~ Chapter Two ~
Cid Kramer, Headmaster of Balamb Garden, sipped carefully at the steaming cup of earl-grey tea he held in his right hand, before using the left to brush unconsciously at the faded red cardigan that had become something of a trademark for him over the last ten years.
He stood, quietly observing the scenery from his office window. It was a view he knew well, and had always warmed his heart.
For the last three months, the Garden had been moored at Fisherman's Horizon, undergoing repairs after its momentous battle with Galbadia Garden.
Initially, Cid had enjoyed the change of scenery: to look out over the azure-blue of the ocean; at the windmills seemingly dotted in every derelict location; and the solar dish that dominated FH's landscape; all of this he had the pleasure of taking in as he drank his morning cup of tea.
But it never felt like home, and after a while he grew tired of the never-ending waves that broke against the lines of sea-barriers, and the many flocks of seagulls that rode the air currents about the Garden.
So in the end, he was probably the happiest of all the Garden's residents when he received the news that repairs were finally complete. The students made their farewells to the gentle folk of FH and began the return journey to Garden's original home of Balamb.
Although the Garden was now anchored above its original base, enabling students to easily reach the surface and travel to the nearby town of Balamb, it had been quickly decided not to convert the Garden back into a stationary structure.
Not just because nobody had a clue how to reverse the procedure that had made the Garden mobile and saved it from a hail of Galbadian missiles, but its new-found mobility gave the Garden a significant strategic advantage over any enemies.
Now Cid could once again look over the endless Alcauld Plains again that stretched evergreen for miles until they met the snow-capped, arching spine of volcanic rock that were the Rinaul Mountains, where two of Balamb Garden's most legendary students had once duelled.
But the view wasn't the only thing now that brought warmth into his heart. The return to him of his dear wife Edea, no longer possessed by the malevolent will of the Sorceress Ultimecia made him realise that since she had disappeared from his life, his life had been empty.
It had been that weakness that had let those loyal to the greed-filled Garden Master NORG almost take control of the Garden from under his very nose. But now, with Edea by his side once more, an incident like that would never occur again. As long as he had Edea, Cid would never be weak again.
A hand knocked lightly upon the doors to his office, disturbing Cid from his thoughts.
"Ah, Quistis, please come in," smiling as he recognised the young woman who stood in the doorway.
"Good morning, headmaster," the SeeD greeted, walking up to Cid's desk. "I was told that you needed to see me urgently."
"Yes, I did," Cid confirmed. "I requested Zell's presence as well, but he seems to be running a little late."
At just that moment, a young, spiky-haired man burst through the office doors, skidding to a halt beside Quistis, in front of Cid's desk. Struggling for air, he breathed staggeringly:
"Sorry… I was late… headmaster… slept in."
"Again?" Cid questioned, an eyebrow rising from his bespectacled eyes.
"Won't happen… again… promise," Zell apologised in-between gulps of air.
"I'll hold you to that," Cid responded with a wry grin. "At least you're here now. Which is a good thing indeed."
"Why," Quistis enquired. "What's happened?"
"Earlier this morning, I was handed this report from Xu," Cid began, waving a single sheet of paper in front of the two SeeDs. "It's a rather brief radio transmission we intercepted from the Osarchan military channel."
"Aren't Squall, Irvine and Selphie doin' a job for them?" Zell asked.
"Indeed they were," Cid confirmed.
"'Were'?" Quistis repeated. "Something hasn't… 'happened' to them?"
"I honestly don't know; the message doesn't make things very clear."
"What does it say?" Quistis requested.
"It's an eyewitness account by an Osarchan spy of an incident that took place last night on Osarch Island," Cid described. "It tells of a large creature in the night sky that attacked and destroyed the Galbadian forces that were camped there. Apparently the creature breathed flame, burning the entire camp to the ground and leaving no one alive."
"Yeah, but what does this have to do with Squall, Irvine and Selphie though?" Zell asked impatiently.
"Their mission," Cid explained, "was to assassinate General Varagon - you may remember his name from some of your studies?"
Quistis and Zell both nodded in agreement.
"Well," Cid continued, "Varagon was in command of the Galbadian forces on Osarch, and was at the encampment that night."
"So you think that this 'creature' is something to do with Squall, Irvine and Selphie?" Zell asked doubtfully.
"It's one of the possibilities I'm considering," Cid admitted. "And if this destruction was the responsibility of Squall and his team, something must have gone seriously wrong. Their orders were to kill Varagon alone, and as stealthily as possible."
