LEGACY
CHAPTER FIVE
"So, she just randomly attacked you?" Zell was having difficulty digesting Irvine's information.
Irvine held up his hand in a halting gesture. "I'm getting to that."
"I don't care. I wanna know why she attacked you!"
"I'm still trying to figure that out. Let me finish."
Zell's eyes trailed over the debris left from Rinioa's Ultima spell. "She attacked you, and she-- she practically destroyed the central elevator…"
"Let me finish, dammit."
Zell glared at him angrily. "Don't talk to me like that. Bastard."
"Chicken-wuss." Irvine's lips curled into a sardonic smirk.
Zell's eyebrows drew together in a rage. "What did you call me?!" He lunged for Irvine and grabbed at his collar.
"Boys." Quistis stepped between the two and forcefully shoved Zell off of Irvine. "Knock. It. Off." Her cold steel gaze cut through Zell and, as she turned, proceeded to slice Irvine into pieces. "We're all uptight right now. We can't afford this." Zell heaved a sigh and Irvine let his eyes wander to the ceiling. "Let me remind you we're all in this together. We need to support one another, not bicker like children."
At this Zell raised his head, nodding affirmingly. He was obviously thinking of his encounter with Quistis in the training center earlier that evening- her deeply affecting words from then now trickling into his thoughts. "Sorry Irv," he said, extending a hand.
"It's cool," the gunslinger said, his eyes meeting Zell's.
"We gotta stick together, guys," Selphie said as she stepped forward and punched a fist triumphantly into the air. "Peace! And love" Everyone chuckled.
But things remained serious. "So like I was saying," Irvine began, "we were just talking like normal, when she just… well… " He shook his head as words failed him. "… transformed. She was having some kind of internal struggle… and then she told me to… to run… Because, she was about to kill me… and then…" He swallowed hard and looked at the floor. "It doesn't make any sense."
"What happened then?" Selphie urged him on; a newcomer to the conversation.
"We fought. Or rather, she attacked me, and I defended myself. I couldn't bring myself to do battle with her. After a little while it seemed my luck had run out… but then Squall came, and she flipped out. Had a regular spaz-attack. And then she ran outta the Garden."
"And Squall followed," Quistis provided grimly, her arms folded across her chest.
"Damn," Zell muttered, scratching the back of his neck.
The group was silent. They were all too deep in thought… drowning in all of these seemingly disparate--yet all devastating-- events. What was happening? Their family was falling apart.
"If anyone can get her back to normal, Squally can," Selphie offered, breaking the silence.
"I hope you're right, Selphie," Quistis said gravely. "I truly hope you're right."
~~~~
Evening turned to night, and despite the chaotic state it was in, Balamb Garden slept.
Zell insisted on keeping a constant watch for Squall and Rinoa's return but Quistis firmly exhorted against this, reminding him that he needed sleep now more than ever in his agitated mental state. Begrudgingly he obeyed, though not without giving her a speech about abandoning their own.
Zell's words affected Quistis more than she wanted to admit, but she knew inside that there was nothing they could do right now. "Perhaps we can visit Dr. Odine tomorrow. He'll have a solution," she had said coolly.
Zell seemed satisfied at this and before long they were all alone in their dormitories. Whether they were sleeping was another matter entirely, but they were all attempting to calm themselves in their own way.
Quistis sat up in bed, glassy-eyed, as she brooded over the discordant chain of events that was her life. They wouldn't let her have her instructor's license back, those Faculty bastards. After saving the world -- nay, the balance of the space-time continuum-- she thought it would be basic courtesy for them to let her have her old position. She had certainly deserved it. And dammit, I am a good leader.
It didn't matter what the Faculty seemed to think, but Quistis demanded respect. She was a strong, proud, and intelligent--not to mention beautiful-- woman. Everyone listened to what she had to say, and without argument. She smiled at the memory of the look on Irvine's face as she layed into he and Zell's behavior earlier.
And then there was the issue of Seifer. Where did she stand with him? They were meeting for breakfast tomorrow. But that was it.. wasn't it?
