Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Final Fantasy VIII.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Why Laguna, don't you recognize me? Your old buddy? I'm hurt."
"I don't think I've ever seen you in my whole life!"
"There's much to be said about your long-term memory, old friend. You can't recognize an army pal nor can you realize what you're on. I can't say I'm surprised though, if past recollections serve."
"You…you were in the Galbadian army?"
"Well aren't you a genius?"
"But who?"
"Guess and see. Surely it isn't that hard. It's only been about, oh say near eighteen years?"
"I'm not in the mood for games."
"Pity. I suppose I should just spare you the trouble and tell you who I am? No, no, no. Its so much more fun if there's a little bit of mystery."
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"You tell me what I'm doing."
"You shot missiles at my airship and crashed it into Hyne-knows-where, slaughtered all my aides and guards, kidnapped my son and I, shoved me into this hole of a cell and play mind-games with me by saying you know me and I know you. What the hell are you doing??"
"Tormenting you would probably be one and believe me, I'm enjoying it."
"I don't doubt that for a second.
"…Secondly, you and your precious son are being taken to our little hideout to meet our superior. Or should I say, your ex-superior?"
"What? General Caraway ordered this??"
"That yellow-bellied coward? I hardly think so. No, Laguna. I'm talking about Major General Bronard."
"Gordon Bronard? So the entire Galbadian army is behind this?"
"Sadly misguided as always, Laguna but you're good at getting half-truths. Only a sizable portion of the army is behind this…operation. I see I've lost you again so I'll just relieve the pressure you're putting on those tiny tissues of yours that you call your brain."
"I can hardly wait."
"Sarcasm doesn't become you, Laguna. Please don't do that again."
"Well, I'm so sorry."
"I'll ignore that for now but I'll be certain to keep that in mind."
"…"
"Galbadia haven't had a victorious moment since that bastard son of yours killed off our sorceress. Esthar and Balamb plus the other Gardens have been putting pressure on President Tedrew to free the towns we seized during the war and to sign a peace treaty. Fickle as he is and no doubt influenced by Carraway, he agreed to sign the damn treaty which you were supposedly on your way to. Of course not all of us share Tedrew and Carraway's vision so the Major took off and a few of us - actually, a lot of us - followed."
"So you crashed my airship to take me hostage and prevent me from signing that treaty. I don't know if I should applaud you for your daring or ridicule your foolhardiness."
"My dear Laguna, what makes you think we're after you?"
"You mean you were after…"
"No, we have no use for the Commander except for the same reason as yours. Care to take a guess?"
"Strike a deal with Esthar and Garden?"
"Very unoriginal, don't you think? Where would be the fun in that? No, we have better plans for you but you must be tired of our little tête-à-tête so I'll stop here."
"Considering that you've already talked quite a lot, I think my ears could stand a little more burning Hagarn."
"So you remember my name at last? Good, very good. You deserve to be the President of Esthar after all."
"Spare me the insults."
"I'll just let you think about this, Laguna. Being the president of the most powerful nation or the commander of the most powerful military organization doesn't mean you're what we want. Sometimes, you have to scatter the crumbs before you can capture the canary. Or canaries in this case."
"What?"
"We should be reaching our destination in a few hours so I'll just let you stew in here for a while. Its been so nice to catch up on old times, Laguna. Tata!"
"What the hell was Hagarn talking about birds and bread?"
"Damn!" I cried aloud, forgetting that we were supposed to be quiet.
Squall shot me an irritated look while the other guy - Needa I think his name was - shushed me in a panic.
"Sorry but I just remembered something." I whispered.
"What?"
"I know why Hagarn kidnapped us."
"Who the hell is Hagarn?"
"I don't have time to explain. We have to stop this ship from going to wherever its heading to and somehow contact Esthar. If we don't, we're going to be in deeper shit than we already are in."
"I can't imagine how much." Needa commented and Squall frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
"Someone's coming!"
Listening to Needa - which I always thought was a girl's name - we ducked behind a wall.
"I can't imagine what Dirk is doing. He went to check that noise fifteen minutes ago. He should be back by now."
"Wonder if everything's all right."
"Like how could the President possible escape? That guy couldn't knock out a fly if his life depended on it."
Needa had trouble hiding his grin while I seethed in my hiding place. I couldn't resist throwing a glance at Squall. Surely his mouth isn't twitching? No, its gone now.
I silently tapped his shoulder and pointed at them. He shook his head and mouthed 'too noisy'.
'What about silencing them?' I mouthed back. He shook his head. No Silence spell. Damn!
Suddenly, Needa moved from the other side and straightened himself. I'm not sure but it looked like he was preparing a magic spell. Aiming at their backs, he cast his spell and the results were instant. The two men fell to the floor and they were soon snoring away.
"Good work, Nida." Squall spoke and the boy flushed all over. Either this is one shy guy or Squall isn't too generous with his compliments.
After throwing the two goons into one of the cells, I turned to Squall.
"Listen! We have to get to the cockpit now or…"
"We're doing that now so leave your brilliant idea to later." He interrupted.
"But its about…"
"Just shut up! You've already made enough noise to raise the dead." He said as he walked away. I'm beginning to think Ward was right about my pampering him too much.