"I suppose initially it could sound like an attack by a Guardian Force," Quistis considered. "But the only fire-elemental GF available to any of the team is Ifrit, who's under Irvine's possession. But Ifrit can neither fly, nor breathe flame."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"I don't know about you guys, but it sounded more like a dragon to me," Zell suggested. "But I've read everything there is to know about dragons, and their isn't a dragon alive that could take out an entire army division. Only in myths and legends."
"Which leaves only one possibility," Cid concluded. "That this was a deliberate action by some unknown party. I'll have Xu begin an investigation immediately."
"But what about Squall and the others, though? Are they okay?"
Quistis' and Zell's faces were both ones of concern.
"We've had no word from the Ragnarok, since Selphie landed her in the hills of Osarch Island last night. The best we can hope is that they are on their way home and that they're running under radio silence."
Cid noticed that the news had done nothing to alleviate the tension on the two SeeDs faces.
"I'm sorry, but I thought you should know."
"Thank you, headmaster," Quistis replied dejectedly.
Zell though, couldn't contain his anger, slamming his gloved fist into the polished mahogany wood of the table, scattering the mountain of papers strewn across its surface.
"Sorry," he apologised sombrely.
Cid nodded in acceptance, before finishing: "You're dismissed."
* * * * *
In the central lift of Balamb Garden, Zell's anger boiled-over again.
"Dammit!" he growled, his fists clenched tightly. "We should've been out there with them!"
"It wasn't our decision to make," Quistis replied, trying to keep her hot-tempered friend calm.
"The hell it wasn't!" Zell rebutted. "All Squall had to do was ask Cid, and he would have let us."
"I know, Zell. But Squall knew this would be a dangerous mission. He only chose the people that he absolutely needed. He didn't take us because he wanted us to be safe. Because we're his friends."
"I… I guess," Zell conceded, his neck drooping in resignation. "I just hope that they're all okay."
"I'm sure they are," Quistis agreed. "But I doubt that any mission is a hundred-percent safe with Irvine around."
Zell immediately cheered up, letting out a slight snigger, a trigger that eventually had both him and Quistis in hysterics.
"Seriously though," Quistis added, trying not to laugh any more. "They'll be fine, they're the best that Garden has to offer, after all"
"Hey!" Zell exclaimed.
"Apart from us, of course," Quistis finished, with a smile.
They were silent for a while, watching the students below walk by, as the lift passed by the second floor. The lift was halfway to the ground floor, when a massive jolt brought it shuddering to a stop.
"What the hell was that?!" Zell shouted in surprise.
"I'm not sure," Quistis responded, gripping the handrails tightly. "But I don't think we're the only ones to be affected."
Looking out of the observation windows, Zell could see what Quistis meant. Dozens of students lay on the ground below, knocked down by the sudden tremor, while others held on to the sidewalls for balance.
Another jolt hit, shaking the lift even more violently violently, but ironically putting it back into motion. The emergency light inside the lift blinked on, and began to flash red, and the two SeeDs could here the alarms outside come to life.
"Sounds like an enemy alert," Quistis surmised.
"We're under attack?" Zell responded incredulously. "From who?"
"I've no idea, but we'll soon find out."
The lift finally reached the ground with a thud, as a third tremor reverberated through the cabin. The lift doors now apparently unresponsive, Zell was forced to pry them open with his hands, forcing them fully open.
Wasting no time, Quistis bolted out past Zell, and found the nearest student to them.
"3rd year student Johnson!" she shouted over to a young man running in from the front gate. "Care to tell me what's going on?"
The student didn't even care to stop, merely pointed back the way he'd came as he shouted:
"G-go look for yourself!" Before disappearing in the direction of the dorms.
"Geez, this must be really bad," Zell considered, as he ran up to Quistis.
"Guess we'd better go see for ourselves," Quistis suggested. "Come on!"
Quistis and Zell were forced to run through a tidal wave of students trying to squeeze in through the cramped reception area. Zell forced his way through the crowd, while Quistis kept close behind, enlisting the help of every graduate SeeD she could find along the way.
Passing through the front gate into the open-air and sunlight, Quistis and Zell, with a dozen other SeeDs in tow, were awe-struck by what they saw.
Flying high in the air above Balamb Garden was an enormous black dragon, spitting balls of flame that seemed to broil with energy, towards the walls of the Garden.
"It's the same dragon from Cid's report, isn't it?" Quistis shouted over the noise of the explosions that rocked the Garden, their shockwaves almost bringing Quistis to the ground.
Not getting a response, Quistis looked over at Zell, and was met with a face white with terror.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Y-y'know how I said that the only creature that could take out all those Galbadians only existed in legends?" Zell began, not taking his eyes off of the terrible beast.
"What are you getting at?" Quistis asked hesitantly.
"That thing up there," Zell continued, pointing into the air. "That's Bahamut, King of the Dragons!"
