A Beautiful Flower Arrives in Style!
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, a strange name, but
you'll figure out why I named it...I hope. Anyways, I tend to ramble on and
on about nothingness, but since it keeps my concentration going, I'm just going
to ramble anyway. I thank you all so much for the reviews! This chapter introduces
a new character, so it'll go back and forth from Phoenix's situation but still
mainly stays with Phoenix, hopefully. Enjoy and e-mail me if you want more!
Oh, and um... these [ ] means that it's a flashback or a dream just to let you
know.
["Daddy, why did Mommy have to die?"]
Seifer awoke with a start. It's that
damn dream again. He was with a little girl, both standing in the rain.
The girl looked very similar to him; it was mainly the catlike eyes. She had
her blond hair in pigtails, it curling against the curves of her face. She looked
so sad, and it frightened him.
"Hey, Seifer, it's time to wake up,
ya know?"
Raijin stood in the doorway, all decked
out in his fisherman gear. It looked ridiculously small on him: the pants ankle
high, shirt barely able to tuck in the pants, and the vest up to mid-chest length.
He was a big man, and it was hard to find anything in Balamb that would be in
his size.
Seifer got out of bed, brushing the wispy
bands of blond away from his eyes. "Yeah, thanks for waking me. I'll be
there in a sec. You and Fuj go on ahead."
"SURE?" Fujin's voice rang in
the hallway.
"Yeah, I'm sure, go on ahead."
Raijin nodded and left.
It had been two and a half years since
he and his posse had left Balamb Garden. They became fishermen for the harbor.
Well, it was mainly Seifer and Raijin fishing; Fujin just watched and pushed
Raijin off of the dock if she was fed up with him. Nothing much had really happened
since then and then those dreams came. He felt completely confused in those
dreams, not knowing what to do or say. And that little girl frightened him to
death. She looked so FAMILIAR, but he couldn't quite place it in his mind. Taking
in a deap breath, he changed into his typical outfit of black pants, vest, and
white trenchcoat. For some odd reason, he felt like today was going to be a
really long day.
A young woman sat on top of the roof opposite
of the posse's home, her braided blond hair blowing gently with the breeze.
She stayed as still as a statue, invisible to the eye, but her catlike eyes
followed every movement Seifer made as he left. She smiled wickedly to herself.
"I finally found you, Seifer."
"What do you mean that YOU defeated
Ultimecia two years ago?" Phoenix repeated Irvine's words.
"We killed her in the future,"
Quistis explained, "when time was compressed."
"Time compression?" A horrified
look came to Phoenix's face. "No..."
Edea laid a gentle hand on her shoulder,
gesturing to sit down.
"Phoenix, can you at least explain
to us about your past?" she suggested gently. "Maybe if we know about
your past, then we can figure out why you are here. And we can also find out
why turmoil is taking place all around the world at the same time."
Phoenix let herself be guided to a seat,
still dazed. Time compression? No, if they beat Ultimecia in the future then
time in all parts will be...
"Everyone, sit down," Edea told
the others. They sat. She then held Phoenix's hand for comfort like a mother
to her child. "Let Phoenix explain."
"I-I don't know where to start..."
Phoenix stuttered.
"Do you remember your parents?"
She nodded, eyes closed. "Yeah, I
do, but vaguely. I never knew their names. Just called them 'Mommy' and 'Daddy',
nothing more. They died when my sister and I were seven, leaving us alone to
take care of two younger siblings."
"You have a sister?" Edea asked
gently again.
Phoenix opened her eyes now, looking at
the floor, and nodded, her eyes dream-like. "I have a twin sister and a
dead one who was three years younger than we were. I also have a little brother
who was born just before my parents died."
"Let me ask you, does your entire
family know ho to junction magic without equipping a guardian force?"
This time Phoenix looked up at the former
sorceress in surpise. "How did you--"
"I can feel it in you, my child,"
she replied, smiling softly. "You are a sorceress, aren't you?"
While Phoenix told her narrative of her
past, the others listened on silently, totally speechless.
She...she doesn't LOOK like one...Zell
thought.
To be able to hide her power, how come
I didn't realize that? Rinoa
thought among the same lines.
"Well, I guess so," Phoenix continued.
"My mother was a sorceress, but she distributed her powers among the four
of us, so there's a little bit in everyone. But most of it is within me, my
twin, and my younger sister. Since she's dead, though, some of the power had
returned to me."
"So, it used to be divided among the
first three," Rinoa said thoughtfully.
"More or so, yes."
Just then, the phone rang. Cid reached
over to grab it. After a few moments, he hung up and looked gravely at the gang.
"I just got a call from the President
of Esthar. The city is changing much more rapidly than the other cities and
panice is now starting to settle in with the civilians," he said and looked
at Phoenix but addressed to everybody. "I want you all to go. It's more
than just a two-person mission. Phoenix, can you help?"
She nodded.
"I'm sorry for this to be such short
notice, everyone," he apologized. "But President Loire wants SeeD's
help right away. There is no time to prepare. Leave on the Ragnarok in 1400
hours."
The once peaceful metropolis of Esthar
was now of one of chaos that suddenly erupted after nineteen years of rule under
Laguna Loire. By just landing on the Airstation, Squall and the others could
tell that there was something extremely wrong. It didn't feel like the Esthar
that they knew. Hell, it didn't even LOOK like it.
"How come I feel so strange?"
Selphie asked when she bounced onto the ground. "It's as if I'm missing
something. What about you guys?"
