Chapter 4



The Ragnarok shot through darkened clouds at several times the speed of sound. In the on-board briefing room, Squall clicked the comm-monitor off and sat back in his chair. This is getting complex. he thought, trying to figure out what to do. His conversation with the headmaster had not gone well. The older man had looked very shaken up, and had tried to explain that there were somehow two Seifers loose in Balamb Garden. One was a Seifer from the past who had captured Quistis and was making demands, the other was the present day Seifer, who had resisted capture and gone off in pursuit of his past-self. Why does this sort of thing always happen to me? mused Squall. He would have been tempted to laugh at the absurdity of it all if there weren't lives in danger. Apparently, Edea had gone off in pursuit of the present Seifer. That was what, understandably, had the Headmaster so worried.

His mind wondered over the possibilities and repercussions, and his thoughts turned inevitably to Rinoa. She knew that something was going on at Balamb that Squall had been called away to deal with. Squall had asked Laguna to be as discreet as possible with the specifics, however, and hoped that Seifer's involvement in the situation could be kept form her until he had resolved things. He knew that Seifer had hurt her more then once. And I'll be damned if I let him hurt her again, he thought. He and Rinoa had spent as much time as possible with each other since the end of the war. After the sabbatical in Esthar, they had both moved to Galbadia Garden to help cement the unification of the three SeeD centres. Closer relations were now possible because of the re-emergence of radio signals, and Squall kept in regular contact with Headmaster Cid, as well as his old companions who had gone to re-build Trabia. Regular meetings between the new Garden officials meant that the organisation kept a unifying objective and purpose in mind. SeeD was still essentially a mercenary army but the moral strictures behind it's contracts were now carefully monitored.

Though he wouldn't like to admit it, Squall missed Balamb and it was the same for Rinoa and Timber. She would always look on the positive side of things, though, and refused to let herself or Squall be depressed by being away from their friends. She said that being in G - Garden reminded her of when Squall told her about his pendant, Griever. At the time, Squall didn't understand why that was so important to her, but he was beginning to now. The more he understood Rinoa, the more he understood himself. It was something new for him, and he still had trouble admitting, even to himself, that he needed someone else, but it was still an incredible feeling. No Seifer, he thought. Past or present, you can't come back and find things exactly the way they were. We've changed. It's time you did.

* * * *

"I remember you."

"You do?"

"Ni... N... it was 'N' something, right?"

"Nida."

"That's great. Okay Nida, you've caught me in a good mood. You SeeDs've been sensible for once and done exactly as I've asked. If this continues then I'll remain in a good mood, and I won't have to do anything unpleasant to our little bargaining chip here." Seifer's voice rang out clearly through the cavernous interior of Balamb Gardens magnetic reactor. Quistis stood helpless before him, the blade of Hyperion almost cutting into the flesh of her throat, one arm pressed painfully into her upper back. "You four are going to do exactly as I say," continued Seifer, nodding to the four SeeDs that had been assembled by his orders in the engine room. "If you disobey my orders or so much as question me, blood will be spilt. Is that clear?"

The SeeDs looked at each other nervously.

"I said, is that clear?" demanded Seifer.

The SeeDs nodded and made murmurs of ascension.

"Alright. Good. Nida, since I remember you, I think you should have the pleasure of starting things off. Go activate the reactor and get things warming up. You other two are to take up positions at the Gardens override controls, and you," said Seifer pointing to the last SeeD. "You can operate the comms pannel should I wish to talk to the Headmaster." There was silence for a moment.

Nida stepped forward and spoke up. "Seifer, we can't activate the reactor now. If we do, the gravity circlets will return to the lower position and destroy the repair pillars that..." He was cut short by a sharp intake of breath from Quistis. Blood slowly trickled from beneath Hyperion. Nida looked up to find Seifer staring right into his eyes. He tried to hold the gaze but couldn't, the hatred and madness in them driving him away.

"I'm only going to tell you once more," hissed Seifer. "Activate the reactor. Do it now."

His mind reeling with the enormity of what he was about to do, Nida headed towards the control panel and signalled for the other SeeDs to take up position as Seifer had instructed. He was thankful that the late hour meant nobody would be working in the support pillars. It was highly likely that the gravity circlets would chew them up like a gigantic trimmer cutting grass, but there was likely to be heavy damage to the Garden too, particularly since a lot of the repairs were yet to be completed. He hoped that the Headmaster would come up with something soon. Being forced to co-operate with a clearly unstable Seifer was like a nightmare come true.
* * * *