"Bahamut?" Quistis questioned sceptically, looking up with Zell. "But that's just a-"
"Legend," Zell finished for her. "I know!"
Staring at the dragon, Quistis slowly began to agree with Zell.
The wingspan, the three-horned head, the jet-black scales, and the ferocity of his attacks, they all matched up with drawings and stories she'd seen and been told as a child. Stories that Matron would tell her and the fellow orphans before bed, which would give her nightmares as she slept.
This was no bedtime story though, but it was a real nightmare, and she and Zell were in the middle of it.
Bahamut, now identified, broke off his fireball attack, which seemed to have been concentrated upon one area of the Garden.
Using the small fore-claws on his wings he grabbed hold of the weakened Garden walls, folded his wings, and began tearing into the smooth metal walls with the claws on his feet.
"He's trying to get into the Garden!" Quistis realised. "We've got to stop him!"
"But how?" Zell asked in desperation.
Looking back at the assembled SeeDs, an idea came to Quistis:
"I know how."
Running over to the small group, she began to give orders.
"Okay SeeDs, we're going to stop that dragon getting into the Garden."
Unsurprisingly, Quistis' order was met with stunned looks on all the SeeDs faces.
"You all know ice-elemental magic, correct?"
The SeeDs nodded in agreement.
"Good. I want you to line-up in a two-row formation, and prepare to use Blizzard on that dragon on my command."
The SeeDs quickly lined up, half crouching on the ground, the other half standing behind them, all with their arms outstretched in the direction of Bahamut, ready to unleash their para-magic.
"I really wish Rinoa was here just now," Zell muttered to Quistis, standing beside their fellow SeeDs, their arms outstretched as well. "We'd could really use her and Shiva just now."
"I know," Quistis agreed. "But this'll have to do."
Seeing that everyone was ready, Quistis gave the order:
"Okay people - now!"
A barrage of ice shards materialised in the air, flying from the hands of the SeeDs, and streaking through the air, until they battered against the scaled hide of Bahamut.
The legendary dragon's claws immediately ceased from scraping into the Garden walls, his lithe neck slowly craning round, the eyes lighting up in fury as his demonic head was brought to bare upon Quistis, Zell, and the company of SeeDs.
"Uh, I think we got its attention," Zell suggested nervously.
"I think you're right," Quistis agreed, the same falter in her voice, and as Bahamut's wings unfurled she shouted at the SeeDs, "Everybody, run!"
The Seeds scrambled back towards the safety of the Garden's interior.
But Bahamut was closing in on them, screaming in their direction, flames dripping from his mouth like saliva.
The last one to run though the front gate, Quistis practically screamed at Pierre, who manned the reception area, "Bring down the shutters!"
Pierre obeyed without question, and the metal barricade came rolling down, sealing the front gate. Quistis, though, knew that wasn't enough, and without thinking, called out "Protect!" casting the barrier-magic on the shutters.
Zell, and the others took her queue, and within a few seconds another dozen Protect-spells were adding extra protection to the shutters.
And then Bahamut attacked, careering straight into the shutters. The Protect-spell came to life, a bubble of blue energy surrounding the shutters, deflecting Bahamut's massive body.
"They're holding," Quistis let out, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, but for how long?" Zell asked.
That was a good question.
Twelve overlapping Protects could last a long time against a regular monster, but Bahamut was no regular monster, and it became clear to Quistis that their luck would soon run out, the shutters already beginning to buckle as Bahamut attacked again, driving his massive shoulders straight into the magic barrier.
"This is it," Quistis shuddered, watching Bahamut climb into the sky in preparation for one last dive.
"Don't be afraid," Zell reassured, cupping Quistis' hand in his.
Quistis closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come.
But it didn't.
She felt Zell release his grip, which had been unexpected but comforting. Opening her eyes, she saw him run forward, trying to get a clearer view through the gaps in shutter gratings.
"What happened?" she asked, running up to join Zell.
"He broke off his attack," Zell explained. "He was in the middle of his dive, when he suddenly climbed back up. I can't see him at all, now."
Before Quistis had a chance to look for herself, the Garden's intercom suddenly buzzed into life above the din of the alarm.
"Could Quistis and Zell please come to the command deck immediately. Repeat, could…" It was Cid's voice.
Without speaking, the two SeeDs immediately headed for the third floor.
* * * * *
Emerging onto the command deck, the small lift locking quietly into place, Quistis immediately asked:
"What is it?"
"Look out there," Xu, Quistis' friend and superior suggested, who was operating the left side of the command console that controlled the Garden.
Quistis and Zell ran over to the guardrails along the edge of the deck, the highest level of the Garden.
They could see Bahamut easily now, wheeling and spinning in the air, letting off fireballs as quickly as he could breathe them.
