Balamb Garden's Yuletide Vacation
Chapter Twenty
Wednesday, December the Twentieth
It was early in the morning; far earlier then classes would begin for the day. Zell was walking beside Quistis toward the first floor elevators. She had asked him to accompany her in order to help hack into 'The Chicks of Balamb' web site. When initially questioned, Zell had assured her that if the site were somewhere on the Garden network he could locate it and delete it, no matter what safeguards that might be built into it. Quistis was positive that Seifer was behind it, for no other reason then only he would have access to the photographs, etc. that would be needed for the web site. The instructor remembered the case of the missing computer that had never been solved and it was inconceivable that Seifer would also have a computer connection somewhere outside of the Garden, when it was obvious that he had access to one in the Garden.
As they walked along, Quistis glanced at Zell from the corner of her eye and she was highly upset at what she saw. Zell's clothes were wrinkled, his eyes were blood-shot as if he hadn't acquired any sleep, and his entire demeanor seemed to denote panic.
"Zell, are you okay?" the concerned young woman asked.
"Ok?!" he echoed in a shrill voice very unlike his normal one. "Why wouldn't I be ok?"
Before Quistis could respond, Zell continued. "As a matter of fact, I'm not ok. I'm very, very much not ok and it's doubtful I'm ever going to be ok again."
"What is it, Zell?" the instructor inquired now greatly concerned over her cohort's emotional and mental health. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Nobody can help me," he replied desolately. "I'm beyond help."
With that said, they stepped into the elevators and waited for the doors to close. Zell turned to the instructor and asked, "Where are we going to do this at?"
As they rode up the second floor, Quistis explained to the young blond man that she had already made prior arrangements with Xu to use the computer in her office. Next to Cid's, Xu had the most powerful computer in the Garden. Although if Seifer had contact to the one Quistis thought he did, he would have a computer that was even more powerful than the Headmaster's.
Xu's office was located at the end of corridor A. It had always been felt that it was a good idea for discipline and everything else for that matter associated with the students that her office be closely located with the classrooms. Hurrying down the corridor, upon their reaching Xu's office door, Quistis punched in the appropriate numbers into the code box and then opened the door.
The two SeeDs crossed the office to the large computer. Quistis pressed the necessary buttons to boot it and the computer went through its' usual complement of grindings and other such machinations until the computer screen at last flickered on with its' Welcome to Garden logo. The computer still needed to be further accessed if anything other than the word processing program were to be used.
Quistis bent over the keyboard and signed in as Xu, codeword: anugal. She then clicked with the 'hand' in the appropriate place to enter the Garden network directory. Once the instructor completed that task she moved from in front of the computer screen and allowed Zell to sit in front of it. He stretched out his arms in preparation and then intertwining his fingers he pushed his hands inside out cracking all the knuckles on his fingers.
Quistis winced. She had always hated the sound of that. "Now, let's see here," Zell half mumbled to himself.
A few minutes later, the normally excitable SeeD had discovered nothing pertaining to 'The Chicks of Balamb' web site, although it could be said that he had ruled out a number of possibilities. He had first used 'find' and had come up with zilch. Zell next did a very slow, methodical search of the entire directory and couldn't find a thing related to what he was searching for. The young man next searched some of the remaining places it could possibly be tucked away into and discovered bupkis.
Zell next took a look at some of the email code that had been printed out as hard copy to see if he could discover what the IP of the web site was. If he could find out what the IP was he would know if the web site was originating from one of the Garden computers. Again he could discover nothing. The only other thing the blond SeeD knew to do was to attempt to temporarily disengage the Garden's computer firewall in an effort to observe if the web site was somehow cleverly hidden behind the firewall therefore making it undetectable by the computer itself. Even though this would theoretically make the Garden's computers vulnerable to being hacked by outside sources, he was hoping to only have the firewall down for a short period of time. No matter what he attempted, Zell could not convince the firewall to drop its guard.
Feeling highly frustrated at this point, Zell smashed his fist down on the keyboard and the firewall dropped! There lay the scourge of young women everywhere, but particularly to those residing in the Garden – 'The Chicks of Balamb' web site.
