AUTHORS NOTE:
Once again, I'd like to thank you, Selena, for the lovely comment! Hope you like what's coming.
Chapter III Unwanted Truth
In Aurora's mind
Aurora awoke from a deep slumber and looked through 'her' eyes. She could see large buildings in brilliant colors, tall with blue lanes weaving through them. In the distance she saw a huge palace. Her feet seemed to be moving forwards, through lots of people who were looking at her strangely.
"What's going on. where am I.?" she asked. The last memory that she remembered she was dancing with Sirus. "Where's Sirus?"
A voice came through her mind that startled her. She had not said those words; the words came from somewhere else in her mind. She tried to move but realized that she had no control over her body.
"Be quiet you fool." said the voice inside her mind. It seemed very harsh, very dry. it was very familiar to her.
"Adel?" said Aurora in shock. "What do you want. I thought you were dead."
"I am dead," said the voice coldly, and harshly, "And who said that I was Adel."
"Then. then who are you." Stuttered Aurora, still unsure what exactly was happening.
"You ask to many questions, you know. Alot like your mother when I possessed her. She just wouldn't stop asking me why I was doing this. I thought you people would learn that by now." Said the voice airily.
"Sorceress Ultimecia!" said Aurora in astonishment.
"Wow, you catch on fast you know, I must give you credit for being so clever." Ultimecia said, sarcastically.
"What do you want?" asked Aurora. "Why me?"
"Well, first I'll say that I chose you because you're now stronger then your mother ever was. I need a strong sorceress to feed off of. It's a shame that I didn't have time to totally take over you mother, it would have made our lives much easier, I mean, you'd have never been born if I'd have totally taken her over." She said tauntingly.
"What do you mean when you say 'our' lives.?" asked Aurora, beginning to panic.
"I guess I won't give you credit for being clever, you people are so slow!" Ultimecia said, "You should know by know that I am Rinoa. Rinoa is I. I am your mother."
"No. that can't be possible. My mother isn't evil. she's not like you. There's no way..no way." Whispered Aurora, fearfully.
"Oh, it's true, and you'd better believe it." Ultimecia said loudly so it echoed through 'their' mind.
"But. but how?" asked Aurora in awe.
"Didn't you ever know that once a sorceress reaches her prime age that she stops aging if her powers are strong enough? Well, I of course stopped aging when I was nearly 20, after I'd had you. Many years later my dear husband, Squall, died. I couldn't take it, it just didn't make sense to me, and after years of mourning and sadness, I became something else. the brilliant, clever me as you know me now." She replied scathingly.
"When I travelled through time, with the help of the Junction Ellone machine, of course, and saw many interesting things that I had forgotten about, that would ultimately rule my future if they weren't destroyed." Ultimecia said, "You, my daughter were becoming too powerful. almost as powerful as I. so I killed you." Ultimecia said with some sort of triumph in her voice.
It took Aurora a moment to fully understand exactly what Ultimecia was talking about but when she thought about it, Ultimecia meant that after Squall died, Aurora became powerful. more so then she could imagine. "No. it can't be true." Said Aurora beginning to get angry.
"Oh but it is." She replied. "You almost beat me too. You almost had me but of course I won. and I killed you. You see, I thought it would have been easier to possess myself when I was a teenager, right after I got my sorceress powers and make myself evil. I needed to use Adel though to get my life long dream, Time Compression, and of course to make sure that you weren't born, to make sure you wouldn't hurt my chances of attaining this dream, but I did not succeed. My 'husband' ultimately beat me. After I'd left myself for awhile I couldn't get back into my future self. It just wasn't possible."
Aurora said nothing; it was all too much for her to take in.
"My past self and my past husband, Squall, traveled to my time, when I'd decided Time Compression would be a good idea but they somehow beat the most powerful sorceress of all time. They did only kill my body though, only one person can get rid of me, and that's me. I thought since I had a powerful sorceress daughter I'd try to get to her. me teenage self was to hard to control. No wonder I became so incredible." She said, vehemently.