But he was no longer firing at the Garden, there was a new target for him now, a red dragon that was flying straight towards it, spitting its own green venom at it.
But Quistis and Zell soon realised that it was no dragon.
"The Ragnarok!" they exclaimed in unison.
"They got here not a moment too soon," Cid pointed-out, lifting his head briefly from the central console he stood at.
"Can we talk to them?" Quistis asked anxiously.
"I don't know," Nida, in charge of the right-hand console, replied. "I'll try and open a channel." Nida concentrated at his panel for several seconds, before finally nodding the all clear.
Running up to the console, Quistis jammed her finger down on the transmit button, calling out:
"You're alive!"
"Damn right we are!" Selphie's voice confirmed. "Thought y'could use a hand."
"It's great to hear you!" Zell greeted
"Hey, Zell!" Selphie replied cheerfully. "We'll take care of this jerk first, and we'll meet you down at the landing pad, okay?"
"Sure thing," Quistis agreed. "Over and out."
Now, all anyone could do was watch on in silence, as Bahamut and the Ragnarok duelled.
For a time it seemed that Bahamut would have the upper hand: Ragnarok was fast, but she couldn't manoeuvre as swiftly as Bahamut, despite Selphie's flawless piloting skills.
Yet eventually, Ragnarok began to win, a few lucky shots courtesy of Squall and Irvine's gunning was beginning to slow the dragon down, leaving him open to more attacks.
Three huge volleys from Ragnarok's main cannon was the last straw, sending Bahamut careering through the air.
It almost looked as if he would plummet to the ground, but he regained consciousness at the last moment, hovering meters from the hard concrete of the recreation grounds.
Knowing he was defeated, Bahamut snarled angrily at the Ragnarok, before spinning up into the air and disappearing in a stream of light.
The battle won, the Ragnarok slowed to a stop, hovering over an area just outside the front gate, the landing pad that was the newest addition to the Garden, before landing.
"I believe you two will want to see your friends now?" Cid asked rhetorically. "Don't worry, go on ahead, I'll be right behind you."
Cid hadn't even finished his sentence, as Quistis and Zell disappeared from view as the lift descended.
* * * * *
Quistis and Zell bounded up to Squall, Irvine and Selphie, who had only just walked down entrance ramp to the Ragnarok, greeting them warmly.
"Hey guys! It's great to see you!" Zell welcomed joyously.
"When we heard about what had happened on Osarch Island, we feared the worse," Quistis explained.
"It looks like you were in a lot more danger than us, though," Squall began. "That dragon, he only attacked the Galbadians, I don't think he even knew of our presence. Here though - it looked like he was out to destroy Garden from the looks of it.
Squall's head angled up, examining with dismay the scars that now covered the outer walls of the Garden.
"You got here in the nick of time," Quistis explained. "Bahamut was only seconds from breaking through into the interior."
"'Bahamut'?" Squall repeated in surprise.
"Yeah," Zell confirmed. "I identified it."
"Are y'sure?" Selphie asked. "Isn't Bahamut meant be a, y'know, some sort of fairy tale?"
"Hey! Bahamut was a legend, not a fairytale," Zell defended. "And he was a pretty unique kind of dragon. It was him."
"So, what do we do now then?" Irvine wondered. "Balamb Garden's just been attacked by a fairytale-"
"Legend," Zell corrected.
"Fairytale, legend - whatever," Irvine ignored. "How are we meant to find it?"
"How do we do indeed?" Cid's voice asked.
"Headmaster!" Squall exclaimed, not noticing his arrival, and quickly saluting.
"At ease, Squall."
"What are your orders?" Squall enquired.
"Well, I seem to know about as much as you do," Cid admitted. "What do you think we should do?"
Squall was quiet for several seconds, obviously deep in thought, a trait he was infamous for.
"Squall, don't get buried in your thoughts," Quistis advised. "Tell us what you're thinking."
"Sorry," Squall apologised. "It's just - this may be stupid - but…"
"Squall?!" everyone shouted.
"Sorry, but… I've just got this gut instinct that we should head for Timber."
"Timber?" Irvine questioned. "You think Rinoa has a connection to all of this?"
"Nothing in particular, just that out of our group, she's the only one not to encounter
'Bahamut', if that's what this dragon really is."
"Seems like as good a place to start as any," Cid concurred. "I'll make sure Xu continues her investigation, hopefully she'll have something when you return."
Looking up to the group of friends, he concluded:
"SeeD, I think you know your orders, good luck."
Less than a minute later, Cid had just reached the battered entrance gates as the spaceship Ragnarok rose back into the air.
Her engines roaring into life, she flew off into the horizon, propelling her and her crew onwards towards the city of Timber.