They had always possessed a degree of respect for each other, and a tacit understanding of this respect. Seifer's precipitate actions at Timber had been uncalled for, certainly… and yet, she had wanted nothing more than to accompany him. She could repeat over and over in her head that Seifer had been her responsibility, and it had been her duty to follow him. But that would have been a lie.
She thought of Cid, and then bit her lip to force the entire issue from her mind. If she was to relax at all tonight, she knew she would have to simply detach herself from everything that was going on. Close her mind to Cid, to Zell's sorrow, to Rinoa's episode and Squall's pursuit….
But she knew she couldn't. Every single one of the people involved in this meant the world to her. They were her family, she loved them. The thought of enduring another day knowing that Cid had been murdered, wondering who had killed him, tempering the rage that filled her… fearing for Rinoa, fearing for Squall…
"Screw it," she said finally, and cast Sleep on herself.
~~~~
The first rays of dawn were just starting to trickle across the sky when he returned-- beaten, broken, and exhausted. He walked as if he carried a tremendous burden on his shoulders; slowly, deliberately. He leaned on every elevated surface he came in contact with, before his knees buckled and he collapsed onto the cold tile floor of the Garden, barely conscious.
Nida had intended for this day to be typical. He insisted that it would not be interrupted by anything horrendous like the day before. He certainly wasn't expecting a worn and weary Squall Leonheart to fall in his path while he was on his morning jog.
But then, he had grown accustomed to unexpected happenings.
~~~~
"So this is how you found him?" Irvine addressed Nida as they stood at the foot of Squall's cot in the infirmary. Selphie and Quistis were present as well.
Nida nodded wordlessly, his face adopting a solemn expression.
"He'll be fine," Dr. Kadowaki affirmed as she entered from the main office. "It's just a combination of emotional stress and fatigue. He'll be ok."
"That's… good," Selphie said awkwardly.
"Yes, it is," Quistis parroted.
There was nothing to say.
"I'm… meeting Seifer for breakfast," Quistis' velvety voice interrupted the silence. "But I'll return to check on him. Soon." She exchanged embraces with Selphie and Irvine and walked out the door, stopping to peek into Matron's room on the way out. A brief smile tugged at her lips at the sight; Zell seated in a chair beside the comatose woman's cot, chatting up a storm.
For a moment Zell stopped speaking, and both of them seemed to take this moment to really look at her. She seemed so… fragile, and old-- her raven black hair that extended to her waist, cascading over the covers and contrasting sharply with her pale flesh. "Zell?" Quistis spoke his name softly.
The youth looked up at Quistis as if he had been burned, and tried desperately to hide what he had just been doing. "Quistis! Hi! I was, uh…"
"She can probably hear us, you know," she interrupted him, as she positioned herself next to the cot. "On some conscious level, she's listening to every word we say."
Zell hesitated a moment, but then allowed a boyish smile. "I know. That's why I'm giving her a rundown of everything that's going on… She's always been a good listener. You know?"
Quistis brushed away a tear. "I know." She gave his shoulder a firm squeeze before heading out the door.
Irvine and Selphie were still with Squall, a sort of oppressive silence pervading the room. Irvine began pacing and Selphie sat herself in a chair, hugging her knees to her chest and gently rocking back and forth. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…
Irvine viciously kicked a wastebasket into the air and sent it tumbling into a stack of bandages on the other side of the room.
"Fuck!" he hissed angrily. "Hyne damn it. I hate this."
Selphie stopped rocking and sat up straight.
"I just… … dammit." Irvine heaved a sigh and crossed his arms, leaning up against the wall. "I feel so helpless, you know?"
Selphie nodded, her lips creased in a frown. "Yeah," she said simply.
"Cid's dead. And Rinoa's out there on her own, doing Hyne-knows-what with her powers. And what are we doing? Nothing."
Selphie kept nodding.
"…. I… lost her…"
The voice didn't belong to Irvine.
Both heads in the room turned to regard Squall, whose eyes had fluttered open and was attempting to sit up. "I couldn't … save her." He grunted as he swung his legs over the side of the cot and tried to stand. But he collapsed back onto it as a searing pain knifed across his chest.
"Squally!" Selphie perked up, and would have crushed him in a hug if not for his broken ribs.
"You did all you could," Irvine assured him, approaching the cot.