"What are you saying?" asked Aurora.
'What I'm saying is. that now I am you. You are I. Mother and daughter united forever. If you still don't understand, I might as well work the whole process down for you: I am using you to attain my dream, Time Compression and it will only be us, eventually, you will die and I will be left. Now, it would be much easier if you would cooperate with me. it'd be a real pain to have to work you down, as I tried with my teenage self. so why don't you just join me now?" Ultimecia glowered.
"I will not join you. You are NOT my mother, my mother is a kind and loving person, not an evil, cunning bitch!" roared Aurora.
"Ohhh. you have so much hate. I love It." ranted Ultimecia. "But you will become very annoying to me. Goodnight."
Aurora felt her mind closing down, she felt as though she were falling asleep.
"No." she whispered.
"H. hey.. Who's that?" she thought as she saw a boy walking beside her, someone she hadn't noticed before.
"D. Dean?" she thought as she recognized him. "What's he doing here?"
Her mind closed down and right before she fell asleep she saw a palace in the distance, Laguna's presidental palace.
Chapter IV The Funeral
Irvine sat holding Selphie's hand in the black chairs that sat in the quad surrounding Ward's casket. Selphie had tears running down her cheeks, Irvine was trying to calm her down a little by telling her to be strong for Laguna and Kiros.
Among them were; Zell and his wife, Clarissa who sat to the right; Seifer and Quistis to the right; Rajin and Fujin who sat right behind them with Nida; and Squall and Rinoa who sat in front of them near Laguna, Kiros and Ellone.
The flower surrounded casket lay open and some students from the Garden lay roses on the casket.
It was a small funeral, mostly close people and garden instructors but some students felt they should join such as Dawn and her boyfriend Jem.
Laguna and Kiros stood up and walked to the casket and stood there, looking down at their old friend Ward. Irvine could see a few teardrops coming from both Laguna and Kiros.
Laguna stepped up to the podium and wiped away his tears and began the speech that he insisted on doing.
"Whoa. I don't think Ward would like this." he started with, a few people who knew Ward well, smiled weakly, remembering how he didn't like to make big deals out of that kind of stuff.
"Ward was. well Ward. He was his own person, nobody could ever compare to him, I don't think. Even in the times when we fought as Galbadian Soldiers and I always managed to get Kiros, him and I lost; he still managed to put up with my conceitedness and my ways! He was always very supportive of both Kiros and I and was a generally friendly guy all around." He paused, but continued after catching the falter in his voice.
"Unfortunately he lost his voice at the accident in the excavation site. We had to jump off of a cliff (my idea.) to get away from Esthar soldiers. After the accident we got split up, I was in Winhill with my late wife, Raine; Kiros was looking all over the world for me and Ward had a job in the D-District Prison. We found each other and set off for Esthar, I became president and Kiros and Ward stayed by me, Ward being my reliable general along with Kiros."
Laguna looked around, tears were beginning to run down his cheeks silently and he looked down at his paper again, struggling to find the right words. "There really isn't any words to describe how much Ward meant to me, how much he meant to everyone. He always had this way of making you feel like a friend. like you were important. and he always put others first." Laguna stopped again, and when he began to speak again, he trailed off a lot.
"It's impossible to say how much we'll miss him. how much." Laguna stopped and turned away. He stepped off the platform and walked straight out of the Quad, his hand placed on his forehead. Kiros hugged Squall and Rinoa and followed Laguna. Ellone remained behind.
People began to get up and walk past Ward's casket, muttering words then leaving. Soon after the only ones left were Rajin, Fujin, Nida, Seifer, Quistis, Zell, Clarissa, Selphie, Irvine, Ellone, Rinoa and Squall.
Rajin and Fujin nodded to Seifer and left the Quad also followed by Zell, his wife, Irvine and Selphie.
"Squall. we'll take care of this. you and Rinoa can go now if you lie. Take Ellone with you." Said Seifer softly.