Cid Kramer, Headmaster of Balamb Garden, sipped carefully at the steaming cup of earl-grey tea he held in his right hand, before using the left to brush unconsciously at the faded red cardigan that had become something of a trademark for him over the last ten years.
He stood, quietly observing the scenery from his office window. It was a view he knew well, and had always warmed his heart.
For the last three months, the Garden had been moored at Fisherman's Horizon, undergoing repairs after its momentous battle with Galbadia Garden.
Initially, Cid had enjoyed the change of scenery: to look out over the azure-blue of the ocean; at the windmills seemingly dotted in every derelict location; and the solar dish that dominated FH's landscape; all of this he had the pleasure of taking in as he drank his morning cup of tea.
But it never felt like home, and after a while he grew tired of the never-ending waves that broke against the lines of sea-barriers, and the many flocks of seagulls that rode the air currents about the Garden.
So in the end, he was probably the happiest of all the Garden's residents when he received the news that repairs were finally complete. The students made their farewells to the gentle folk of FH and began the return journey to Garden's original home of Balamb.
Although the Garden was now anchored above its original base, enabling students to easily reach the surface and travel to the nearby town of Balamb, it had been quickly decided not to convert the Garden back into a stationary structure.
Not just because nobody had a clue how to reverse the procedure that had made the Garden mobile and saved it from a hail of Galbadian missiles, but its new-found mobility gave the Garden a significant strategic advantage over any enemies.
Now Cid could once again look over the endless Alcauld Plains again that stretched evergreen for miles until they met the snow-capped, arching spine of volcanic rock that were the Rinaul Mountains, where two of Balamb Garden's most legendary students had once duelled.
But the view wasn't the only thing now that brought warmth into his heart. The return to him of his dear wife Edea, no longer possessed by the malevolent will of the Sorceress Ultimecia made him realise that since she had disappeared from his life, his life had been empty.
It had been that weakness that had let those loyal to the greed-filled Garden Master NORG almost take control of the Garden from under his very nose. But now, with Edea by his side once more, an incident like that would never occur again. As long as he had Edea, Cid would never be weak again.
A hand knocked lightly upon the doors to his office, disturbing Cid from his thoughts.
"Ah, Quistis, please come in," smiling as he recognised the young woman who stood in the doorway.
"Good morning, headmaster," the SeeD greeted, walking up to Cid's desk. "I was told that you needed to see me urgently."
"Yes, I did," Cid confirmed. "I requested Zell's presence as well, but he seems to be running a little late."
At just that moment, a young, spiky-haired man burst through the office doors, skidding to a halt beside Quistis, in front of Cid's desk. Struggling for air, he breathed staggeringly:
"Sorry… I was late… headmaster… slept in."
"Again?" Cid questioned, an eyebrow rising from his bespectacled eyes.
"Won't happen… again… promise," Zell apologised in-between gulps of air.
"I'll hold you to that," Cid responded with a wry grin. "At least you're here now. Which is a good thing indeed."
"Why," Quistis enquired. "What's happened?"
"Earlier this morning, I was handed this report from Xu," Cid began, waving a single sheet of paper in front of the two SeeDs. "It's a rather brief radio transmission we intercepted from the Osarchan military channel."
"Aren't Squall, Irvine and Selphie doin' a job for them?" Zell asked.
"Indeed they were," Cid confirmed.
"'Were'?" Quistis repeated. "Something hasn't… 'happened' to them?"
"I honestly don't know; the message doesn't make things very clear."
"What does it say?" Quistis requested.
"It's an eyewitness account by an Osarchan spy of an incident that took place last night on Osarch Island," Cid described. "It tells of a large creature in the night sky that attacked and destroyed the Galbadian forces that were camped there. Apparently the creature breathed flame, burning the entire camp to the ground and leaving no one alive."
"Yeah, but what does this have to do with Squall, Irvine and Selphie though?" Zell asked impatiently.
"Their mission," Cid explained, "was to assassinate General Varagon - you may remember his name from some of your studies?"
Quistis and Zell both nodded in agreement.
"Well," Cid continued, "Varagon was in command of the Galbadian forces on Osarch, and was at the encampment that night."
"So you think that this 'creature' is something to do with Squall, Irvine and Selphie?" Zell asked doubtfully.
"It's one of the possibilities I'm considering," Cid admitted. "And if this destruction was the responsibility of Squall and his team, something must have gone seriously wrong. Their orders were to kill Varagon alone, and as stealthily as possible."
"I suppose initially it could sound like an attack by a Guardian Force," Quistis considered. "But the only fire-elemental GF available to any of the team is Ifrit, who's under Irvine's possession. But Ifrit can neither fly, nor breathe flame."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"I don't know about you guys, but it sounded more like a dragon to me," Zell suggested. "But I've read everything there is to know about dragons, and their isn't a dragon alive that could take out an entire army division. Only in myths and legends."
