XVII
"Tell me. When's the last time in the history of Estharan science we've tried to unearth something from the Age of Sorcery and it's turned out to be a good decision?"
--Dr. Han Guissen, on the Lunatic Pandora excavation

"Will Squall Leonhart please report to the bridge, repeat, Squall Leonhart report to the bridge."

Squall groaned as he rolled out of bed. He was sure he had gotten to sleep sometime the night before--else how would he be waking up now?--but he couldn't quite remember when. Running a gloved hand through his hair, he moved out of his room and towards the lift to the bridge. It looked like the repairs crew had gotten the Garden back to its former glory in record time, as far as Squall was concerned.

"Hey," came a sharp voice from behind him. Squall turned around, looking at Kiros. The presidential aide looked... angry. Decidedly angry. Squall blinked; he didn't think he had ever seen Kiros mad before.

(...oh, damn,) he thought, and the events of the night before came flooding back in a rush. (Not now.) "Yes?"

Kiros took a step forward, taking advantage of his height to look down on Squall. "What the hell did you say to him?" he demanded. "He's more depressed than I have ever seen him in my life!"

"I didn't say anything." (Nothing... worthy of note, at least. ...nothing I want to remember.)

"The hell you didn't!" Kiros said, staring at him. "I'm surprised he's still walking and cogent! He didn't even want to eat this morning, and this from someone who has an appetite like a starved Malboro twenty-four seven!"

(If he can't cope with what I said, that's his problem.) "So, what? You want me to go apologize?" Squall crossed his arms. "I didn't say anything I'm ashamed of." (...liar.)

"Maybe you should be ashamed," Kiros said. "That man is your father, whether you like it or not, and you have no right to--"

"No right?" Squall hadn't intended to retort--but his temper was still frayed, to his annoyed chagrin. "I'm eighteen years old. For six hours now I've had a father. I met him a year ago. I'm not the one who threw this... relationship away." He seethed--tried to control it. He was wanted on the Bridge. "Everyone has to live with their own decisions. The universe isn't going to make an exception for him." Without waiting to see what Kiros would say, Squall stalked off towards the elevator.

--only to be stopped when Kiros grabbed him, putting him into the wall beside the elevator doors. "Be quiet," he growled. "You don't understand any of what happened--and I know you don't, because you won't even ask. Yeah, he made some pretty big mistakes, but if you leaveit off like this then it's your fault, too. I'm not going to stand around and watch while you throw away your family in a tantrum--"

Squall disengaged himself, glaring at Kiros. "You're talking to the Commander of Garden," he said--a weak evasion, one that didn't impress Kiros at all.

"Yeah," he said. "And I've got nothing but respect for the office. But I'm also talking to a kid who isn't thinking straight, and who's maybe gonna regret what he said when he comes to his senses."

Kiros turned, braids snapping angrily in the air behind him. Squall turned as he left, hitting the elevator button and trying to control his expression.

Rinoa was waiting for him when he stepped onto the elevator. As soon as she saw him, a mock-worried frown creased her face.

"Oh, no. You've been thinking again, haven't you?" she asked.

"...a bit," Squall admitted.

"I'd hate to see what happens when you think a lot," Rinoa said, punching the 3F button for him. "What is it this time?"

"Our... next course of action," Squall bluffed. Rinoa seemed to accept it.

"Oh. And what have you come up with?"

The door to the third floor opened. "Not sure."

Squall stepped onto the lift to the bridge, waiting as Rinoa jumped on. Xu was standing there, the everpresent pair of binoculars hanging ominously from her hand. Handing them to Squall, she pointed out to sea.

Holding up the binoculars and waiting for them to auto-focus, Squall blinked in surprise as he saw a distant, black obelisk jump sharply into veiw. The veiw zoomed in, and he could make out what looked like Esthar's seal on one side. Taking the binoculars down and handing them to Rinoa, he turned to Xu.

"Remember when it disappeared last year, leaving the Ragnarok behind in the Esthar Plains?" she asked. Squall nodded. "The Dollet radar tower just picked it up yesterday. It's heading to the Centra continent."

"That's--that's the Lunatic Pandora!" Rinoa said.