"Well, the 'fighting machine' strikes again," Quistis joked making a reference to an earlier time. The young woman's attempt to lighten the situation fell flat as Zell totally ignored her, but instead he instantly deleted the web site completely. He didn't want to take the chance of looking at it and possibly seeing Nicole involved in it somewhere. Zell was frightened in his present mood if he had observed her on the site in her underwear or even worse, sans clothing, he might well have ended up murdering the perpetrator.
Of course the proprietors of the web site could have had it backed up in part or totally on floppy discs, but there was nothing Zell could do about that anyway. He patched the hole in the firewall that allowed the web site to be hidden away from the rest of the directory in the first place and replaced the firewall. There was nothing to prevent the web site from being uploaded again, but at least this time it couldn't be stashed somewhere unknown to everyone else.
Zell glanced up into Quistis' kind expression. "Well, that's it," he explained. "It's gone."
"Thank you so much," she expressed. "And I really appreciate you keeping this confidential until we can discover who is responsible for this. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known what to do. I was even considering attempting to send a virus in an email to the web site, but I was frightened as to what it might do to our entire network if it was connected with us."
"Yeah, I don't think Cid would have been okay with that." Zell offered a small smile. Quistis again wondered what could be making her friend so miserable.
Down on the MD level, Seifer swore and punched his fist one time on the desk beside the keyboard. The former knight realized he had just lost a substantial source of revenue. Oh well, he thought. It was nice while it lasted.
Seifer knew there was only one person wise enough to know that he probably was the person behind 'The Chicks of Balamb' web site and to look for it somewhere in the Garden's own computer directory. It's 'cause those jerks disobeyed the site rules and wrote directly to my pigeons. And just my luck – some of those written to had to be in her class. Well, I still have a lot of sets of bra and panties with the authenticating photos to go with them. I'll just wait 'til the heat dies down and then I'll either reload the web site on Yippie.com or I could try and sell it online sometime. I might be able to get Nida to sell it under the counter at the Flea Market. I'm sure he'd need the bread by then. Come to think of it, where has he been? You'd think he'd be the first one down here with his hand out after being expelled the way he was. Well, I guess I'll go find Raij and see how he's doing on that assignment I gave him.
Quistis very carefully shut down the computer and left the office exactly as they had found it. She didn't want Xu to think she had gone through any personnel files or anything else for that matter. Besides she had already been through all the files, hers included, many times. The blonde woman had even managed to give herself a raise once in the time of financial emergency. It turned out that the fiscal department actually had no physical contact with the Garden, but was an accounting firm in Shumi Village so they never knew the difference. Quistis supposed that it was something that Norg had originally set up and then after he 'retired' Cid just never got around to changing it.
The two SeeDs left the office making certain the door was locked and silently made their way down the corridor which was beginning to fill with a few early bird students when they both were surprised to observe Selphie racing toward them, looking as scattered as ever.
"There you all are!" she exclaimed. "I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Is something wrong?" asked Quistis. She automatically noticed but made no conscious register that Zell had continued walking down the hall quietly in an attempt to ignore Selphie completely.
"Hang on, Zell!" Selphie clutched Zell by the upper arm. "I need to speak with you too." Turning to Quistis, the exuberant young woman inquired, "What are you doing at lunch time? Can you help me with the caroling party? They're so young and they're having such a difficult time learning the songs."
"Of course I will," the blonde beauty replied.
"Thanks so much," Selphie gushed. "Please meet me in the Quad as soon as you can after your classes are over for the morning." Returning her attention to Zell, the green-eyed woman questioned, "So you made the deposit to the caterers and you still have the money for the final payment, right?"
Quistis was quite distressed to observe that Zell had turned as pale as alabaster at Selphie's mention of the money. "T-T-The money," Zell stammered, "Of course, I still have the money. Now quit bugging me about the money," he angrily said.
"Ok, ok," Selphie responded, "but you can't blame me for being overly concerned. That is a lot of money, it would pay a few years of my salary, I'll tell you."
