansha mumbled sarcastically.

"Hey guys, look!" Juri pointed to a strange oval-shaped doorway. "Let's see if we can open it."

"Let's not." Kodansha countered bluntly.

Carlie ran up to it. "I reckon this tube across the middle might be to do with the door's hydraulics." She looked at it carefully.

"It looks a lot like an old Esthar design." Juri nodded.

"Yeah, but they don't use them anymore." Alex said thoughtfully.

"That doesn't matter. I did an engineering course with Esthar workers once. The hydraulic control will let the door open if the pressure goes down, so if there was ever an accident the doors wouldn't stick shut." Carlie explained.

"So?" Juri asked simply.

"If we can let the gas out of the pipes, the door should open." Carlie's hand gestures made it clear that she couldn't make it any simpler.

"Hey, Al, do you reckon your Twin Mythril could break the pipe?" Liana looked over to him, the light from her torches dazzling him for a moment.

"Sorry." She grinned, aiming the torches down a little.

Alex nodded. "I'll try it." He took out the gleaming blade, taking a moment to admire the craftsmanship of it as he walked up to the pipe.

He swung back and slashed the gunblade into the metal pipe harshly, a deafening shriek of metal rung out as the pipe fractured. White, steam-like gas jetted out of the hole, and a clanking sound came from within the door mechanism. Suddenly the door went silent again. The five of them stood waiting for a moment.

"Damn." Alex muttered, still staring in case he'd spoken too soon.

"Guess these ain't Esthar doors." Carlie concluded.

Juri turned to shine the torches down the rest of the corridor. "Let us continue." She began to walk down the dark passage, her hand ready on her Oniyari.

"Yeah, no time to waste." Liana said as the rest of them followed.

The five of them walked hastily down the long dark hallway, ten torch beams lighting the corridor sporadically.

Alex and Juri came up to the end of the corridor, a flat wall.

"That's odd." Juri pondered.

"Stand back foo's." Kodansha's voice came. The other four turned to see she had a large, alien-like curvy weapon in her hand. It must've been at least half her size. They quickly dispersed as the SeeD walked a little closer.

"Who bets that wall ain't real?" She grinned a little, before pulling the trigger. The gun began to rapidly fire hundreds of bullets that sprayed across the wall, leaving huge chunks taken out of it. Liana put her hands on her ears as the gunfire seemed to get louder, Kodansha still holding down the fire button and juddering with the continuous recoil. Long, empty silver cartridges gushed out of the breach of the odd weapon as a grin appeared on the SeeD's face. She was lovin' it. Letting go of the fire button, the gunfire finally ceased as she inspected the outcome.

"Shit." Kodansha grunted, staring at the ravaged yet standing wall as she allowed the weapon's barrel to stop spinning. The smoke left by the firing gun began to clear, as the SeeD around her slowly stood and took their hands off their ears.

"Stand behind me." Kodansha instructed, holding up the weapon again. The other four took barely a moment to realise what was best for them and ran behind the ninja before she pressed another button on the weapon. A salvo of small rockets flew toward the wall and ripped through what was left of it in a volley of impressive small explosions. More smoke cleared, and a gaping hole was left in what was once a dead end. Kodansha stood with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Alright! Nice one, my SeeD friend." Juri stepped up to the hole, staring up into the daylight beyond.

"Where did you get the gun, Kody?" Liana asked her.

"I found some kinda armoury back there." Kodansha indicated behind her.

"Cool, can I have one?" Liana grinned.

"Try and hold it." The SeeD ninja tossed the gun to Liana, who stumbled backward under the weight. She walked backwards into Alex trying to keep it in her arms, who promptly helped her lower it to the floor.

"Woah!! You're really strong Kody!" Liana beamed, standing up again.

"It probably weighs more when there's ammunition left." Alex looked at Kodansha in timid respect.

The ninja shrugged. "That was also the only one left, so no more of them anyway."

The five companions stepped out into the open, switching off their torches and looking around. The hole had opened out onto a slightly lower deck, with a railing at the far end. The area was without a roof, and the sun was high as noon drew closer. The island seemed to be stationary, but the wind and passing clouds suggested otherwise.

"We've gone even higher." Alex inspected, peering over the edge to the distant features of Centra below. "And we're heading back into Centra again."