"The question is, why is it going to Centra?"

Something occured to him. "Is Doctor Odine still here?" Squall asked, hardly noticing when Rinoa jumped onto the lift and ran off.

"He and his scribe were scheduled to leave on the Balamb train in an hour," Xu said.

(After we blasted the intercontinental railroad, there's no way he'd be able to get back from Timber.) "Tell him not to. Get him on board the Ragnarok. Tell my team to meet me there," Squall said.

"Oh, and, Squall?" Xu asked. "I think I should come with you."

"Sure," Squall said. Why not? She was the resident Garden expert on the Lunatic Pandora--and she had been interested in taking an air mission for a long time, now. And besides, they could use any help they could get.

"Thanks," Xu said, turning to the mic. "Will Zell Dincht, Quistis Trepe, Selphie Tilmett, Laguna Loire and Irvine Kinneas please report to the Ragnarok? Repeat, Zell, Quistis, Selphie, Laguna and Irvine, report to the Ragnarok."

"And Nida," Squall said.

"Will Nida also please report to the Ragnarok," Xu said quickly.

"Well, it's just like you to forget," said a voice from below.

"Sorry," Xu called down, switching off the mic. "Who's going to be taking over here?"

"Emergency shift," Squall answered. Xu turned back to the mic.

"Will the emergency bridge crew please report to the bridge, repeat, EBC report to the bridge." Xu turned to Squall. "Anything else?"

(Seifer,) Squall thought. (What am I going to do with Seifer?)

"Send Seifer to the Ragnarok," Squall said. Xu raised an eyebrow and turned back to the mic.

"Will Seifer Almasy please report to the Ragnarok, repeat, Seifer report to the Ragnarok."

Squall stepped on the lift to the lower level as the EBC came bustling in the door. As he stepped off Xu began to snap out orders, the three people in the bridge crew nodded and stepped onto the lift. Xu, Squall and Nida stepped into the lift to the second floor, and the elevator car sank. Stepping out, they saw Irvine was waiting for them.

"Lookit what I just won from someone in the CC group!" Irvine said, holding up a long rifle with a telescopic sight on it. Squall had seen one once in the Deling Parade mission: it was a sniper-rifle. This one was in excellent condition, though.

"How did you manage to beat anyone in the Card Club?" Xu demanded.

Irvine held up a card, one that was clearly marked with Squall's face. It was... a very nice card.

"Where did you get that?" Squall snapped, grabbing it to take a closer look.

"I won it from Laguna," Irvine said. You'll have to ask him where he got it."

(...I don't wantto know,) Squall thought, handing his card back to Irvine. "Whatever. We're heading to Centra. Let's go."

"Right," Irvine said with his infuriating smile on his face. "Everyone else is on board already. We're all just waiting on you."

"We'll stop by the Esthar Airstation and drop Odine off," Squall said, stalking over to the deck and stepping onto the ramp. As soon as everyone had gotten inside the ramp retracted and the ship took off. Squall turned to Nida, saying "Go take over from Selphie."

"With pleasure," Nida said, moving for the lift.

-

"Welcome to the Centra Crater," Nida said as the Ragnarok pulled to a halt somewhere above the Centra continent. The Lunatic Pandora was visible in the distance, slowly getting larger. "Hope you enjoy the veiw. There's not much here."

"--GFs are driving me insane," Squall was remarking, hand to his forehead. "They said they'd be in Centra, but--"

"Umm, Squall?" Nida asked.

"--but I don't know where in Centra. We don't even know that it's actually Centra the Lunatic Pandora is coming to," Squall finished, as if he hadn't heard Nida. It took the pilot a while to figure out that he actually hadn't.

"We've arrived," Nida said.

"But what are we supposed to do?" asked Quistis. "What? Is this some sort of 'go here--wait for further instructions?' "

"Hey, is anybody listening to me?"

"We'll have to wait, hope that it shows up--"

"The fuel cell's on fire," Nida said. "Yep. burning right up. Looks like we're all gonna die."

He had hoped it would get someone's attention. It didn't.

"As soon as we get there, we'll have to do some low-flying passes. See if we can see anything it might be coming for," Squall said.