"All right Selphie, you've made your point," the male SeeD emphasized. "I have to run, I'll catch you all later."
As Zell did literally run down the corridor, Selphie turned to Quistis and asked, "Did it seem to you that he was acting strangely?"
The blonde instructor nodded silently while watching concernedly the back of her retreating friend. Oh Hyne, Zell, what have you done now?
~*~
As soon as Quistis entered the Quad area, she immediately understood what Selphie had meant. Even though the caroling party certainly was precious appearing being made up of both male and female junior classmen, ages ranging from five to ten years of age they seemed to be experiencing an absolutely horrible time attempting to remember the lines of the song they were rehearsing.
Quistis certainly recognized the tune as being the ultra traditional Thirteen Days of Solstice, although she would have been hard pressed to identify where the lyrics had come from.
The children sang, "On the first day of Solstice my true love sent to me a Thrustaevis in a pear tree. On the second day of Solstice my true love sent to me two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree. On the third day of Solstice my true love sent to me three Grendels snoring…"
"No, no!" Selphie exclaimed. "It's not three Grendels snoring, it's three behemoths roaring. Now we've already been over this, now let's concentrate or we're going to be here all day until you get it right."
Quistis realized that Selphie was becoming beside herself with frustration and decided she'd better get over there and calm things down. Two Selphies would just be one too many, she thought with a giggle. A sudden burst of laughter from another area of the Quad caught the blonde instructor's attention and she turned her head to see where it had originated.
Quistis was quite startled to observe Irvine and Rinoa sitting closely beside each other on a stone bench laughing and talking with the familiarity of a couple who had gone together for years. Irvine asked, "What say we adjourn to a more private place?"
"Yes," Rinoa agreed. "I think that's a fabulous idea, why don't we?" And then she giggled as though she were a schoolgirl with her first crush.
The two of them strolled arm in arm from the Quad area. When Quistis returned her attention to Selphie she was almost repelled by the look of total malevolence on her friend's face. Shiva! If looks could kill, that'd be one dead sorceress.
"Miz Selphie," an awesomely cute little towheaded boy named Donald, who knew his cuteness was his stock in trade, asked, "Why are these words so stwange? These aren't the really words are they?"
"That's an excellent question, Donald," Selphie answered in an extremely loud shrill voice. "These lyrics are so stwange – I mean strange, because Miss Rinoa wrote them special for you kids to sing."
Quistis noticed that Selphie's taunting was all in vain as Irvine and Rinoa had already passed out of immediate earshot. She hurried over to her friend before she engaged in even more outrageous behavior.
"Selphie, I'm here to help," the blonde instructor presented herself.
"Oh, hi Quistis," Selphie replied distractedly while attempting to peer over her friend's shoulder as though she could still espy what her former boyfriend and former friend were now doing.
"So what do you want me to do?" asked Quistis. When Selphie continued to not answer but to stare forlornly past her, the young woman suddenly snapped her middle finger and thumb in front of her friend's face. "Earth to Selphie, come in, Selphie."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Quistis. I just have a lot on my mind, now what were you saying?"
"What do you want me to do?" she repeated again patiently.
"Woo-hoo!" Selphie screamed. "There's Sis!"
Quistis turned her head in the direction her friend appeared to be aiming her screaming and observed Ellone walking into the Quad area. The three women were quickly reunited and after a brief but warm greeting. Quistis took over directing the caroling party while Selphie caught Ellone up on what had been happening over the last couple of weeks.
The children sang, "On the first day of Solstice my true love sent to me a Thrustaevis in a pear tree. On the second day of Solstice my true love sent to me two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree. On the third day of Solstice my true love sent to me three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree."
Ellone noticed right off that Selphie was looking a little stranger than usual, even for Selphie. "What's the source of your perturbation?"
"Huh?" the young woman responded.
"What's bothering you? Are things worse here?" Ellone inquired in a more succinct manner.
The caroling party continued singing, "On the fourth day of Solstice my true love sent to me four laughing imps, three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree."