Dr. Kadowaki re-checked her emergency medical bag and then sipped nervously at a cup of coffee. She looked out into the main infirmary and watched as a couple of flustered SeeD candidates tried to marshal the Gardens child population into safe positions. The kids had been there since the intruder alert had been raised, the Headmaster ordering that they be kept safe at all costs. Kadowaki didn't blame his caution. If Seifer was truly on the loose again there would be no predicting him, and it certainly wouldn't be the first time that her healing hands would have to repair a product of Seifer's rage. Setting her cup down she got up and paced towards the window, looking out into a wet and windy night. During the day the view was nothing short of breathtaking. The Garden was surrounded mostly by forest and rolling grassland, and her office window looked northwards over the Alcaud plains. The Gardens position on the raised pillars meant that she could see over the forests and far to the north, with the dramatic ranging peaks of the Gaulg mountains visible in the distance. However, with the weather as it was she could barely see past the exterior lights, the rain slashing a criss-cross of movement over the hazy glow.

She found the view disconcerting and turned to go back to her desk. As she did so she heard a collective murmuring from the infirmary and realised that a low rumbling sound was emanating from the bowels of the Garden, slowly getting louder. A few of the children yelped as the whole place began to shake and rattle. Suddenly the internal comm system activated. "Attention all personnel," came the Headmaster's voice, barely audible over the increasing din. "This is a Garden wide lock-down. Please take all necessary precautions and brace for a possible impact. I repeat..."

Kadowaki didn't need telling twice. She pushed open the door to the infirmary and instructed the children to stay calm. The SeeD candidates were rushing around and closing all the electronic shutters on the windows. One of them, a girl Dr. Kadowaki recognised as a member of Balamb's Ice hockey team, turned to make sure she was out of earshot of the kids and then whispered to the doctor. "This is going to get serious, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure what's going on. We just have to concentrate on keeping the junior students safe and well. If we can get..."

"Doctor!" the second SeeD candidate called, alarmed, and pointed to a window. The occupants of the room watched as the unmistakable spinning shapes of the Garden's massive gravity circlets descended slowly past the window, weaving the glowing blue of a magnetic shield above them, and singing with the musical hum of barely suppressed power.

Dr. Kadowaki eyes widened in horror as she realised what was going to happen when the circlets reached their destination. "Close that window's shutters!" she said, darting forward. "Everybody get down!" Just as she said this, she heard the screaming of tortured metal from just below the Garden. The sound of the gravity circlets died for a moment, and then began again, a high-pitched whine. Realising she wasn't going to reach the window in time, Kadowaki dived to the floor.

The glass of the window bulged for a split second and then shattered as Balamb Garden was wreathed in an incandescent ball of flame.

* * * *

"Captain Leonheart!"

Squall looked up from a monitor on the bridge of the Ragnarok. "What is it?" he asked.

"We've just got the Garden in visual range..."

"Okay..."

"Sir, there's... oh my..." With the click of a button the pilot brought up a super-imposed image over the glass bubble of the cockpit, and the whole room was bathed in swirling oranges and yellows.

Exclamations of shock and horror filled Squalls ears as he too tried to take in what he was seeing. "What the hell's happened!" he heard himself shout. "Get a reading on the Garden, now! I want to know if there are any survivors! Pilot, bring us in closer and then hold position."

The SeeD at the controls of the Ragnarok's scanners pushed a few buttons and then frowned. "Sir," he said. "I can't get any kind of reading... some kind of fluxing magnetic field is jamming the sensors... wait... that could mean that..."

Suddenly the floor lurched violently as all manner of warning sirens cried out from various sources around the bridge. "Something just hit us, sir," called the pilot over the din. "At speed. I think it was debris of some description. We've sustained heavy damage to the starboard docking claw and minor damage to a few other systems."

Squall grit his teeth, determined not to let everything go to pieces around him. Just as he was about to issue another order the flames in front of them parted and the hulking shape of the Garden pushed it's way through the inferno, trailing fire and debris. "Get us out of here!" he shouted to the Pilot.

With pieces of its right side falling away to bounce harmlessly from the Gardens shielded carapace, the Ragnarok climbed up to a safe altitude. The people on board watched the Garden, helpless for now, as the massive vehicle headed south, wobbling uncertainly, the cloud of dust and flame it left behind still hiding the secret of the support-pillar's violent destruction.

Pushing a few controls, Squall opened up a comm-channel with the Garden. "This is Squall onboard The Ragnarok hailing anybody who is able to answer, please respond." He tried to remain calm and stop his imagination from wondering the possibly decimated halls of the school, but as only static greeted him hope began to ebb away. He turned to the pilot, who was still wrestling with the Ragnaroks controls. Squall found himself wishing that Selphie were there instead, and the thought surprised him. "Can you follow the Garden?" he asked.

"I think so sir," answered the pilot, waving away a cloud of smoke pouring out of an overloaded console, "but we'll need to set down for repairs in about an hour. The damage to our starboard side has caused a coolant leak. If we don't land soon then our engines will overheat and we'll fall out of the sky."