"You are all deaf, blind worms, and I am ashamed to be taking orders from you," Nida said. No response.

"Bad idea. Too much dust. After a bit, everything begins to look the same. In any case, we have an approximate path for the Pandora. We can intercept it when it gets closer."

Nida steepled his fingers. "I can easily make you regret your words, mortals. You should not underestimate the dark powers of the Dark Lord Darkley, my secret identity revealed."

"I bet it's the Centra Ruins," Selphie piped up. "That has to be it."

"The deck shall be steeped in the blood of the unbelievers," Nida tried, wondering if anything short of summoning a GF on them could make the crew notice him.

"After we cleared Odin and King Tonberry out, there's nothing left there."

"Seifer stole the engines," Nida said.

"Then--"

"The Geezards are coming for you," Nida said.

"--maybe--"

"I broke your gunblade again, Squall. Sorry."

Squall turned to look at Nida. "What did you say?"

"Did I say something?" Nida asked.

"The ship's stopped," Squall observed. "Are we there?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah, we are."

"Great," Squall said. "Next time, tell me."

(Do your best, even if you don't stand out, Cid said. It's a wonder he noticed me standing there at all. That would be great: the day of my graduation the Headmaster forgets I exist. Seems like my luck, though,) Nida thought, trying to supress a smile.

"Is something funny?" Squall asked.

"Nope. Nothing funny here, sir," Nida said. Squall gave him an odd look before turning back to his team.

"We'll wait for the Lunatic Pandora," Squall said. "'til then, we're on standby. Do whatever you want, but make sure you're ready for anything when it arrives."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" yelled someone from the lower level.

(...damn,) Squall thought as he made his way to the lift and it sunk obediantly. (...actually, I'm surprised it took this long for this to be obviously a bad idea.)

"I'll throw you off the damn catwalk!" Zell yelled again, as Seifer leaned on the edge, smirking.

"Hey, it's not my fault that--"

"Seifer," Squall said.

Seifer ran right over what Squall had been about to say, continuing with "that you're the class clown."

"Zell," Squall tried. Zell, face flushed with rage, held up a fist.

"You want some of this?" he snapped at Seifer.

"Zell!"

"Bring it on," Seifer said. "Just don't hurt yourself."

Zell charged at Seifer, who raised his gunblade menacingly. Suddenly both of them halted, unable to do anything. Squall lowered his hand, thinking (There's two perfectly good Stop spells wasted) irritably. Hands crossed over his chest, Squall waited for Zell and Seifer to notice him.

"Rrgh..." Zell said, annoyed that his vocal cords wouldn't work.

"Nnph," Seifer tried. Squall loosened the spell enough so both of them could turn to look at him, then tightened it again.

"It's a fair distance to the ground," he said. "If any of you would like to take up skydiving, then please, continue. Unfortunately we don't have any parachutes--though you shouldn't let that stop you."

Neither moved. They were frozen in Squall's spell.

(Maybe I should just leave them here like this,) Squall thought. (It'd be a lot less I'd have to worry about.)

"I warned you not to start anything aboard my ship. Do I need to repeat myself, or shall I just turn you both over to Xu for discipline?"

"Nrrgh," Zell tried.

Squall turned and walked back to the lift, ignoring Zell and Seifer's muffled grunts and groans of protest. Turning to Xu as the lift reached the bridge, he transferred a fair amount of Stop spells to her and said "Keep an eye on Zell and Seifer. They're on the catwalk." Xu nodded, stepped onto the lift beside Squall, and had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing when she saw the two would-be combatants. Squall headed to the hanger as Xu stepped through the large hatch onto the walkway.

"Errghnmphrr!" Seifer growled.

"I guess I'll give you a chance to explain yourselves," Xu said, still trying not to laugh. "Zell, you first."

"Nmphnrrghrrnrgph!"

"Really," Xu said, nodding. "Seifer?"

"Rrlghnphrr!"

"I see. Well, maybe in about an hour you'll want to talk a bit more," She said, shaking with supressed mirth.

"Rrghrghnrgh!"

"Man, that's harsh," said a voice behind Xu, and she turned around to see Laguna standing in the doorway, an odd look in his eyes. "...you'd better disarm them."