"Which leaves only one possibility," Cid concluded. "That this was a deliberate action by some unknown party. I'll have Xu begin an investigation immediately."
"But what about Squall and the others, though? Are they okay?"
Quistis' and Zell's faces were both ones of concern.
"We've had no word from the Ragnarok, since Selphie landed her in the hills of Osarch Island last night. The best we can hope is that they are on their way home and that they're running under radio silence."
Cid noticed that the news had done nothing to alleviate the tension on the two SeeDs faces.
"I'm sorry, but I thought you should know."
"Thank you, headmaster," Quistis replied dejectedly.
Zell though, couldn't contain his anger, slamming his gloved fist into the polished mahogany wood of the table, scattering the mountain of papers strewn across its surface.
"Sorry," he apologised sombrely.
Cid nodded in acceptance, before finishing: "You're dismissed."
* * * * *
In the central lift of Balamb Garden, Zell's anger boiled-over again.
"Dammit!" he growled, his fists clenched tightly. "We should've been out there with them!"
"It wasn't our decision to make," Quistis replied, trying to keep her hot-tempered friend calm.
"The hell it wasn't!" Zell rebutted. "All Squall had to do was ask Cid, and he would have let us."
"I know, Zell. But Squall knew this would be a dangerous mission. He only chose the people that he absolutely needed. He didn't take us because he wanted us to be safe. Because we're his friends."
"I… I guess," Zell conceded, his neck drooping in resignation. "I just hope that they're all okay."
"I'm sure they are," Quistis agreed. "But I doubt that any mission is a hundred-percent safe with Irvine around."
Zell immediately cheered up, letting out a slight snigger, a trigger that eventually had both him and Quistis in hysterics.
"Seriously though," Quistis added, trying not to laugh any more. "They'll be fine, they're the best that Garden has to offer, after all"
"Hey!" Zell exclaimed.
"Apart from us, of course," Quistis finished, with a smile.
They were silent for a while, watching the students below walk by, as the lift passed by the second floor. The lift was halfway to the ground floor, when a massive jolt brought it shuddering to a stop.
"What the hell was that?!" Zell shouted in surprise.
"I'm not sure," Quistis responded, gripping the handrails tightly. "But I don't think we're the only ones to be affected."
Looking out of the observation windows, Zell could see what Quistis meant. Dozens of students lay on the ground below, knocked down by the sudden tremor, while others held on to the sidewalls for balance.
Another jolt hit, shaking the lift even more violently violently, but ironically putting it back into motion. The emergency light inside the lift blinked on, and began to flash red, and the two SeeDs could here the alarms outside come to life.
"Sounds like an enemy alert," Quistis surmised.
"We're under attack?" Zell responded incredulously. "From who?"
"I've no idea, but we'll soon find out."
The lift finally reached the ground with a thud, as a third tremor reverberated through the cabin. The lift doors now apparently unresponsive, Zell was forced to pry them open with his hands, forcing them fully open.
Wasting no time, Quistis bolted out past Zell, and found the nearest student to them.
"3rd year student Johnson!" she shouted over to a young man running in from the front gate. "Care to tell me what's going on?"
The student didn't even care to stop, merely pointed back the way he'd came as he shouted:
"G-go look for yourself!" Before disappearing in the direction of the dorms.
"Geez, this must be really bad," Zell considered, as he ran up to Quistis.
"Guess we'd better go see for ourselves," Quistis suggested. "Come on!"
Quistis and Zell were forced to run through a tidal wave of students trying to squeeze in through the cramped reception area. Zell forced his way through the crowd, while Quistis kept close behind, enlisting the help of every graduate SeeD she could find along the way.
Passing through the front gate into the open-air and sunlight, Quistis and Zell, with a dozen other SeeDs in tow, were awe-struck by what they saw.
Flying high in the air above Balamb Garden was an enormous black dragon, spitting balls of flame that seemed to broil with energy, towards the walls of the Garden.
"It's the same dragon from Cid's report, isn't it?" Quistis shouted over the noise of the explosions that rocked the Garden, their shockwaves almost bringing Quistis to the ground.
Not getting a response, Quistis looked over at Zell, and was met with a face white with terror.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Y-y'know how I said that the only creature that could take out all those Galbadians only existed in legends?" Zell began, not taking his eyes off of the terrible beast.
"What are you getting at?" Quistis asked hesitantly.
"That thing up there," Zell continued, pointing into the air. "That's Bahamut, King of the Dragons!"