"On the fifth day of Solstice my true love sent to me five Odine bangles, four laughing imps, three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree."
"No, well, yes, of course things are worse here," the green-eyed woman admitted, "but that's not what bothering me. It's what you're wearing."
"What I'm wearing?" Elle said, while glancing down at her Lone Chocobo T-shirt and blue jeans. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing? Oh, I get it. You think I dress up all the time, didn't you?"
"As a matter of fact, I did. I've never seen you not wearing a tasteful dress."
Ellone laughed. "Another myth shattered!"
The children sang, "On the sixth day of Solstice my true love sent to me six Grendels snoring, five Odine bangles, four laughing imps, three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree.
On the seventh day of Solstice my true love sent to me seven Malboros belching, six Grendels snoring, five Odine bangles, four laughing imps, three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree."
"As a matter of fact," the newly arrived visitor continued, "I was housecleaning just before I left and I didn't even take the time to take a shower, much less throw on a fancy outfit."
Selphie appeared completely mystified. "You were housecleaning the Presidential Palace? Don't they have maids for that?"
The brunette woman laughed again. "I don't live in the Palace. I have my own apartment. In fact, Uncle Laguna has his own place too, truth be known. It's only the public that thinks he still resides in the Palace."
The shrill, off key singing continued. "On the eighth day of Solstice my true love sent to me eight SeeDs a-snacking, seven Malboros belching, six Grendels snoring, five Odine bangles, four laughing imps, three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree.
On the ninth day of Solstice my true love sent to me nine Pupurun returning, eight SeeDs a-snacking, seven Malboros belching, six Grendels snoring, five Odine bangles, four laughing imps, three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree.
"Speaking of Uncle Laguna, he can't make it due to needing to be in attendance at some crucial state business."
"OH SUPER-DUPER-MEGA-BUMMER!" Selphie cried out. "This will wreck everything. Things are so bad with Squall he needed both of you here!"
And still the children sang on. "On the tenth day of Solstice my true love sent to me ten bombs a-bursting, nine Pupurun returning, eight SeeDs a-snacking, seven Malboros belching, six Grendels snoring, five Odine bangles, four laughing imps, three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree.
On the eleventh day of Solstice my true love sent to me eleven Trepies whining, ten bombs a-bursting, nine Pupurun returning, eight SeeDs a-snacking, seven Malboros belching, six Grendels snoring, five Odine bangles, four laughing imps, three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree."
"I know that's right," Elle agreed. "I've already spoken to Squall and he was incredibly rude. He told me in no uncertain terms if I were here to have anything to do with attempting to cheer him up that I should go right back home to Esthar."
"What did you say?" Selphie wondered.
"I told him Happy Solstice!"
Selphie cackled. "You go girl!"
The caroling party had the last word. "On the twelfth day of Solstice my true love sent to me twelve Chocobos preening, eleven Trepies whining, ten bombs a-bursting, nine Pupurun returning, eight SeeDs a-snacking, seven Malboros belching, six Grendels snoring, five Odine bangles, four laughing imps, three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree.
On the thirteenth day of Solstice my true love sent to me thirteen knights a-lying, twelve Chocobos preening, eleven Trepies whining, ten bombs a-bursting, nine Pupurun returning, eight SeeDs a-snacking, seven Malboros belching, six Grendels snoring, five Odine bangles, four laughing imps, three behemoths roaring, two Geezards and a Thrustaevis in a pear tree."
"Ok children," Quistis praised, "that was much better, but we need to do it again. Take it from the top, Donald!"
~*~
Quistis dismissed her last class for the day, which was a graduate level symposium entitled 'An Exploration into the Possible Ethical Considerations of Maintaining a Physical Relationship With a Guardian Force.' She usually enjoyed leading the class because the graduate level students were far smarter than her ordinary classes and would often give her an intellectual run for her money. Unfortunately sometimes the extra mental and/or psychological stimulation would leave Quistis feeling uncomfortably hyper for some reason she had been unable to fathom.