"Good idea," Xu said, walking over and taking Seifer's gunblade as he made muted noises of protest. Pulling Zell's gloves off was a bit harder, and she tsk, tsked at the sight of the sharp spurs on the knuckles. "You boys should play nicer," she said. "Really. Picking a fight on the catwalk? It's a wonder neither of you got hurt. Well, you can go back to your rooms now, unless you want a lecture."

"Nnnph..." Seifer said. A vague look of panic began to creep into Zell's eyes.

"You asked for it," Xu said when neither left. "Well, to begin with..."

Laguna had to beat a hasty retreat before he fell down laughing. His mirth was short-lived however--the two boys on the catwalk only reminded him of Squall. His son, it seemed, had a capacity for judgement and punishment that was only funny when one was not on the receiving end.

Laguna quieted. Squall might well have been taking out his annoyance on them--in which case, it was partly his fault that they were being disciplined so harshly. ...just like it was his own fault that Squall was so knotted up inside, and so unforgiving--and that now he had lost the only part of Raine he would ever be able to know.

-

"You're cruel, man," Zell said to Squall still stretching and flexing to relieve minor cramps and pains. Squall, watching the Lunatic Pandora, ignored him. "Do you even know what she did to us?"

Squall said nothing.

"She gave us a lecture. The longest, boringest lecture I have ever heard. And I couldn't even yawn!"

"Really," Squall said, voice flat.

"And I wasn't even the one who started it! That idiot called me a--"

"Zell," Squall said. "I don't care. Just don't let Seifer bother you. It's not worth it."

"Nothing was worth that," Zell said. "And how come Seifer is getting off this easy?"

"He heard the same lecture you did," Squall said.

"Well, yeah, but--"

"If Seifer tries something again, tell Xu. Don't try to pummle him."

"And Xu'll what? Sic Nida on him?"

Squall paused for a moment. (There's an interesting mental picture,) he thought.

"Hey," Nida said from the pilot's seat, mildly offended.

"Xu will do what she thinks is best," Squall replied.

"You're hopeless, man," Zell said. "Whoa! What the hell is that thing doing?"

Squall held up a hand, and Zell shut up. The Lunatic Pandora slid into place above a tiny, magenta spot on the ground; the Demi draw point. There, it just waited. "Take us closer," Squall said.

The Ragnarok slid forward under Nida's careful control, coming to a halt as the Lunatic Pandora began to rotate. Slowly at first, it spun faster and faster. A small sandstorm began to rise on the ground. Still, the Lunatic Pandora kept accellerating...

"What, the..."

Squall held up his hand again, and Zell became quiet. The sandy tornado rose.

"Uh," Nida said, hands ready on the controls. "So, way I hear it, the Pandora was constructed aroudn a huge dense crystal. ...anybody remember back to physics class, when we were learning about centrifical and centrifugal--"

"Lower altitude!" Squall snapped, cutting Nida off. Nida, already having sensed the danger, cut the engines entirely. There was a sickening sensation as the Ragnarok dropped--just in time, as a huge piece of the Lunatic Pandora tore itself from the Pillar and screamed over the ship's hull. The obelisk was coming apart--a rain of debris hissing through the air like a miniature, landbound meteor shower. Something impacted the side of the spaceship, sending it careening to one side, then the veiw was obscured by the massive duststorm raging just outside.

There was a horrendous series of jolts as the Ragnarok hit the ground, bounced, hit again, and skidded. Then an eerie silence broken only by the hellish screaming of the winds outside and the occasional noise of something hard hitting the Ragnarok's hull. Sand accumulated on the cockpit--the ship was being slowly buried.

Slowly, the wind died down. When he was at least marginally sure that it was over, Squall said "Take us up."

"Yes, sir," Nida said. The ship began to shed the many layers of sand it had acculmulated, rising from the ground. The movement had the effect of an "all clear" signal, and, within moments Quistis and Seifer were on the bridge. Breifly, Nida explained what had happened.

The last of the sand fell off the window, and everyone looked out.

"Whoa!" Zell said--and silently, Squall repeated the exclamation.

(...whoa.)