"Bahamut?" Quistis questioned sceptically, looking up with Zell. "But that's just a-"
"Legend," Zell finished for her. "I know!"
Staring at the dragon, Quistis slowly began to agree with Zell.
The wingspan, the three-horned head, the jet-black scales, and the ferocity of his attacks, they all matched up with drawings and stories she'd seen and been told as a child. Stories that Matron would tell her and the fellow orphans before bed, which would give her nightmares as she slept.
This was no bedtime story though, but it was a real nightmare, and she and Zell were in the middle of it.
Bahamut, now identified, broke off his fireball attack, which seemed to have been concentrated upon one area of the Garden.
Using the small fore-claws on his wings he grabbed hold of the weakened Garden walls, folded his wings, and began tearing into the smooth metal walls with the claws on his feet.
"He's trying to get into the Garden!" Quistis realised. "We've got to stop him!"
"But how?" Zell asked in desperation.
Looking back at the assembled SeeDs, an idea came to Quistis:
"I know how."
Running over to the small group, she began to give orders.
"Okay SeeDs, we're going to stop that dragon getting into the Garden."
Unsurprisingly, Quistis' order was met with stunned looks on all the SeeDs faces.
"You all know ice-elemental magic, correct?"
The SeeDs nodded in agreement.
"Good. I want you to line-up in a two-row formation, and prepare to use Blizzard on that dragon on my command."
The SeeDs quickly lined up, half crouching on the ground, the other half standing behind them, all with their arms outstretched in the direction of Bahamut, ready to unleash their para-magic.
"I really wish Rinoa was here just now," Zell muttered to Quistis, standing beside their fellow SeeDs, their arms outstretched as well. "We'd could really use her and Shiva just now."
"I know," Quistis agreed. "But this'll have to do."
Seeing that everyone was ready, Quistis gave the order:
"Okay people - now!"
A barrage of ice shards materialised in the air, flying from the hands of the SeeDs, and streaking through the air, until they battered against the scaled hide of Bahamut.
The legendary dragon's claws immediately ceased from scraping into the Garden walls, his lithe neck slowly craning round, the eyes lighting up in fury as his demonic head was brought to bare upon Quistis, Zell, and the company of SeeDs.
"Uh, I think we got its attention," Zell suggested nervously.
"I think you're right," Quistis agreed, the same falter in her voice, and as Bahamut's wings unfurled she shouted at the SeeDs, "Everybody, run!"
The Seeds scrambled back towards the safety of the Garden's interior.
But Bahamut was closing in on them, screaming in their direction, flames dripping from his mouth like saliva.
The last one to run though the front gate, Quistis practically screamed at Pierre, who manned the reception area, "Bring down the shutters!"
Pierre obeyed without question, and the metal barricade came rolling down, sealing the front gate. Quistis, though, knew that wasn't enough, and without thinking, called out "Protect!" casting the barrier-magic on the shutters.
Zell, and the others took her queue, and within a few seconds another dozen Protect-spells were adding extra protection to the shutters.
And then Bahamut attacked, careering straight into the shutters. The Protect-spell came to life, a bubble of blue energy surrounding the shutters, deflecting Bahamut's massive body.
"They're holding," Quistis let out, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, but for how long?" Zell asked.
That was a good question.
Twelve overlapping Protects could last a long time against a regular monster, but Bahamut was no regular monster, and it became clear to Quistis that their luck would soon run out, the shutters already beginning to buckle as Bahamut attacked again, driving his massive shoulders straight into the magic barrier.
"This is it," Quistis shuddered, watching Bahamut climb into the sky in preparation for one last dive.
"Don't be afraid," Zell reassured, cupping Quistis' hand in his.
Quistis closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come.
But it didn't.
She felt Zell release his grip, which had been unexpected but comforting. Opening her eyes, she saw him run forward, trying to get a clearer view through the gaps in shutter gratings.
"What happened?" she asked, running up to join Zell.
"He broke off his attack," Zell explained. "He was in the middle of his dive, when he suddenly climbed back up. I can't see him at all, now."
Before Quistis had a chance to look for herself, the Garden's intercom suddenly buzzed into life above the din of the alarm.
"Could Quistis and Zell please come to the command deck immediately. Repeat, could…" It was Cid's voice.
Without speaking, the two SeeDs immediately headed for the third floor.
* * * * *
Emerging onto the command deck, the small lift locking quietly into place, Quistis immediately asked:
"What is it?"
"Look out there," Xu, Quistis' friend and superior suggested, who was operating the left side of the command console that controlled the Garden.
Quistis and Zell ran over to the guardrails along the edge of the deck, the highest level of the Garden.
They could see Bahamut easily now, wheeling and spinning in the air, letting off fireballs as quickly as he could breathe them.