Squall nodded and left, holding Rinoa's hand with Ellone beside them.
"Do you think its going to be ok?" asked Rinoa quietly.
Squall nodded. "Yeah, I think so. everything's going to be fine." He said reassuringly.
They walked silently out of the Quad and went towards the library, intending to stay there for a little while, and then head to Quistis's office again. "What are we gonna do now?" Rinoa asked softly as they reached the library and sat around a table together.
Squall stared at the table. 'I honestly don't know. I think we need to deal with the garden first. everyone is shaken up by what happened." he said.
"But what about Aurora." Asked Ellone.
"Aurora? I don't know. I don't know how we can help her." said Squall.
"I suppose your right. I mean, there's nothing that we can do right now for her. you guys have to deal with the garden too." said Ellone.
Squall looked over to Rinoa, she had her arms crossed and some tears were running down her cheeks. Squall put his arm around her but said nothing. The three of them sat there for nearly a half and hour, just thinking and barely saying a word until Squall finally stood up and said, "We'd better get going."
They left the library, looking at students as they passed by and they headed towards Quistis's office.
***************************************
"Oh. You came." said Quistis as the elevator door opened and Squall, Rinoa and Ellone stepped out. "You guys could have waited awhile. Seifer and I."
"Its ok, Quistis. we have to deal with this problem now. before it gets worse." said Squall right away.
Ellone stepped back, "I think that I'd better leave, let you guys too it. I'll go and see Laguna and Kiros."
Squall and Rinoa nodded; Ellone left.
"Well, lets get started then." Said Quistis. "So far we've told the Garden students at the ball to keep this affair quiet, they say that it won't get around but its only a matter of time before someone talks and then the whole Garden knows."
"Your right." said Rinoa heavily as she plopped into a nearby armchair. "Well, we'd better get on with this. What's our status?"
"Well. yesterday we agreed that Adel would be headed for Esthar because it was her country." said Quistis slowly.
"What do you mean, you guys know it's Adel? How.?" asked Rinoa quickly, sitting straight up in her seat.
"Rinoa. when Ward died Dr. Kadowski and I were talking, she knows that something or someone is in there. and if you remember, right after Aurora was possessed the person inside said, 'I told you "d be back.'" Squall interjected.
"Yeah. before Adel died she promised she'd be back. I guess you're right, I mean. if it was Ultimecia back then she'd want Seifer, right?" Rinoa said, staring off into nothingness.
"Ultimecia? It's been 15 years, how could she even possibly be back?" asked Seifer in a quivering voice.
"She did come from way off in the future. remember? Who's to say that since she's from the future that she didn't realize that she could take over the world earlier in her age. its as if she never died. If you think about it a sorceress never dies." Rinoa stated.
Seifer shivered. "It's not possible." he said tonelessly.
"I never told you guys this. but when Ultimecia died. when Squall killed her. I heard this voice in my mind. it was like I was paralyzed. The voice told me that it'd be back. it was Ultimecia. She told me that I knew how and why. but I don't." she said directly to Seifer, who began to pace.
"But. but like you said, Rinoa, she'd want me back, right?" Seifer said with a wave of his hand as if to push to bad feeling he had away.
"Not necessarily. maybe she wanted someone with a the right type of mind to take over, and easier mind.. maybe she's still weak, maybe she wanted someone easier to take over. Seifer, your much stronger now then you were 15 years ago." she replied in a confident voice.
Quistis, who was standing by the large window and staring into the horizon and at the now afternoon sun turned and spoke. "It's possible but I don't think so."
"Why not?" asked Squall who stepped forward.
"Because if it was Ultimecia then why would she say that it was Adel. Ultimecia is pure evil, she would want to take credit for her work." She said airily.
"Hmmm." Squall started.
"Don't you even remember? When Adel took over Aurora she said herself that it was her then she took off." Quistis interrupted.
"I guess." Said Rinoa in a surrendering tone. "But we can't leave all possibilities out."