"Come on, let's keep moving. There's a passageway through here." Juri pressed outstretched palms against the wall beside the nearby doorway. "I wonder how this thing-"

Her sentence abruptly ended with a loud clunk and the door opening swiftly.

"…opens." She finished quietly, staring at the open door. Beyond it was a long series of passageways. The five stepped back into the depths of the vessel, moving along an assortment of passages and walkways. It felt like they had walked into the mouth of doom itself. After much walking they reached a large spherical room lit by strange bluish/green light. Its only feature was a long platform that extended into the center of the chamber. They continued to walk along the platform.

"Damn, how much deeper do we have to go? What are we looking for?" Liana sighed.

"A way to free the Garden." Alex replied simply. Their footsteps clanked across the metallic yet oddly coloured floor, breaking the eerie silence.

"This place still gives me a bad feeling." Liana uttered. Carlie walked along beside her, and had remained quiet for a while. "Are you ok Carlie? You've been kinda quiet."

Carlie looked back. "It's just… I know what you mean, Liana. I don't like this place. It feels really… foreboding. Just, wrong, somehow." She tried to explain. "A sorta personal dreading feeling. Not usual anxiety, something more than that. Something different…"

The curved walls around them suddenly echoed a strange sound. They stopped to listen. It was like a tapping rhythm… clanking footsteps that weren't theirs.

"What's that?" Juri looked around.

An odd snake-like metallic neck appeared to one side of the platform, with a large head like a dragon on the front. It was clearly mechanical, but the machine looked organic and impossibly smooth moving.

Alex drew his Twin Mythril and readied himself for a fight as the machine circled them like a shark. Juri followed immediately afterward by drawing her Oniyari. The other two SeeD readied their weapons, and Carlie stood ready to use the Magic the Garden had given her.

The head of the dragon-machine descended to the platform and in front of them. Alex ran forward and swung the gunblade, pulling the trigger as the blade cut into the dragon. The uranium-tipped bullet dug deep, and the horror fell crashing to the floor below, as another swooped down on Kodansha. The ninja was prepared, and leapt from the attack. She turned and cast fira on the passing monstrosity, inflicting burns across its shiny surface.

Liana turned and let off a stream of shots at another dragon-machine that was approaching, but it turned and knocked her over with a whip of its mechanical tail. Carlie jumped in, casting aero before they could hit her again, and the mechanical abomination fell to the ground below the long platform.

Two more appeared, knocking Alex forward, and over the edge of the platform. He reached out and grabbed the edge of it, and slowly pulled himself. Taking the revenge stance, Juri charged at one of the machines and Kodansha the other. Their weapons clanked against the metal loudly, forcing the two dragon-robots to retreat slightly.

Alex held up his hand to gesture the others to stand down. As the mechanical dragons formed a circle around them, the other four noticed why Alex had signalled surrender. Ahead of them a veritable army of strangely clothed soldiers ran down the platform, followed shortly by a hovering machine that carried a large throne with chairs either side. The tall man on the throne's right side wore a straight uniform and stood tall, and a young girl sat gloomily to the left of the throne. At the throne itself sat a tall and beautiful woman, decorated with fine and extravagant jewels and with eyes like ice ablaze. She stood as the throne-platform stopped, looking at the five fighters before her with a slightly confused expression.

"This is most impressive. Not only did the Shumi teach the monkey-children to fly Shumi ships, they also taught you how to fight. I was going to leave you in your ship until I had finished my business, but it seems you were more resourceful than I'd expected." The woman smiled mischievously. "Still, you are nothing to our power." She added lightly.

"Who are you?" Liana said nervously.

"I am, of course, Queen Marie of Centrotia." The tall woman stated. "If you did not know that, you are indeed ignorant."

"Are you responsible for attacking the Garden?" Alex asked, ignoring the urge to retort to her remark against Liana.

"We haven't attacked any arrangements of flowers in recent years." Queen Marie smiled smugly. She had guessed what they'd meant, but teasing them was far more fun.

"It's our ship, fuckwit." Kodansha finally spoke, irritated by the apparent lack of understood meaning.

The Queen's expression went dark. "You mock me, monkey-child?"

"What do you want with us?" Carlie said, a look of anxiety on her face.

"I shall be asking the questions, not you." The Queen hissed. "What is the Shuman year?"

"The what?" Alex frowned.

A long blade from one of the surrounding guards lashed out, cutting Alex across the top of his hand. He recoiled in the pain, looking at the blood that began to seep from the long, thin wound with gritted teeth.