But he was no longer firing at the Garden, there was a new target for him now, a red dragon that was flying straight towards it, spitting its own green venom at it.
But Quistis and Zell soon realised that it was no dragon.
"The Ragnarok!" they exclaimed in unison.
"They got here not a moment too soon," Cid pointed-out, lifting his head briefly from the central console he stood at.
"Can we talk to them?" Quistis asked anxiously.
"I don't know," Nida, in charge of the right-hand console, replied. "I'll try and open a channel." Nida concentrated at his panel for several seconds, before finally nodding the all clear.
Running up to the console, Quistis jammed her finger down on the transmit button, calling out:
"You're alive!"
"Damn right we are!" Selphie's voice confirmed. "Thought y'could use a hand."
"It's great to hear you!" Zell greeted
"Hey, Zell!" Selphie replied cheerfully. "We'll take care of this jerk first, and we'll meet you down at the landing pad, okay?"
"Sure thing," Quistis agreed. "Over and out."
Now, all anyone could do was watch on in silence, as Bahamut and the Ragnarok duelled.
For a time it seemed that Bahamut would have the upper hand: Ragnarok was fast, but she couldn't manoeuvre as swiftly as Bahamut, despite Selphie's flawless piloting skills.
Yet eventually, Ragnarok began to win, a few lucky shots courtesy of Squall and Irvine's gunning was beginning to slow the dragon down, leaving him open to more attacks.
Three huge volleys from Ragnarok's main cannon was the last straw, sending Bahamut careering through the air.
It almost looked as if he would plummet to the ground, but he regained consciousness at the last moment, hovering meters from the hard concrete of the recreation grounds.
Knowing he was defeated, Bahamut snarled angrily at the Ragnarok, before spinning up into the air and disappearing in a stream of light.
The battle won, the Ragnarok slowed to a stop, hovering over an area just outside the front gate, the landing pad that was the newest addition to the Garden, before landing.
"I believe you two will want to see your friends now?" Cid asked rhetorically. "Don't worry, go on ahead, I'll be right behind you."
Cid hadn't even finished his sentence, as Quistis and Zell disappeared from view as the lift descended.
* * * * *
Quistis and Zell bounded up to Squall, Irvine and Selphie, who had only just walked down entrance ramp to the Ragnarok, greeting them warmly.
"Hey guys! It's great to see you!" Zell welcomed joyously.
"When we heard about what had happened on Osarch Island, we feared the worse," Quistis explained.
"It looks like you were in a lot more danger than us, though," Squall began. "That dragon, he only attacked the Galbadians, I don't think he even knew of our presence. Here though - it looked like he was out to destroy Garden from the looks of it.
Squall's head angled up, examining with dismay the scars that now covered the outer walls of the Garden.
"You got here in the nick of time," Quistis explained. "Bahamut was only seconds from breaking through into the interior."
"'Bahamut'?" Squall repeated in surprise.
"Yeah," Zell confirmed. "I identified it."
"Are y'sure?" Selphie asked. "Isn't Bahamut meant be a, y'know, some sort of fairy tale?"
"Hey! Bahamut was a legend, not a fairytale," Zell defended. "And he was a pretty unique kind of dragon. It was him."
"So, what do we do now then?" Irvine wondered. "Balamb Garden's just been attacked by a fairytale-"
"Legend," Zell corrected.
"Fairytale, legend - whatever," Irvine ignored. "How are we meant to find it?"
"How do we do indeed?" Cid's voice asked.
"Headmaster!" Squall exclaimed, not noticing his arrival, and quickly saluting.
"At ease, Squall."
"What are your orders?" Squall enquired.
"Well, I seem to know about as much as you do," Cid admitted. "What do you think we should do?"
Squall was quiet for several seconds, obviously deep in thought, a trait he was infamous for.
"Squall, don't get buried in your thoughts," Quistis advised. "Tell us what you're thinking."
"Sorry," Squall apologised. "It's just - this may be stupid - but…"
"Squall?!" everyone shouted.
"Sorry, but… I've just got this gut instinct that we should head for Timber."
"Timber?" Irvine questioned. "You think Rinoa has a connection to all of this?"
"Nothing in particular, just that out of our group, she's the only one not to encounter
'Bahamut', if that's what this dragon really is."
"Seems like as good a place to start as any," Cid concurred. "I'll make sure Xu continues her investigation, hopefully she'll have something when you return."
Looking up to the group of friends, he concluded:
"SeeD, I think you know your orders, good luck."
Less than a minute later, Cid had just reached the battered entrance gates as the spaceship Ragnarok rose back into the air.
Her engines roaring into life, she flew off into the horizon, propelling her and her crew onwards towards the city of Timber.