"Yeah. but what I think we really should do right now is move the Garden to the Esthar continent but stay away from the city. We don't want to endanger the student's lives." Said Squall finally.
"Yes. I'll notify Nida to head there straight away. We'll station the Garden near the lunar base and take a car to Esthar." Said Quistis. She grabbed the small microphone and called Nida to the pilot's deck to direct the Garden to Esthar from near Winhill where they currently were.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Seifer had resumed pacing the floor. Rinoa was biting her nails nervously as she sat on the edge of the armchair. Quistis was leaning against the window and Squall was standing near the elevator.
Seifer suddenly stopped pacing when an idea struck his mind, a crazy and possible dangerous idea.
"Squall?" he asked with a smirk crossing his face.
"Yes?" said Squall and Rinoa raised her head.
"I have an idea. we all need to know where Aurora is, exactly and how she is. if she's safe." he said.
"Yes." said Squall hoping that Seifer wasn't thinking what Squall thought he was thinking.
"Ellone is here and." Seifer started but Squall interrupted him immediately when he saw where he was leading.
"No." he said simply.
"Oh, come on. she'll be fine. You said that she once connected with you, through her mind, and she's been in Ultimecia's mind before. she helped Quistis save Laguna's and my life. Please, she can help us." Seifer argued.
Squall groaned knowing that he was right. Ellone could help them, that was if she was up to it. "I guess. only if she wants to though." Said Squall in agreement. Rinoa looked as though she had just woke up on Christmas morning. They'd finally know how Aurora was.
"I'm here." Said Nida as he stepped out of the elevator.
"Nida, direct the Garden to Esthar please." Said Quistis.
Nida nodded and went up the elevator lift to the pilot's deck, they all felt a small jolt as the Garden turned.
"Rinoa and I are going down to the dormitory to get ready." said Squall.
"Sure." Said Quistis. "We'll notify the students that they must all remain in the Garden, at all times."
"You know. we may be met with some hostility once we get into Esthar you know. what if Adel was already taken it over. we may be met with some 'greeting' soldiers." Said Seifer.
Squall nodded. "Quistis. Get our comrades, looks like we better ready ourselves."
**************************************************
Once again, I'd like to thank you, Selena, for the lovely comment! Hope you like what's coming.
Chapter III Unwanted Truth
In Aurora's mind
Aurora awoke from a deep slumber and looked through 'her' eyes. She could see large buildings in brilliant colors, tall with blue lanes weaving through them. In the distance she saw a huge palace. Her feet seemed to be moving forwards, through lots of people who were looking at her strangely.
"What's going on. where am I.?" she asked. The last memory that she remembered she was dancing with Sirus. "Where's Sirus?"
A voice came through her mind that startled her. She had not said those words; the words came from somewhere else in her mind. She tried to move but realized that she had no control over her body.
"Be quiet you fool." said the voice inside her mind. It seemed very harsh, very dry. it was very familiar to her.
"Adel?" said Aurora in shock. "What do you want. I thought you were dead."
"I am dead," said the voice coldly, and harshly, "And who said that I was Adel."
"Then. then who are you." Stuttered Aurora, still unsure what exactly was happening.
"You ask to many questions, you know. Alot like your mother when I possessed her. She just wouldn't stop asking me why I was doing this. I thought you people would learn that by now." Said the voice airily.
"Sorceress Ultimecia!" said Aurora in astonishment.
"Wow, you catch on fast you know, I must give you credit for being so clever." Ultimecia said, sarcastically.
"What do you want?" asked Aurora. "Why me?"
"Well, first I'll say that I chose you because you're now stronger then your mother ever was. I need a strong sorceress to feed off of. It's a shame that I didn't have time to totally take over you mother, it would have made our lives much easier, I mean, you'd have never been born if I'd have totally taken her over." She said tauntingly.
"What do you mean when you say 'our' lives.?" asked Aurora, beginning to panic.
