~
Irvine stretched himself onto the thick-grass ground, and propped himself up with one arm. White-haired Tamya was beside him. She looked across the grassy clearing with vibrant green eyes. She lay beside Irvine just as he was, with one hand keeping her uplifted. The shade of an old oak tree cast over their bodies.
The park had been one of the few areas not affected by Galbadian missles. The trees were still growing tall and strong. Picnic tables and bases of treetrunks were occupied by weary-eyed Trabians in search of respite. Wildlife still dared to make home in the park; squirrels and the occasional woodchuck scurried from the open clearing into the surrounding trees. Songbirds flighted from branch to branch.
The long, wide plain of thick grass was surrounded by a circular wall of trees. Stone monuments of fallen heroes, some old and some new, were lined up along the treelines; they stood like pillars. In the center of this natural coliseum, children tumbled about in some ruleless game they had just made up.
A tall, lanky boy leapt from the tangled pile of mock war. "I'm Ifrit!" he said proudly. "Challenge me and taste my Hellfire!"
"Hah!" called a short, stocky girl with scarred cheeks. "Gimme your best shot! No fire's gonna melt Shiva!"
The children untangled themselves, suddenly intent on making sure they could reserve their favorite Guardian Force. Two boys, twins with curly orange hair, proudly announced they were the Brothers.
"Aw, you're always the Brothers!" said the Ifrit player. "You don't even know the other GF's!"
"Do too!" the twins shouted in unison.
These being obviously strong accusations, the quarrel no doubt escalated into an all-out war. The GF's quickly took sides; the stronger, taller boys went with Ifrit, and the girls and the less athletic sided with the Brothers.
Ifrit scoffed. "Look, the wussy Brothers got all the girls again!"
"What's wrong with that?!" sneered a little blonde who had chosen Siren.
"What're you gonna do, put me to sleep?"
The Brothers' team erupted into insults, which Ifrit's team absorbed with much relish. Ifrit looked down the line of underdogs with his best dark, Ifrit-like stare. He came across a young boy at the very end, pale-faced with black hair that nearly covered his eyes. One of his arms was skinny and scarred, but the other looked finely muscular. He stood in proud defiance, though his baggy, oversized jeans and sewn-together shirt lessened his presence.
Ifrit laughed. "Don't tell me you're playing, Devon!"
The boy nodded solemnly, taking the game for all its precious worth to him.
"Yeah, well what're you supposed to be? All the good GF's are taken. You wanna be Cactaur?" The bigger Guardian Forces pointed and laughed along.
The boy named Devon shook his head. "I'm not a Guardian Force," he said, quite imposingly. "I'm Razor's Ghost."
Ifrit threw his arms in the air. "You can't make something up, Devon! It ain't fair! You gotta pick somebody real!"
Devon laughed this time, though nobody was sure quite why. One thing was certain; he had warranted the attention of his entire group. "Oh, you've never heard of Razor's Ghost, eh? He's tougher than all you GF's, and he's just a human!"
Devon stepped up to Ifrit and his group, who had become visibly curious. "Yeah?" said Ifrit, covering up his interest as best he could, "well, who is he?"
Devon placed a hand on his hip, and pointed his stronger arm at Ifrit's face. "A real man!He lived around the Galbadian Conflict in Terra. He was the toughest soldier in the world! His armor had machine guns and flame throwers and rocket launchers and everything! He was Razor One, leader of the First Razor Batallion! One time, he killed a thousand Galbadians with his combat knife!"
Devon's well-deserved oohs and ahhs came from his own group, and even from some of Ifrit's group. But Ifrit would not give in. "Well who cares! He ain't magic, so I'm gonna win!"
"I'm not finished!" said Devon. "Of course he's magic! There was this battle in Terra called Nebrian Walls, and the Galbadians knew he'd be there, right? But they had no way to kill him! So they made this gunblade out of pure magic, and as soon as he came out of the jumper, they ambushed him! Slashed right through him! But he came back as Razor's Ghost, and he's got the powers of the gunblade that killed him! He's unstoppable!"
Ifrit seemed to approve. "Fine, Razor's Ghost! Let's see if you can stand up to Hellfire!"
~
Irvine watched, as Devon tackled a mock Guardian Force to the grass. "Wow," he laughed. "Tenacious little guy!"
Tamya smiled. "Yeah, he's a great kid. Sure loves his Terra."
"I'll say," replied Irvine. He tossed his cowboy hat in the air. "Do his parents work at the hospital, then?"
"Well...no," said Tamya. "His parents were Instructors for Garden. They were killed in the missle attack. Devon's an orphan."
Irvine was jolted. "Whoa...like, that's a drag... Who takes care of him?"
"He pretty much lives at the hospital. The nurses care for him, and he plays with whatever kids will let him."
"Let him?" Irvine raised his eyes.
Tamya nodded. "They...well, they've all got a grudge against Garden. Everyone blames Garden for the attack on Trabia...which is pretty logical, really..."
"No it's not," Irvine said quickly. "Garden was the victim as much as Trabia was. The Galbadians are to blame."
Tamya sat up; Irvine noticed her calm expression quickly sober up. The deep green eyes were now peircing and set determinedly. Uh-oh, Irvine moaned inwardly.
"What are you saying?" asked Tamya. "Garden's the victim?"
"Well...I mean, sure! They were victims of an unprovoked attack. They had no time to react... they lost a lot of good SeeD."
Tamya thinned a frown. "That's exactly what Garden wants us all to say, you know that? I'll tell you what Garden is. It's a military cult. They move into some populated area, recruit the orphans and the losers, and send them on mercenary missions around the world to bring in cash."
Guardian forces clashed valiantly on the field of battle. Beyond the treelines that surrounded them, the ruins of Trabia Garden stood for all to see.
Tamya shook her head. "I hate Garden. SeeD didn't die, Irvine. Trabians died."
Note to self, Irvine thought. Don't bring work home with you!
~
"So, you really knew Aren Bowes?"
Devon stood between Irvine and Tamya as they walked between the trees of the park. The broken sidewalks and buckled streets were but a few yards away.
"Sure did," replied Irvine. "One of my best friends. I was with him in Terra's Galbadian Conflict...that was right after Galbadia's war with Esthar.
"Oh, I know all about it!" said Devon, and Irvine showed visible surprise.
Tamya turned with a cocked eye. "Wait...you're not Terran, are you?"
"No, of course not..." Irvine trailed. Oh, great, he thought. I'm gettin' myself into a jam...
"So...what were you doing there?"
Think fast!
Irvine closed his eyes, and a split second later, he gave a little smile. "I'm a World Press reporter," he said with confidence. "I was sent to the battlefield to get some pictures of Terra's side of the story. The Press hoped it would get Terra some help."
"Oh! So you didn't fight, then?" said Devon.
Irvine laughed. "I'm not a fightin' man, kid."
~
A/N:
Sorry! Please don't kill me!! Things have been rough on my end of the Industrial Wasteland as of lately, and I've been hard pressed for solid direction in the story. And as you just found out in the preceding chapter, I still am! =) But for those who still care, I've got a good 4 chapters written up and just in need of some final cleanups before they post. I mean good chapters! Good, juicy chapters that, in my opinion, really drive the plot and clarify some things. My apologies again, I hope I'll never let T5 go this far without an update again.