The young instructor was supposed to meet Matt in the coffee shop directly after class, but Quistis didn't feel as though she wanted to just go somewhere and sit. She realized she wanted to do something! She just was uncertain as to what that might be, and she had no desire to join the carolers who were gathering in the main atrium. The entire situation became clearer for her when she stepped out into the corridor after all the students had left for the day and espied Seifer at the end of the long hallway.
Quistis instinctively began to call out to him but then managed to stop herself because of the dangerous predicament it might have left him in if she had and someone else had heard her. The young man quickly disappeared into the wall.
Boy, that's slick, she thought while walking down the hallway to where Seifer had been but a second before. Glancing around to make certain that there weren't any upperclassman stragglers lurking about in the corridor, Quistis examined the wall closely where she had seen the former knight disappear. Suddenly she could see where the ever so minute crack ran up the wall indicating where the door was.
Quistis hesitated, wondering what she should do. Maybe Seifer didn't want her down there and it would cause him to become furious with her. The blonde woman had witnessed enough anger during this Solstice season; she really didn't want to experience any more right now.
But maybe he had waiting for me to come out so he could lead me down, she thought. After all I've never seen him in the hallways like that before. Throwing caution to the wind, Quistis pushed in on the wall hard and almost tumbled into the passageway. Managing to right herself without falling, she looked around and then decided to head down assuming Seifer had been heading back to the MD level.
A level further down Seifer had run into Raijin and Fujin who had been out on their respective assignments. Raijin was reporting as to what he had discovered.
"You were right, ya know," Raijin said. "I took one of Andrea's hairs and one of Rinoa's and paid to have them DNA scanned, ya know."
"And?" Seifer questioned arching his left eyebrow.
"Ninety-nine percent chance that they are closely related, ya know," was the answer.
"Hmm," Seifer expressed thoughtfully holding up his black-gloved right hand up to his face. "I wonder what I can do with this?"
"WHY?" Fujin asked.
The former knight glanced at her. "Problem?" he asked.
"HAPPY?"
Seifer straightened his arms out while answering, "Me? Of course, why wouldn't I be? We have a very comfortable home for as long as we want it, we're safe, and we've got each other. What else is there?"
Fujin arched an eyebrow as an answer. When she didn't respond otherwise, their leader suddenly explained, "I'm going back up and look around. Gotta keep moving, people. You know that."
Quistis realized Seifer was returning to the floor where she was currently standing. As she waited for his arrival, she thought about his answer to Fujin's question and how every word had sounded to her as being laced in an elemental sadness.
Seifer made it up to the floor where Quistis waited in such a distracted hurry he collided with her. The instructor stumbled backward and almost fell but Seifer caught her.
"Quistis!" exclaimed Seifer, "What are you doing here?"
"I was… bored. I thought you might like some company." Seifer was still holding her and she made no move to get away.
Seifer smiled. "I'd think you'd be caroling with all the others." The strains of song from somewhere within Garden filtered down through the floors and Seifer's hackles stood on end.
Quistis shrugged. "Well, I can only stomach so much of that," she explained, 'It's far to joyful and… and…"
"Triumphant," Seifer finished for her. They both laughed.
The blonde pair looked at each other in the dim light of the tunnel. Seifer still had his arms around his former instructor. Quistis moved closer, gazing up at him, her blue eyes sparkling. Without warning she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him softly.
"What about Matt?" Seifer asked.
Quistis dropped her hands and looked away. "It's right before solstice…"
The blond man let go of Quistis as if she burned him. "Yeah, that would be cruel, wouldn't it?" he asked rhetorically.
"Well, yeah, and-" she stopped suddenly.
"And…?"
Quistis sighed deeply. "I could get fired if anyone found out that I… that is to say, we…"
"Oh I get it," grumbled Seifer, "you're embarrassed to let anyone know about us."
"It's not that!"
"Right, whatever…" Seifer slunk away into the darkness.
"Where are you going?" she asked, following.
"I'm going to think," he told her, picking up his pace. "Just leave me alone." And he disappeared into the gloom.
.