Cid's near-frantic announcement was Squall's first warning.
the headmaster shouted through the intercom. All SeeDs, emergency at the front gate!
Springing from his bed, Squall deftly swung open his gunblade case and withdrew the weapon on his way out the door. What's this about? he wondered. They shouldn't have made it past Winhill while they slept, and there they were just dropping off their SeeD teams before heading for Centra and G-Garden. There shouldn't be cause for an alert.
The hallway was flooded with students as they emerged from their rooms, and an air of confused urgency dominated the atmosphere. Squall threaded his way through the others, moving as quickly as he could toward the main hall. Ahead, he could hear shouts and sounds of fighting.
And a loud, inhuman roar.
Cocking his gunblade, Squall charged through the mass of confused people toward the entrance and the source of the noises. Now, he began to see a few SeeDs, armed and shouting orders. Is Garden being attacked?!
Indeed, a horde of monsters was flooding through the entrance, clashing head-on with the few SeeDs who had managed to organize against the onslaught. Squall recognized Zell and Selphie already in the fray, fending off a hungry-looking Torama.
Shelving his questions for the moment, Squall tightened his grip on the gunblade and charged into the fray. The smallish form of a Turtapod responded to his challenge, crashing into his legs and nearly tripping him before he could respond. An instant later, the creature was contorted within the expanding globe of a magical Flare, and a few seconds after that, it was nothing more than a pile of ash.
Even before the Flare had ceased, Squall heard a strange cry behind him. He spun around to meet the new threat, but suddenly his vision blurred and it felt as if the ceiling had collapsed. He could no longer feel his gunblade, all he could see was a spinning mess of color, and his ears were ringing fiercely. He felt a sense of urgency, but could not understand; he was unable to focus —
A jolt of pain brought him back to his senses. Looking down, he saw that his gunblade had slipped from his hand, cutting a nasty gash across his palm. For an instant, he just stared at the wound as blood spilled onto the floor, then he snapped to his senses. Snatching a Potion from his belt, he applied it to the injured palm as he looked up to see his assailant.
Perched sedately on the rail, an Imp was looking casually over its bony shoulder at him. It Confused me, he realized. Damn, I hate that. Wincing as he picked the gunblade off the floor — Healing magic always left behind an annoying tingle, and sometimes phantom pain — he took a swing at the thing. As if it had anticipated the move, the monster leapt into the air, its tail lashing out and cutting into Squall's shoulder. He staggered from the sting of the tail — had it been poisoned? — and the Imp quickly flew out of reach, then hovered there as if taunting him.
Closing his eyes, Squall focused on the pain from his shoulder wound. Bringing all his SeeD training into play, he worked to channel the pain into the force commonly known as Limit magic. The stinging became a warm heat that seemed to flood through his body. When he opened his eyes, the entire world was red, and seemed to be caught in slow motion.
Gritting his teeth, he jumped into the air, trusting the magic to hold him while he slashed relentlessly at the hovering Imp. The creature, unable even to react quickly enough to understand what was happening, writhed under the blows.
Squall knew it was almost finished when the magic cushion gave out and he fell back to the ground. Summoning up the last of the Limit, Squall stuck his gunblade out in front of him, and jumped. The blade, trailing a sort of ethereal smoke, sliced right through the Imp as Squall shot all the way up to the distant ceiling —
And appeared safely back on the ground, exhausted. The two halves of the Imp shriveled up and evaporated before they even hit the ground. Panting, Squall took a moment to collect himself before turning back to the fight.
There was a scream, followed my a thundering roar. Squall's head jerked around to see the massive form of a Blue Dragon pouncing on a young student. He immediately jumped to his feet, but was too far away. He could only watch with horror as the beast's massive jaws closed around her. Her scream was replaced by a wet crunch as the dragon snapped every bone in her body before swallowing her whole. Then, with shreds of her uniform still hanging from its mouth, it turned its attention on Squall.
Legs shaking, Squall nearly dropped his gunblade as horror and rage nearly consumed him. Forcing himself from charging the thing head-on, he extended his free hand towards the advancing beast. he growled, through clenched teeth.
Suddenly, there was a terrific flash, and the dragon was hurled over the rail into the pool below. There, it lay motionless, black blood spilling liberally from its crushed back and hind legs.
Zell lay, unconscious, where the dragon had been seconds earlier. He drove right into the thing, Squall realized, forcing his legs to carry him over to his fallen comrade. Clearly, he had not been the only one to be galvanized by the creature's ferocity.
Now, the battle was beginning to tone down; the SeeDs had succeeded in organizing the students, and they were quickly dispatching of the remaining monsters. Instead of forcing Zell back to consciousness with Life magic, Squall pulled the boy up and struggled to drag him to the infirmary.
- - = = = = - -
Xu and Cid both wore solemn expressions when Squall met them on the bridge an hour later, and the female SeeD who was flying in Nida's absence looked as if she had been crying.
We lost eleven students in the battle, Cid said solemnly, And nearly a hundred were seriously wounded. It's not as bad as the battle with Galbadia Garden, but a terrible tragedy nonetheless.
Squall nodded, remembering the shocked faces of everyone after the battle, as they picked through the damage and bodies. They're all trained to fight. But this was different. Now, they were fighting in their home.
Moreover, this was not the first time they had fought such a battle, and he was beginning to realize it would not be the last.
Where did those monsters come from in the first place? he asked.
Xu sighed. As far as we can tell...the monsters were the result of a minor Lunar Cry.
I talked with some people in Winhill, and apparently there have been quite a few such incidents over the last few days. That's why they sent the request for SeeD in the first place, as a matter of fact.
Squall didn't know much about Lunar Cries, but he knew enough to see the problem in this situation. Doesn't the Lunatic Pandora have to call a Lunar Cry?
Xu nodded. We thought so. But the Lunatic Pandora isn't anywhere around here, and the monsters certainly are. I've been trying to talk to some people in Esthar, but since diplomatic channels are virtually nonexistent, I haven't got far. I'll keep trying, but I'm afraid we're on our own for the time being.
There's no guarantee that this phenomenon will stop, Cid took over. Indeed, it may well get worse. We must find the cause and put an end to it as quickly as possible.
We don't even know what the cause is. How do you plan to do that, sir?
We'll need information. Whether or not we can establish contact with Esthar remains to be seen, but nevertheless, I know someone with contacts in Galbadia; perhaps he may learn something.
I know there's someplace where I come into this, Squall thought. I hope it's not what I think it is....
In any case, it seems we may have to embark on another campaign. All things considered, there is only one person here qualified enough for the task.
Squall grimaced.
That's right. In know this isn't what you want, Squall, but you can't deny that you are the logical choice to be Garden's Commander.
I'm seventeen. What's logical about that? And what I want is to rescue Rinoa.
We won't start just yet, Cid assured him. We all need some time to recover.