"What was that for?" Liana protested.

"Shut up, monkey-child." The Queen barked. "I do not have time to play games with you. If you do not tell whoever leads the Shumi to return EyE to us, we shall execute your crew."

"WHAT?" Carlie's eyes widened. "We haven't done anything to you!"

"Yes, you really are pathetic for a first wave attack." Marie smiled. "I was expecting the Shumi to be more powerful. Although it surprises me not how their laziness has led them to the foolish idea of using monkey-children to pilot their warships."

"We aren't monkeys and that's not a warship." Alex said, looking up at the Queen's face. Suddenly, he noticed something about her. Her ears were oddly pointed, and had strange gill-like folds at the back.

"I have eyes, monkey-child." Marie said angrily. "I can see what you are."

"You… aren't human?" Alex said slowly.

"I am Centran. You're a poor observer." Queen Marie replied.

"Can't say much for you, then." Juri muttered.

The Queen was clearly becoming impatient, as she sighed and let her eyes shut. "Look, you have until tomorrow night to return EyE to us, or we will begin to kill you all. I've nothing more to say to you." She opened her eyes and grinned, as if she'd just happily ordered cake for everyone. The five humans were shunted along behind the Queen's hovering throne, as they made their way to the Garden in the hanger.

Upon arriving, the Queen's throne descended to the floor. A lookout at the Garden had seen the oncoming assembly of the Centra and their SeeD hostages. Xu and two other SeeD walked carefully toward the gathering, stopping several meters away.

"Greetings to you, I'm Xu. I'm speaking on behalf of Headmaster Cid." She said.

"Tell me why you are here, and who you are working for." The Queen demanded. "And now."

Xu felt butterflies in her stomach. "We are members of Balamb Garden, the academy behind me. We were created to…" Xu suddenly realised the Queen looked a lot like a sorceress, and decided a quick change of sentence might save a few lives. "…clean hotels." A number of strange looks came from around her. She tried to discreetly dismiss them, but the whole attempt failed miserably.

"Oh, right, cleaning hotels. Armed with swords and guns too, now it all makes sense…" Marie nodded smiling, before instantly turning enraged. "You monkey-children think this is some sort of game!?! I've had it with your pathetic attempts to fool me."

"We're mercenaries." Alex told her, looking at the floor.

The Queen sighed. "What am I to do with these mischievous savages?" she flustered.

The man to her right made a respectful gesture to attract the Queen's attention.

"Yes Admiral Fire Ceremony?" Marie responded, keeping her eyes on the SeeD.

"Your Ladyship, might I suggest we solve two of our problems at once…" he began.

"Go on." she encouraged.

"Well, after our journey we are showing signs of temporal instability. It is required that we transport something back to our time, to stabilise the exchange, as we miscalculated mass by roughly a thousand tons." He explained. "This… Balamb Garden is of sufficient mass and composure to solve the problem."

Queen Marie looked at him and smiled almost wickedly. "Well… what a splendid idea, Fire Ceremony. Begin removing all inhabitants of this 'Garden', and imprison them."

"With haste, Your Ladyship." The admiral acknowledged with a respectful bow before leaving with two tall and graceful Centran guards.

The Queen turned her eye to the Xu. "Might I recommend that you do not resist; for your own benefit. We are capable of things you can only imagine. Do not toy with us."

Xu exhaled deeply. "Very well. Do as she says."

* * *

Esthar Airstation was normally fairly empty, and today was no exception. The Ragnarok had no problem in touching down almost as soon as it had arrived, and Tim (with the SeeD and two soldiers) had ran straight for the seat lift to the Palace, where he had requested audience with President Loire.

"I dunno what it was, but it just looked like a flying city. The design seemed to be like Esthar, but I doubt they've got anythin' to do with you guys." Tim explained. "It swallowed up Balamb Garden inside it, it was that big."

"Inside it?" Laguna Loire was nearly forty, but still had his boyish expressions.

"Yeah. They told me to get help, and Esthar is the only place I figure that could do anything about it."

"Whoa, there." Laguna smiled, chuckling nervously. "I don't know what we're up against, so I'm not giving any promises."

"Just do whatever you can." Tim shrugged.

"We will, it's the least I can do to repay SeeD for their past help." Laguna nodded, turning to one of his aides. "Kiros, when did Morju say the Kalevala would be ready?"