"Wasn't enough," Squall insisted, not yet fully conscious.
"Of course it was, Squally, I'm sure--"
Irvine held up a hand to silence Selphie. "What happened?"
Squall's head began to bob tiredly, but he shook it furiously to stay awake. "She tried to kill me."
Selphie gasped. "Go on," Irvine urged.
"I had been… pursuing her for hours," Squall began, slowly shaking his head from side to side. "I finally met up with her at the beach. And she started throwing everything she had at me. She used her powers to manipulate the tides… she tried to drown me… and then cast multiple Thundagas and nearly killed me." His voice began to quaver with emotion at the memory. The woman he loved, doing everything in her power to see him dead… "I ended up silencing her, stunning her… and running for my life."
At the conclusion of Squall's description, Dr. Kadowaki entered the room. "Ok, Mr. Leonheart, that's quite enough from you. Mr. Kinneas, Miss Tilmitt, please leave him. He needs rest."
Squall forcefully stood, taking care to favor his ribs this time. "Like hell I do."
Dr. Kadowaki was taken aback at Squall's display of assertiveness. "You're sleep-deprived and injured," she said curtly. She approached him and stood so she was staring straight up into his ice-blue eyes. "With all due respect, Mr. Leonheart, you need to recuperate. Now."
The gunblade specialist narrowed his eyes. "With all due respect, doctor, the woman I love is out in the world alone, confused, and dangerous. I need to help her as best I can. I simply can't sit here and rest on a good conscience. I refuse to." The doctor looked to the floor and heaved a sigh. Tense moments passed, all eyes in the room fixated on the woman, awaiting her reaction.
She finally raised her head to meet Squall's eye… and smiled.
"You really care about her, don't you?"
Squall's silence was a sufficient answer.
"You've changed a lot, Mr. Leonheart," she said, reaching up and resting her hand on his shoulder. "Good luck." She turned, made eye contact with Selphie and Irvine, silently wishing them good fortune as well, before leaving the room.
"Ok team! What's the plan?" Selphie said, perhaps a little too cheerfully.
"Esthar," Squall replied quickly, gathering his clothes and dressing. "The only person that could possibly know how to contain this situation is Odine. The sooner we get to him the better."
"Sounds like a plan," Irvine agreed eagerly.
"Where are Zell and Quistis?" Squall asked, beginning to look around.
Selphie was quick to respond. "Zell's in the next room, but I'm not sure where Quistis went off to…"
~~~~
Quistis was seated in the cafeteria, nursing her cup of hazelnut coffee and trying not to let Seifer's tardiness irk her. They were to meet for breakfast at 8:30. She had looked forward to it all evening. She hoped that perhaps he felt the same.
But where was he?
She remained for another half an hour before she started to wonder if he had forgotten. But it wasn't like him to forget. He had more class than that.
Once she was certain that he wasn't going to show, she decided she'd head for the "secret area" at the training center. She always went there to center herself. Feel the coolness of the outdoors while being away from the rest of the student body at the same time. And the view was exquisite. She needed time to reflect, allow herself to reclaim her tenuous grip on reality. Relax.
The grats were out in full force, but she wasn't in the mood for battle. A few stocked Sleeps easily disposed of their threat.
Suddenly from around the corner she heard the savage roar of a T-Rexuar. "So much for relaxing," Quistis grumbled to herself, gripping the handle of her whip. She stalked out from behind a downed tree, poised for a furious battle…
And her heart caught in her throat.
It wasn't so much that the beast was bearing down on another human being… Such an instance was quite common in Balamb Garden's training center, and every student had escaped a T-Rexuar encounter alive. And it wasn't even so much that this person's GF Orb was lying unjunctioned and cold on the ground beside him.
What truly disturbed her was that his arms were open wide, inviting the beast to finish him off.
"Seifer, no!" she tried to scream, but no sound emerged from her lips. He seemed completely vulnerable there, standing beneath the monster's snapping jaws and sharp claws… They could easily rend him asunder without his GF's protection…..
Seifer was now aware of her presence. Their eyes met. He allowed himself a brief smile… Kissed his fingertips and pointed toward Quistis.
And then the T-Rexuar attacked him.