The Crystal Pillar, at this point all that was left of the Lunatic Pandora, had positioned itself above the Demi draw point. Thousands of magenta threads were rising up to it, dancing at its base like weaving fingers--and the Pillar was darkening to black from the bottom up, as if the Demi spells were some black liquid pouring into it or some heat charring its base. The pillar pulsed slowly--like a heartbeat, or a monster's sleeping breath.

The lift at the back of the bridge rose, Edea riding it. She took one look at the Crystal Pillar and turned even paler than she usually was.

"Whoever has done this must have been a person of great power," she said. "But to what purpose?"

"We'll investigate the area around the draw point," Squall said. "Make sure your GFs are equipped."

Everyone on the bridge turned to move to the lift, Nida stopping to grab his katana off the wall. Everyone was waiting for them at the base of the Ragnarok's ladder; they had decided to go on ahead, apparently.

Irvine tipped his hat as Edea got off, nodding civilly to Squall. "We found a spiral ramp over there, just a bit away from the draw point," he said. "We were going to wait for you to check it out."

"All right," Squall said.

"All right!" Selphie yelled, jumping in the air and holding up her nunchaku. "Let's go!"

Before Squall could say anything, Selphie, Zell, and Irvine went tearing off towards the draw point. Seifer, with a more sedate pace, followed. Squall brought a hand to his forehead.

"...after them?" Xu asked, shooting Squall an odd look.

"...after them," Squall said, starting out.

The team spread out as they moved, ready to face any enemy. When they were almost halfway there, the first of Dyne's minions appeared.

Squall quickly decided that they had definately found Dyne's base. What other reason would there be for such heavy guard?

"Ruby Dragon!" Quistis called as the huge beast lumbered out of a concealed tunnel. Squall dropped to the ground as a staggering wave of heat cut over him--heat that could easily kill someone in just one hit. He had seen it happen. Rolling towards the thing he cut upwards with his gunblade, hearing the thing bellow in pain as the sword cut a deep gash in his throat. Deep, but not deep enough. Massive claws came down in the ground just a hairsbredth away from Squall's face as he rolled away, sending a bullet into the dragon's eye as it moved its mouth to bite him in half.

Taking a split second to glance over to his comrades, Squall saw the reason no one was bothering to help him: they were all engaged otherwise. Three Hexadragons were assaulting Quistis, Nida, Laguna and Kiros, while Rinoa was trying to keep a huge, oversized Deathclaw from tearing Edea into little bitty peices. Irvine, Zell, Selphie and Seifer were trying to reach everyone else, but were somewhat hampered by the nine overgrown Jelleyes that were swarming them.

The Ruby Dragon roared as Squall brought his gunblade down on the thing's head, and raked him with its claws. Casting a simple Cure spell on himself, he was relieved to note that it actually worked.

(Must have been something special about the Lieutenant's blade,) he thought.

Squall swung his blade again, pulling the trigger and sending a bullet flying into the dragon's heart through the tough, rent skin. The thing bellowed, using its last breath to try to fry Squall.

"Aaugh!" called someone as the Ruby dragon fell on its side, and Squall looked over. More monsters--lower-level monsters like Glacial Eyes and Armadodos--were beginning to trickle out of the holes. But the thing that bothered Squall the most was the huge, blue Thrustaevis who was beating its four wings in a herculean effort to raise Irvine off the ground. And, a bit to the left, the shiny, silvery Blitz who was pulling his weapon's blade out of Seifer's leg, forcing him back towards the mound of an Abyss Worm.

"Squall!" yelled Irvine as his gun dropped to the ground. Squall froze--it was obvious both needed his help, but in the time to help one, the other would be gone.

No one else was in a position to do anything. Squall spent a fraction of a second looking from Irvine to Seifer to Irvine, unsure of who to help.

(No...) Squall thought. (Why am I the one this always happens to?)

Irvine was being lifted up into the air--soon the Thrustaevis would be able to catch a thermal and fly away. Irvine had been in his team for a bit over a year--Seifer had saved his life. Who to save?

(Make a judgement call,) Squall told himself.