"I think she said it was ready now." Kiros scratched his head.

Laguna gave a sigh. "Well why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask me about it." He smoothly replied.

"It's all I can offer you at the moment. Go to a woman called Morju; Ward will take you there. She's head of the Airship Builder Ministry. I'll notify her of you and your companions. Good luck to you."

"Thanks!" Tim bowed slightly. "Later dude!"

Ward, Tim, the SeeD and the two soldiers entered the main hangar of the ABM building, and were greeted by a tall, kind-eyed woman in her early forties. She was dressed in a long apron and a ruffled shirt rolled up at the sleeves. Her complexion was dark and her hair long and black. She smiled, and gestured a young girl working on some engine parts to come over.

"Greetings to you. I am Morju Koleh, the head of the Airship Builder Ministry. We make all the flying craft of Esthar, including the famed Ragnarok. We run the building and maintenance, while Doctor Odine runs research and design. And this is my assistant, Annie Tilgari."

Tim suddenly realised the name. "Hey!" He yelled, running up to the young girl. She was somewhat shorter than Tim or the other three, and her short blonde hair curled into a spiral at the front. She wore small close-fitting shorts and a strange Esthar-like crop top.

"You were the Magic Bandit from Galbadia!" the female soldier standing next to Ward accused.

"Uh, I…" Annie said worriedly.

"You *are* the Magic Bandit!" Tim said

Annie squatted and then curled up. "Okay! I'm sorry, I did do it! Please don't hurt me…" She put her hands over her eyes.

"Annie…?" Morju said in a tone of bewilderment.

"Aww jeez…" Tim sighed.

"We don't have time to pursue this matter right now." The SeeD said. "But Annie will have to come with us."

"I… I don't know what to say. Annie?" Morju looked to her young assistant.

"I'm so sorry… my parents have no money, so I have to work all day. And then a man said he would give me money for magic, so I used the draw ability of the Loki flyer." She confessed. "The man said he'd pay lots for a magic called EyE, and he told me where to get it. So I took it from the big island in the sky. I'm so sorry!!" A tear appeared in her eye. "To make things worse, he just took the magic and knocked me out. He lied about helping me." She sniffed.

"There, there. Calm down, child." Morju patted her shoulder. "You poor little thing. I was suspicious when you said you'd knocked yourself on the drive axels."

Tim sighed. "Do you realise what you have done? Balamb Garden has been captured by that island, most likely because what you did."

"I, I… no…" Annie bit her lip, hanging her head in regret. She had become nearly speechless with regret; she no longer knew what to say.

"What's done is done." The SeeD said. "What matters now is that we do all we can to put it right. But Tilgari is gonna have to come with us."

"Then the Kalevala is all yours." Morju nodded with a sad expression.

* * *

Alex opened his eyes slowly, to find he was slumped in the corner of cell, with Liana resting against his shoulder. A young boy, probably barely eleven, and wearing Alex's long coat lay in front of them, resting against Carlie's sleeping form. Alex could see Kodansha, Juri and Xu in another cell opposite, and beyond them a number of other Centran cells holding the Garden's students and staff.

Alex turned over his hand to look at the gash that was now across it. Although the cut was only skin-deep, it would probably leave a scar. He recalled that the bleeding had caused some discomfort last night, though the wound had now begun to seal.

He moved his shoulder slightly, deliberately waking Liana up.

"Heyaa…whoo..wha?" Liana sat forward, looking at Carlie and the young Garden kid, around the Centran cell, and eventually at Alex. He smiled back, amused by her bewildered appearance.

"Oh, we're still in here. What are we gonna do?" She sighed.

"Hey, I'll think of somethin'. If no one else does …" Alex stood confidently. "Just remember: Don't worry."

Liana grinned. "Okay. I'll help think too."

Alex walked up to the glowing purple bars, inspecting them closely. Carlie awoke as her two 'cell-mates' began to move around.

"Hey, watcha doin'?" she said, carefully letting the young sleeping boy lay down his head as she got up.

"Looking for clues as to how we can get out." Alex replied.

"Yay, an' I'm helping!" Liana beamed.

Suddenly, a young girl appeared at the door outside the cell, quite clearly Centran. She wore a long white and violet gown with fine decoration, and she stood gazing into Alex and Liana's cell.

"What do you want with us?" Carlie asked her, as she stood looking into the bars.

"I am the Princess of Centrotia." The girl told them.

