Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8... sorry...
~*Death, Rebirth and the End of the World*~
~*Chapter 2: Tempers of the Storm*~
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"Xu," Cid Kramer began as he sat in his office, Xu standing loyally in front of the commander. "I want you to scan the perimeter of the surrounding area for any sign of Commander of Leonhart." Cid ordered. Xu saluted swiftly.
"Yes sir!" She said as she turned to the door and was about to walk for it but Cid's voice stopped her.
"But most importantly, find the LionHeart." Cid said with a grim tone on his voice. Xu gave no reply just continued for the door....
***
"Any sign of the LionHeart?" Asked Quistis to one of the control operators.
"No Ma'am." The operator replied as he twisted more buttons and knobs and leaned forward in a vain attempt to help him search for any signs of the LionHeart. "But may I ask one question Ms. Trepe?" The operator asked looking at her with hopeful eyes. Quistis nodded. "Why are we looking for the LionHeart in the first place?" He asked. Quistis looked to the black floor of the already dim room, only lit by the light of the computer screens.
"I'm not sure, to tell you the truth. It sounded urgent though." Quistis said looking up from the floor. The operator nodded his head slowly and turned his attention back to his screen. The room was quiet aside from the sounds of the tedious beeping sounds. Quistis began her walk down the short row of monitors and operators. She sighed heavily. She had been stuck in this place for several hours now, searching for the LionHeart. It had no real purpose. Shouldn't Squall be the main thing they should be looking for. They had already found Zell, now they just needed to find the ex-commander of Garden. Yes, ex-commander. Due to the almost complete destruction of the world, Squall's position was quickly removed and given back to Cid. Squall was still wandering around out in the bleak world of the future that lay before him. If he was not found Rinoa's life was also at stake. She would most surely want to be with him forever.
"MS. TREPE COME QUICK!" An operator screamed, destroying Quistis's chain of thoughts. In response, Quistis came running over to the Operator. She looked over his shoulder to see what he was screaming about.
"That's just the moon." Quistis said with disappointment.
"No! Look closer!" He instructed as he zoomed in on the surface of the moon. Quistis's eyes lit up. There it was, the LionHeart, standing proud, with the tip of the blade stuck in the surface.
"The commander will be pleased." Quistis said with a smile, and with that she ran off to inform the new commander of Garden....
****
Squall continued running, and finally after a countless number of minutes, reach his destination. The big blue building. But he could no longer call it that now, now it was Garden, Balamb Garden. He wheezed and sighed at the same time. He was glad to be home. He could finally see everyone, or at least that's what he hoped and to fined out what the hell is wrong with the world.
He flew into Garden and stopped with a skid. A small unusual smile appeared on his face as he saw some students running about every which way. He walked the rest of the way in to the Garden. Quistis came running up the stairs and to the elevator. His smiled grew wider at the sight of his friend. "Quistis!" He yelled after her as he waved one of his arms in the air. She turned around at the mention of her voice and found Squall waving his hand in the air. She smiled brightly and ran up to him and gave him a quick hug.
"Your back!" Quistis wailed happily.
"Wha-" Squall was about to ask but Quistis cut him off as she said.
"Gotta run!" With that she ran for the elevator. "Visit the infirmary!" Quistis yelled as she entered the elevator. Squall nodded and rushed to the infirmary.
He entered one of the infirmary rooms and found Rinoa asleep on one of the normal infirmary beds. He smiled lightly and entered the room completely, closing the door behind him. The room was now dim, with only the light of the sun shining through the window to the left. Squall pulled up a stool and sat beside her. He clasped her hand in his.
'I'm so glad I made it back.' Squall thought with a small smile.
****
With binoculars placed to her eyes, Xu scanned the horizon as she stood just outside of Garden. She found nothing. She placed the binoculars to her side and sighed. "Nothing." She told no one in particular. For one last try she placed the binoculars back to her eyes and zoomed in on the Balamb beach. Her eyes fell upon a giant lump in the far distance. She smiled to herself for the discovery. She turned to her assistant next to her.
"Get the military truck." Xu ordered.
The military truck pulled up in front of Xu and she hopped in. "Where are we going, Ma'am?" The female assistant asked.
"To the Balamb beach, once you get there I'll give you the rest of the directions." Xu told her.
The ride was quiet, at least between the two. The car was a different story. It rattled like there was no tomorrow. The assistant reached the beach with ease. And Xu pointed to a large heap over to the left. The drive was short, fortunately both for them.
Xu was the first one to step out of the car. Her eyes widened to a horrific size as she laid eyes on what the 'heap' was.
"A-Adel." Xu stuttered. The assistant covered her mouth with her hands in shock, and to keep herself from screaming and throwing up at the sight. This was no longer the normal Adel that they had seen once. This was a much larger version. It's face was covered in crimson blood, it's hands stained with blood, as with the rest of it's body, it's leg torn to pieces, with part of the bone showing. Xu turned to the assistant. "This is classified information by Garden from now on, if word slips about this, you are the first suspect, and trust me it is not easy to weasel your way out of those situations. And who ever you told will be shot dead with you." Xu threatened, the assistant weakly nodded, her hands still covering her mouth.
Xu swiftly turned around and headed for the truck, she picked up the intercom and radioed for back up trucks.
****
"Commander!" Screamed Quistis as she busted through Cid's door.
"What is it?" He asked, standing from his chair.
"We have located the LionHeart." Cid's face grew into a giant smile.
"Where!?" He asked, sounding highly impatient.
"Come look!" Quistis told him as she began to bound out the door until Cid bellowed.
"NO!" Quistis stopped in her tracks and looked to the commander. "I need to know now." He told her as he took his seat once more. Quistis gulped.
"On the moon." Quistis quietly told him.
"Speak up Dammit!" Cid yelled.
"On the moon!" She yelled back at him. His eyes lit up with fury and wonder.
'How' he mouthed to no one. "Thank you, you may leave." Cid said as he turned his large foreboding black leather chair around. Quistis glared at the man but left as instructed.
****
"Wash the body thoroughly!" Xu commanded from the upper control deck of the former ventilation room now entitled Command Port. The hose increased it's power onto Adel's now crucified body. After a few minutes of the water washing at Adel's body, the hose turned off.
"What the Hell?" Asked Cid as he leaned forward over the railing as he looked at the body. The giant body of Adel's was refusing to clean, the blood stains remained and the blood from it's eyes, head, legs and now the palms of it's hands kept flowing.
"It just won't clean." Xu said under her breath.
"Is this alive?" Cid asked looking to Xu for the answer.
"We cannot hear any sign of pulse, heart beat or breathing." Xu told him, still looking at the mangled body of Adel's.
"Then the blood has to stop sometime." Cid acknowledged with a sigh of relief as he looked down to the slowly gathering pool of blood just under Adel's feet.
****
Squall inhaled deeply as he sat, still holding Rinoa's hand as she slept expecting her to wake at any moment. His eyes grew curiously wide as he took another whiff of the air.
"It smells like blood." Squall commented as he looked to the vent above him.....
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A/N: Well?? How did you people like it!?!? I REALLY hope it was good... I'm working really hard on these chapters... and this story at large...
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