Seifer was closer. Running over as fast as he could, Squall drove his sword through the Blitz's back, pulling the trigger three times in rapid sucession as he jerked it loose. A swift swing from Seifer, and the Blitz's head rolled to the ground. Turning on his heel fast enough to raise a small cloud of dust, Squall ran towards Irvine.

By the time he got there, the Thrustaevis was so far out of blade range that trying would have been ridiculous. Glancing back over his shoulder, Squall saw that the only one with a projectile weapon it would be even moderately possible to use without hitting Irvine was Rinoa, who was still in battle with the deathclaw. Magic would have splash damage... what was there Squall could do?

Something bumped against his boot as he skidded to a halt, and Squall looked down to see the sniper rifle Irvine had won. Picking it up, he had a sudden idea.

(But, if I miss... what the hell. He'll die if I don't, what worse could happen?
(Simple. He could die because I killed him.)

Bringing the rifle up to his shoulder Squall looked through the telescopic sight. (Let's see... crosshairs go on the thing I want to die. Seems easy enough...)

Moving the muzzle to point in the general direction of the Thrustaevis, Squall saw a veiw of Irvine (hat still on, miraculously) struggling with the huge, four-winged bird. Putting the tiny, black cross on the Thrustaevis, Squall pulled the trigger.

The recoil of the gun wasn't softened in any way, and Squall was knocked backwards as the gun hit his shoulder hard enough to give him a sizable bruise. Struggling to his feet, he glanced at Irvine's falling form.

(What'll keep him from hitting the ground that hard?) Squall wondered. (Float? I don't have any Floats. What else...?)

Squall held out a hand, wishing Stop worked against gravity. Tornado, he thought. A huge cyclone began to form around Irvine, stopping him mere centimeters from the ground and pulling him back up again. When he finally began to fall again, it wasn't nearly from the distance that it had been from the Thrustaevis's clutches. Still, it was obviously not comfortable when Irvine hit the ground.

Something ran into Squall from behind and he fell over, driving the butt of the rifle into his stomach. There was a pained gurgle, and the thing rolled off him. Squall turned and looked, seeing the long knife embedded in the Deathclaw's neck. Nida was jogging over to reclaim it. Looking around, Squall saw that most of the monsters were gone.

"Looks like the GFs are sticking to their word," Nida said as he yanked the throwing knife out of the monster's throat, using it to gesture to the dead bodies of Dyne's guards. "I didn't even know Pandemona could do that."

Squall didn't ask what it was Pandemona had done. Instead, he turned and made his way over to Irvine, who was lying on his back, probably unconcious. Squall kneeled next to him, casting a quick Curaga. Shaking him gently by the shoulders, Squall was mildly relieved when Irvine opened his eyes and began to cough out dust.

"Squall--" he said between coughs. "Thanks." He tried to grin. "Didn't know--you cared."

"Whatever," Squall replied automatically. (Why not? ...shouldn't I care?) a part of him asked. "You all right?"

"I'll be--fine," Irvine said. "Just--don't make me do that again."

Squall picked up the sniper from the dirt beside him, handing it to Irvine. Wiping the Ruby Dragon's blood off of his gunblade, he sheathed it quietly and dusted himself off. Turning around, he moved towards the draw point. Glancing at the Crystal Pillar, he noticed that it was still drawing power--slowly, but with marked progress.

The rest of the team met him at the spiraling ramp, and he looked down it cautiously. Realizing that there weren't any monsters waiting to kill him, he tested the ramp to make sure it was stable. Then something in his brain connected, making him do a double-take.

(That can't be right,) he thought. Stepping onto the ramp, he looked at the walls of the inside passageway. More than just walls--there was a fair amount of machinery next to the ramp. Turning to Quistis, Squall motioned her inside.

"This place look familiar?" Squall asked. Quistis's eyes narrowed--then flew open as she realized the same thing Squall had.

"Hey, what is it?" Irvine asked. "Not going to let us in on the secret?"

"This," Squall started, wondering what it all meant, "is, was, or will be the Clock Tower in Ultimecia's castle."

There was a moment of silence. Squall turned back to the ramp, thinking. He didn't like the implications.

He was standing in Ultimecia's Castle a year after her defeat, fourteen years after her death, and several generations before she was to be born.