"Yes, I recognised you from the Queen's throne ensemble yesterday." Alex nodded. "What do you want?"

She stared at him with large, intense eyes. They were not human, but somehow radiated a surreal beauty. "I want to help you."

"Me?" Alex asked, confused why she was still staring at him.

"How?" Carlie interrupted.

"The Centra can send people's minds into the past as somebody else. One of you has been experiencing 'dreams'." She turned to Carlie.

"Yes… I have. Those Ellone Dreams were because of you?"

The Princess nodded. "You saw into the past through the eyes of a human in the Battle of Timber Hill, and a Centran running from a Shumi Devourer."

"I've never heard of any of that." Xu had woken up and walked up to the bars of her cell.

"It was all over a millennia ago. I don't have time to explain, all I can tell you is that one of you needs to go back in time with the Garden. It's a one way trip, but I have a plan." The Princess explained.

"It better be good then." Alex said.

"I can integrate minds into circuits in a similar way to the dream. I can put one of you into the Garden's autopilot computer, and then you can recover the Garden where it is in the present-day and return the mind to body."

"You mean somebody has to endure a thousand years alone as a computer?" Liana said, horrified.

"Not somebody. It must be Carlie. But if she can get the Garden somewhere safe, she can sleep almost all of it." The Princess told them. "This is the only way. I'm sorry."

"No! I… I can't." Carlie buried her face in her hands. "Not alone. Why me?"

"Because you are descended from the Centra, and there is no room for anyone else." Stated the Princess. "A pure human would most likely not survive, and the circuitry must be immensely complex to hold just one mind."

"Descended from the Centra…?" Carlie looked confused.

"Please! There is not much time, and no other way. Trust me."

"Why should we trust you?" Alex asked carefully.

"Because if you don't, we are all to be doomed." The Centran Princess replied, sighing. "And my sister won't realise it."

"Your sister?" Liana asked.

"The Queen." The Princess looked at her oddly.

"Hmmn… So Centra do it differently." Alex mused.

"Please! Will you do it, Carlie?" The Princess pleaded. "I can't lie, it could be unpleasant."

Carlie swallowed, and looked around to her companions. A thousand years. Without a mortal body, she would be most likely the only person to ever experience that length of time. Unless she could sleep. She hoped she would sleep, or she would simply go insane. She hated being alone. But for that length of time, it was unimaginable. Still, she could see it in the eyes of the Princess just how important this was.

"… Okay." She muttered with a nod, the pain became apparent in her expression.

"You will?! You're really brave Carlie!" Liana smiled caringly.

Alex nodded too. "I wish I could have gone instead, or helped to ease the pain. I could think of nobody else who would find this quite so cruel."

"We'll go looking for you right away!" Liana assured her.

"You know, it might be our only chance Carlie. Do your best, and take care of yourself." Xu added.
"I will see you all again… a thousand years for me…" She could hardly believe what she was saying. A tear appeared in her eye as the Princess began to chant something quietly. A bright light appeared around a sphere in the Princess' hands as a purple/pink glob like drawn magic flew from Carlie into the orb. As Carlie's lifeless body began to topple backwards, Alex reached out and clumsily caught her. There was a pause, then the princess looked up and grinned.

"She says thanks." She said, holding the glowing sphere in her cupped hands.

"Anytime, Carlie…" Alex smiled almost tearfully "…then I guess it's goodbye."

"It may only be days before we see Carlie again." Kodansha had awoken and spoke unusually sincere and sensitively. "But she may not even remember us."

"No, I remember her saying she wouldn't forget." Liana sat down, holding her knees in locked arms. "Not in a thousand years."

"It was just a figure of speech." Alex nodded with a grim expression. "But I hope so all the same."

The Princess bowed slightly to them all as a gesture of goodbye. "Carlie says goodbye to you all. She cannot describe how much she will miss you. But I cannot delay further. I'm sorry." The Centran left swifty with the Orb containing Carlie's mind, to sneak her into the Garden's computer at the hangar. There was a long silence as Alex looked down at Carlie's lifeless form, having rested her on the hard floor.

"Why didn't she just release us?" Liana broke the silence.

"Where would we go?" Kodansha grunted.

"Good point." Alex sighed. This was just great. Trapped on a huge flying ship from the past, with one of his best friends in permanent sleeping and some grand fate depend on whether she can remain sane over a thousand years. Surely, things could only improve?