Squall stepped into Cid's office. He was the last to arrive. Cid was sitting behind his desk quietly conversing with Xu. Irvine, Selphie, Rinoa and Seifer were in another corner. Probably conversing about the joint wedding the two couples would be having in early spring. The wedding was to be an outdoor one, and would take place in a huge flower field owned by garden. Squall smiled, although Selphie and Irvine had been in love for as long as he could remember, it had not been so with Rinoa and Seifer. They had fallen in love at the SeeD ball, however things had gotten complicated, and it had taken until after the battle with Ultimecia for them to realize their true feelings again. And where does that leave you? Squall's mind asked him. Squall quickly shook away the thought, he had never truly loved Rinoa, however she had given him a taste of what it meant to be loved, and now he needed that feeling in his life. Coming back to reality Squall returned to scanning the room. Zell was finishing a hotdog while watching as Edea played Quistis in checkers. "Ahh Squall, you're here." said Cid "Looks like I'm late sorry guys, I had to take a shower." replied Squall, running his hand through his hastily dried locks. "It's about time you took one." Joked Zell with a huge grin "Alright alright, everyone settle down." Cid said commanding everyone's attention, "We have called all of you here because you are the best Balamb Garden has to offer, and the mission ahead will require the special skills and talents of all of you." Everyone glanced at each other. There was rarely a mission so difficult that so many high-ranking SeeDs would be needed. "As I was saying," continued Cid "this mission will be very difficult, a strange unidentified monster has been terrorizing people all over the globe, one night a person in Shumi Village will disappear and the next it will be someone in Winhill. Individuals close to the event have sited the monster, and it supposedly resembles a Sphinx no one knows how it travels so fast, but all dispatched SeeD's have mysteriously disappeared. I don't like putting all of my best SeeD's in danger, but we have no better option, these mass killings must stop! We have reason to believe the creaure's main source of power is magic, although we have yet to identify the specific type of magic that is killing these people." Cid paused to allow this new information to sink in. "When will this mission be?" asked Seifer "You will leave immediately, we believe the monster's next target will be Dollet, because the annual freedom festival will be held there tommorow. We do not wish to cause chaos or disrupt the festival if we can help it, however no one will question your coming because, the festival is after all, to celebrate your achievements on your SeeD exam." Answered Cid " Basically you leave for Dollet by train A.S.A.P, then attend the festival, and working in groups of two, a girl and a boy, secure it. Please act as though you are normal couples just enjoying the ceremony, at twenty-one hundred hours if nothing has gone wrong we will meet back at the Dollet hotel." Cid nodded to Xu who picked up a box from the floor and, setting it on the desk pulled something out from it. She held in her hand a small silver thing resembling a pistol. "In addition to your own specialty weapons, each pair will receive one of these. This is a flare gun. Fire it like a normal gun into the air, and it will emit a large red flare. This will linger for about five minutes before dissipating. If you see it in the sky it means a team has located the monster. In that event, you will immediately proceed to back up the team fighting the monster, and anyone else who has arrived before you." Xu took a breath "We aren't sure the monster will appear at all, so if all goes well the evening will be a relaxing break for all of us." Xu took the box and Cid spoke again "these are the teams, Seifer and Rinoa will be stationed at the Square, Zell and Xu will be at the comm. Tower, Selphie and Invine will be in the streets among the shops, and finally Squall and Quistis will be at the beach." Xu handed everyone a flare gun and kept one for herself, then Cid spoke once more. "Please return to your rooms and pack, a car awaits you at the front gate, oh and one more thing, Squall, as you have experience in leading, you will be mission commander, all other decisions are up to you. I will also send updates to you as they come." Everyone in the room saluted, and returned to their rooms to pack.