It took a near eternity just to get to the front of the airship. I swear I've never been so irritated by the amount of caution Squall took. You'd think the whole airship was filled with those lackeys.
"Someone's coming!" Needa again. Does that boy have bat ears or something? I couldn't hear a single thing except for my own breathing.
We turned into another corridor and flattened ourselves against the walls. Waiting silently, two voices reached our ears. I recognized one of them.
"He'll still be in his cell, don't worry. The others are probably yapping their mouths off as usual. Come on."
I leaned over and attracted Squall's attention. 'He's the leader. We have to get him now.'
He shook his head but no, I'm not listening to him anymore. He may be the SeeD Commander but I'm his father and his employer, not to mention the president of Esthar. That's three counts to one so I'm making my move. I'm gonna make sure that sorry bastard will regret ever mentioning birds to me!
I leapt out with a cry while aiming my gun at him. His aide was quicker however and knocked me to one side. Just great! He had to be out walking with one of his muscled freaks!
Opposite of me, Squall was already attacking while Needa seemed to be preparing another spell. Muscle-man interrupted his concentration however and knocked him to the floor. Hagarn ducked Squall's aim and the bullet nearly missed entering my skull. I wish I had the time to take a look at his face to see if he was disappointed because I somehow get the feeling that he wanted that bullet to hit his secondary target.
I reached for my gun but Hagarn kicked it out of my reach. He turned and threw a punch at Squall. Nida was still fending Muscle-man off but managed to cast Blizzara at him. Shards of freezing ice flew everywhere and some cut my arm as well.
Ignoring the pain, I saw my chance and stood to my feet.
"Squall, I'm going to the cockpit to stop this airship! You take care of Hagarn and his henchman!"
"Are you crazy? There'll be more people there!"
"I have to stop the airship or things are going to get worse!"
"I really couldn't agree with you more, Laguna." Hagarn yelled and looking back, I saw him jamming his finger onto a nearby button. Great! He just activated the warning signal! I'll have to hurry!
I began running towards the cockpit, putting distance between the rest of them and me. If I don't take control of the airship and we land at their hideout, other lives will be at a much bigger stake!
A guard came charging down the hall towards me. I raised my gun and fired at him, blowing his arm off. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor. I bypassed him and continued heading ahead. Hyne! Give me speed now!
Reaching the passenger room, two more guards greeted me. Both had arms bulging with muscles and hands armed with machine guns. Hyne! How am I going to get pass them??
"Laguna! Behind you!"
I dived to one side as gunshots came roaring down the hallway. Hagarn reached down and grabbed me before throwing me to one side. My head crashed against the wall and I was almost knocked out by the sheer blow itself.
"President Loire!" More cries and gunshots followed but I could already feel the world spinning around me. A hand reached down and grabbed my collar, choking me. Cold steel pressed against my temple and I knew what was about to happen.
"Don't make another move, Commander or you SeeD. If either of you so much as take one step or raise your gun, you'll be having a lot to explain to Esthar."
Squall and Nida lowered their weapons. Squall's eyebrows were narrowing into the familiar glare while Nida just looked scared.
"Let the president go." Squall said evenly. Hagarn's grip tightened and I gasped aloud.
"I don't think so, Commander. Major Bronard wishes to speak with you and the president as well. As for the SeeD, we're going to keep him for other negotiations. I'm sure he has a little family somewhere who will be willing to pay enough for his release." Oh Hyne, I wish I could blast his head to the depths of hell right now!
"What do you want with us?"
"You'll know soon enough if you would drop your weapons to the floor." As Hagarn rambled on, his grip loosened and I seized my chance. Bringing my arm forward, I sent it crashing back to his stomach and kicked his legs for good measure. Hagarn bent over wheezing and I tripped his legs down to the ground.
"Mr. President! Duck!" I turned around only to find Needa diving towards me. Just as he grabbed me, a gunshot echoed into my ears and he screamed in pain.
"Nida! No!!" Squall cried as Needa's body flopped unto mine. His body was lifeless and his eyes were blank.
"Nida! You bastards!" Squall leapt forward and began wrestling with the two muscle-men. His strength was amazing and with one swift blow, he laid one of them to the ground. I pushed Needa off of me and dashed to the cockpit.
The pilot was in his seat but before I could grab him, someone else grabbed my legs and dragged me down. Hagarn's snarling face greeted mine and we struggled on the floor.
"You think I'm going to go down this easily? I didn't train all those years as a soldier for nothing. I will bring you to Bronard if it's the last thing I do!"
"Then I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Hagarn." I retorted. "Its been nice seeing you again but I must say goodbye now." I grabbed his head and threw it against a nearby control panel. He shrieked as the glass broke and bolts of electricity shot up his head. The pilot turned around and aimed his gun at me. Before I could react though, someone else did.
A bullet lodged itself against the pilot's head and he flopped backwards to the controls. The airship began spinning out of control and I was thrown against the wall for perhaps the fourth time that day. This time however I was fully conscious and so was Squall. We both grabbed unto the pilot and copilot's seats and wrenched ourselves for possibly the last landing we'll ever take.
Raine…I'll be with you soon.
Notes:I have absolutely no idea what happened to this chapter considering that I posted it up already. Oh well! At least you have the pleasure of reading two chapters in one sitting!