"Same here," Rinoa said behind
her. She hopped off the Ragnarok as soon as Selphie was out, being the last
one, and streched out. "I feel so tired for some reason."
Squall looked at her in concern, but Phoenix
explained, "You're just not used to the anti-magic field here, that's all."
"Anti-magic field? I didn't know that
was used here. I thought it was only in the D-District Prison."
"So do ya mean that this is the Esthar
you know, Phoenix?" Zell asked.
She frowned as they looked at the chaotic
metropolis before their eyes. "...Some of it looks familiar, but some doesn't."
"What do you mean by that?"
That question came from Squall who was
silent the entire time they were on Ragnarok. The look he gave to Phoenix was
still one of doubt.
Man, he STILL doesn't trust me...she
thought as she put a hand on her hip. Well, whatever. "What I mean
is that some parts of Esthar I recognize while others I didn't even know that
were there."
At that time, about a dozen cars drove
in. Piles of people streamed out of them, mainly soldiers, but some were officials.
Three of the officials were easily recognized: Kiros and Ward in their presidential
aide uniforms and Laguna in his normal attire. The sight of Laguna made Squall
stiffen, as Rinoa could tell when she wrapped her arms around his. News came
in a couple of weeks ago in Garden (which Squall found out long before that),
the last time Laguna had visited, was that the president of Esthar was Squall's
father. Of course, Squall didn't take it easily. Time and time again whenever
Laguna's name was mentioned, he'd loathe it and walk away from the subject.
Now he was just getting used to Laguna's presence...sort of.
Laguna approached the SeeDs timidly. He
scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Well, sorry for
calling you in on such short notice," he looked at Squall for a moment
and then at Quistis, just to get rid of the tension. "As you guys can tell,
there's...ah...some problems..."
"Laguna, just get to the point,"
Squall cut in.
Laguna took a deep breath and breathed
out deeply as he continued on. "Basically, things are changing. Buildings
are disappearing and being replaced, people pop out of nowhere, and an anti-magic
field has been set up somewhere which we don't know where it is."
"That's been occuring everywhere in
the world," Squall pointed out.
"But by the looks of it, you've taken
the worst of what we've seen over the Ragnarok," Phoenix observed, totally
oblivious to the tension that was in the air between Squall and Laguna. Looks
too much like home...
Laguna looked at Phoenix and nodded. "Yeah...You're
Phoenix, right? Atamos told me about you."
She looked at him in surprise. "How
did you meet..."
Just then, another car arrived, but it
looked totally different in style. Unlike the light colored air cars of Esthar,
this one was a mixture of navy blue and black; they were the colors of the night.
The windows were tinted so dark that neither the driver nor its passengers were
visible. An insignia that looked similar to SeeD's was on the hood of the car.
It braked to a stop, and what seemed like an elderly man got out. He wasn't
elderly at all, actually, when he turned around. He was a young man who looked
around Ellone's age with silver hair. In other worlds, a true Estharian with
cold violet eyes that seemed to glow. Like Phoenix, he took on a dark attire:
black trenchcoat, black pants, and a black shirt. On the back of the trenchcoat,
however, was that same SeeD-like insignia. His heavy boots thudded on the ground
as he walked towards the gang.
"Glad to see that you're alive and
well, Phoe," the man said, smiling somewhat evilly.
"It's nice to see you, too, Atamos,"
she replied, maintaining an expressionless face. She arched an eyebrow, continuing
to stare at him.
This guy's really creepy-looking...
Selphie thought.
"What's wrong?" Phoenix asked
Atamos.
For the first time in his life, Laguna
had nothing to say. It wasn't that he didn't have ANYTHING to say, it was just
that the guy freaked him out.
Atamos walked toward Phoenix until they
were face to face and leaned forward, whispering in her ear. What he said was
so low of a tone that nobody could hear what was being said, but everyone could
tell it was something serious because Phoenix's eyes widened in shock. After
the message was delivered, they faced each other again.
"You can't be serious..." Phoenix
murmured.
"It is, at least that's what we've
seen so far," Atamos replied as he walked back to the vehicle. "I'm
counting on your family to complete this mission. The sooner she's gone, the
sooner time returns to normal. That is all."
"So, wait," He paused as Phoenix
stopped him. "Lily is getting her father NOW?"
Atamos then continued walking and entered
in the vehicle. "Yes. Expect her back sometime soon."
The blond woman could tell that Seifer
felt that he was being watched. Every now and then when he and his posse were
fishing, he would glance up at the rooftops and she would have to hide from
sight. Damnit, why the hell does he ALWAYS have to be so sharp?
Then something caught her eye. She was
not the only one on the rooftops. A black shadow hopped from each rooftop. The
woman's catlike eyes narrowed. Shit! Why the hell do those freaks always
get in the way?!?
It perched itself on the roof opposite
of her and stared at its targets for a moment. And then in a blink of an eye,
it charged forward to its seemingly oblivious prey.
The woman crouched down even more, her
eyes glinting dangerously.
"That's just great, Almasy, you just
HAD to let on of them find you, didn't you?" she muttered to herself and
then smirked. "Well, like Dad always said, fight your opponent with style.
And Lilian Almasy," she stood up, preparing to jump off the roof, "arrives
in style!"
AUTHOR'S NOTES (once again...aren't you tired
of me?): And yes, I stop here. Now, I know what you guys are thinking: "What
the hell?!?". Weeeellllll, I'll explain in the next chapter...sort of. R/R
plz!! ~Ayame-chan