Squall slammed his palm into some panelling and grunted in frustration. If we'd have been here even five minutes earlier... His thoughts were interrupted as the comm-station beeped. He strode over to it and was relieved to find it was a transmission from the Garden. His relief turned to anger as he received the transmission, and the screen lit up with the view of a hatefully familiar face. Everyone on the bridge stopped what they were doing and looked up.

* * * *

The Seifer of the present day watched his past-self with growing fury. He had used the commotion of the Gardens lift-off to sneak undetected into the engine room where his counterpart was holed up, and was now hidden behind some machinery close to the engine control console. He had hoped that all the rolling and shaking combined with the explosion of the support pillars would given him an opportunity to attack, and free Quistis without risking harm to her. However, true to form, past-Seifer had stood like a rock in a stormy sea, holding Quistis an immobile captive. Though he had never been one for subtlety, the present-Seifer knew that if he made even a small slip up here then the price would be too high, and so he watched and waited, looking for the right moment to strike. The past-Seifer was currently ordering one of the SeeDs to open up a comm-channel to the Ragnarok, which had apparently arrived at the Garden moments after the explosion. A screen in the engine room lit up with Squall's scowling visage. Past-Seifer spoke up. "Well, well, well. I should have expected you, eh?"

"Shut up, Seifer," snapped Squall, "I'm not talking with you until I know every last person on that Garden is safe."

"No, no, no," replied Seifer slowly. "That's not how it works at all." He pulled Quistis' face into view of the camera.

"Squall, forget me!" she shouted suddenly. "You have to stop Seifer before...ahh!" Her speech was cut off by Seifer letting her arm go and closing his now free hand around her throat. He laughed at Squalls angry and helpless cry of alarm.

"Get the picture, Squall? Let me state this in black and white. If you try anything - like boarding the Garden, shooting at us, calling re-enforcements - anything dumb like that, then she and everyone else I get my hands on, dies."

"What do you want Seifer?"

"Ohh... that would be telling now wouldn't it. You know, Quistis asked me the same question a while back." He looked down at her. "Why don't you tell him what I said, babe?"

Quistis' eyes narrowed in barely contained fury. She knew that if she tried to speak with Seifer throttling her it would just come out a gurgle, so she remained silent.

Seifer laughed. "No? Okay." He looked back up at the screen. "I guess she's not feeling that talkative." He pulled his hand away from her throat and pinned her arm again.

While Squall continued to interrogate and threaten past-Seifer without success, present-Seifer began edging his way round to try and get behind the main control console. If he could get that close, then maybe he could wrestle Quistis away before his counterpart had time to react. Gripping his machine gun and trying to stick to the shadows, he quietly made his way around. Just as he was nearing the console, his foot knocked against an open engineers toolbox that had been left from work during the day. A tool fell out and clattered on the metal grating that made up the engine room floor. Seifer froze and looked up. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realised that his double hadn't heard the noise and was still busily trading insults with Squall. He still felt uneasy, however, and soon realised why. As he looked down he saw Quistis' stark blue eyes lock with his. You can see me can't you? thought Seifer, almost willing the thought to be transmitted to her. He nodded at her, slowly, a movement of acknowledgement. She narrowed her eyes slightly. Of course, he thought. She doesn't know about the two of us... but surely she's heard about the duplicate of Balamb Garden? He carefully reached out and pointed at the Seifer keeping her captive, and then at himself, shaking his head as he did so. It was the simplest gesture he could think of, but she seemed to understand. She nodded almost imperceptibly, trying not to give her captor any indication of the movement.

Present-Seifer looked around the room to see if any of the other SeeDs had noticed him, but they too appeared to be concentrating on the screen. He looked back at Quistis and shrugged. As he watched, her eyes flicked urgently downward to indicate something, and Seifer followed her gaze to her free left hand. She was holding out five fingers. Suddenly Seifer tensed up as he realised what was going to happen. A finger disappeared. Four. He looked down and checked his gun, wishing for the first time in a long time that he had Hyperion with him, his gaze shot back up to her hand. Three. Past-Seifer snarled and tightened his grip on Quistis, but it seemed to be in response to Squall's probing insults, and the count continued. Two. Present-Seifer focused himself, calling upon long forsaken training. All that mattered was the moment. All that existed was Seifer, his counterpart, and Quistis. One. There was no time to figure anything out. It was down to instinct now. Seifer's last thought before he charged forward was a new and confusing one. I hope I don't let her down.

Quistis' hand clenched into a fist, and then suddenly her elbow was forced hard and fast into her tormentors chest, causing him to splutter in surprise and stagger back. Present-Seifer closed the gap between him and his double in a matter of seconds, but those seconds seemed to him to be an eternity, and it was in those seconds that all hell broke loose.