[center]--- - 8 - ---[/center]

(Author's Note:
Hee... if you hate cliffhangers, NEVER read my FFVIII fic, Dark Legion. I'm sorry you have to suffer through these, too... or am I?
Heh. It's magistrate company policy never (or at least, rarely) to end a chapter without a cliffhanger. Keeps readers interested. Right?

PS--Sorry this chapter took so long. Yukky school stuff.)


Quistis walked along the halls, mentally reorganizing her GFs and magic. Officially it was against the rules to have GFs junctioned inside, but as there was no way to check anyone on that unless they actively summoned one, the rule was largely disobeyed. and even though Quistis was normally by-the-book, today she felt the need for a bit more protection. After all, today was the day she had to meet whoever--or whatever--it was that they had brought back from Centra.

Selphie had decided to tag along, probably more out of a lack of anything better to do than a real desire to see what the man had to say for himself. Having not seen the man, she had no idea why Quistis would be so cautious about him.

Doctor Kadowaki greeted them as they stepped into the infirmary, fishing a keycard out of her desk. "We put that man in confinement," she said. "I thought it would be safer for all parties."

"I think that was wise," Quistis said. "Were you able to find out anything about him?"

"Only what I think you could tell already. By all the medical laws I've ever studied, that man should not be alive. Even disregarding the lack of any noticeable heart, lungs or stomach--"

"I see," Quistis answered, raising a hand to forestall Selphie's question. "Magic, maybe? Could he be animated, like the Blitzes?"

"It's a possibility, but I wouldn't put too much store into it," Kadowaki said. "He's quite different from a Blitz, as well."

"I see," Quistis said. "...I think I'll go check on him."

"CSXX," Kadowaki said. "That's the code for the door."

"CSXX?"

"C as in Circle, S as in Square, and two X's as in Xenobiology."

"Thanks," Quistis said, moving to the keypad and keying the sequence in. The door opened obediently, and Quistis stepped in.

There was a gasp of astonishment from Selphie as she saw the man, and Quistis motioned to her to be quiet. "He's not human," she said unnecessarily.

"I can tell," Selphie whispered.

Moving to the strange man's side, Quistis stepped back as she saw those eyes again. She would never get used to seeing those, so blank and dead--

--the other thing she learned very abruptly was that, when a man had no pupils, it was very hard to tell if he was looking at you or not.

A clawlike hand gripped her forearm, and she froze. "Gaen. Human," an empty, resonant voice intoned. "Five Gaen feet, six Gaen inches. Blue Mage. Correct?"

Quistis was so startled she could only nod in verification. The grip on her arm tightened.

"Then why do you have Bahamut?"

Quistis blinked. "I junctioned him," she replied.

"You are not a white mage!"

"What...?"

The head lolled to one side. "Gaen human. Five Gaen feet, one point five Gaen inches. ...classless."

Selphie glanced at Quistis. Quistis glanced at Selphie. They both glanced at the stranger.

"Who are you?" Quistis asked.

There was a sigh. "Classless, and you have Leviathan, and two others I have never encountered. Why?"

Selphie put her hand on her hip. "I took a lot of classes to be able to Junction GFs," she protested.

There was a hissing sigh--it sounded as if something in his chest was decompressing. "Gaen is not as similar asd I had hoped," the unidentified man said,

"Who are you?" Quistis demanded again. "If you're not from... Gaen... where are you from? Why are you here?"

The man's white eyes might have shifted. "My name is of no importance. I come from a place of dire straits, and I come to escape. However, I do not believe mere escape is an option for me."

"What are you trying to say?" Quistis asked. "I'm not in the mood for word ga--"

There was the strangest sensation--it was as if someone was trying to simultaniously junction and de-junction Bahamut to her. She stopped for a moment, stunned, and felt the world shift around her. Time slowed, into an infinite field of blue..........

...Selphie jumped as Quistis's for distorted beside her. The man was saying something-- "...the Planet. Incredible...." --but she didn't stop to listen. Rushing at him, she readied a Fira spell in her mind.

"What did you do? Where's Quisty?" she demanded.

The thin voice spoke again, this time with a tint of synthesized wonder in it. "I pray she is safe," it said. "But I must speak to those knowledgable in this world. Else we shall never escape...."