"I guess I won't give you credit for being clever, you people are so slow!" Ultimecia said, "You should know by know that I am Rinoa. Rinoa is I. I am your mother."
"No. that can't be possible. My mother isn't evil. she's not like you. There's no way..no way." Whispered Aurora, fearfully.
"Oh, it's true, and you'd better believe it." Ultimecia said loudly so it echoed through 'their' mind.
"But. but how?" asked Aurora in awe.
"Didn't you ever know that once a sorceress reaches her prime age that she stops aging if her powers are strong enough? Well, I of course stopped aging when I was nearly 20, after I'd had you. Many years later my dear husband, Squall, died. I couldn't take it, it just didn't make sense to me, and after years of mourning and sadness, I became something else. the brilliant, clever me as you know me now." She replied scathingly.
"When I travelled through time, with the help of the Junction Ellone machine, of course, and saw many interesting things that I had forgotten about, that would ultimately rule my future if they weren't destroyed." Ultimecia said, "You, my daughter were becoming too powerful. almost as powerful as I. so I killed you." Ultimecia said with some sort of triumph in her voice.
It took Aurora a moment to fully understand exactly what Ultimecia was talking about but when she thought about it, Ultimecia meant that after Squall died, Aurora became powerful. more so then she could imagine. "No. it can't be true." Said Aurora beginning to get angry.
"Oh but it is." She replied. "You almost beat me too. You almost had me but of course I won. and I killed you. You see, I thought it would have been easier to possess myself when I was a teenager, right after I got my sorceress powers and make myself evil. I needed to use Adel though to get my life long dream, Time Compression, and of course to make sure that you weren't born, to make sure you wouldn't hurt my chances of attaining this dream, but I did not succeed. My 'husband' ultimately beat me. After I'd left myself for awhile I couldn't get back into my future self. It just wasn't possible."
Aurora said nothing; it was all too much for her to take in.
"My past self and my past husband, Squall, traveled to my time, when I'd decided Time Compression would be a good idea but they somehow beat the most powerful sorceress of all time. They did only kill my body though, only one person can get rid of me, and that's me. I thought since I had a powerful sorceress daughter I'd try to get to her. me teenage self was to hard to control. No wonder I became so incredible." She said, vehemently.
"What are you saying?" asked Aurora.
'What I'm saying is. that now I am you. You are I. Mother and daughter united forever. If you still don't understand, I might as well work the whole process down for you: I am using you to attain my dream, Time Compression and it will only be us, eventually, you will die and I will be left. Now, it would be much easier if you would cooperate with me. it'd be a real pain to have to work you down, as I tried with my teenage self. so why don't you just join me now?" Ultimecia glowered.
"I will not join you. You are NOT my mother, my mother is a kind and loving person, not an evil, cunning bitch!" roared Aurora.
"Ohhh. you have so much hate. I love It." ranted Ultimecia. "But you will become very annoying to me. Goodnight."
Aurora felt her mind closing down, she felt as though she were falling asleep.
"No." she whispered.
"H. hey.. Who's that?" she thought as she saw a boy walking beside her, someone she hadn't noticed before.
"D. Dean?" she thought as she recognized him. "What's he doing here?"
Her mind closed down and right before she fell asleep she saw a palace in the distance, Laguna's presidental palace.
Chapter IV The Funeral
Irvine sat holding Selphie's hand in the black chairs that sat in the quad surrounding Ward's casket. Selphie had tears running down her cheeks, Irvine was trying to calm her down a little by telling her to be strong for Laguna and Kiros.
Among them were; Zell and his wife, Clarissa who sat to the right; Seifer and Quistis to the right; Rajin and Fujin who sat right behind them with Nida; and Squall and Rinoa who sat in front of them near Laguna, Kiros and Ellone.
The flower surrounded casket lay open and some students from the Garden lay roses on the casket.
It was a small funeral, mostly close people and garden instructors but some students felt they should join such as Dawn and her boyfriend Jem.
Laguna and Kiros stood up and walked to the casket and stood there, looking down at their old friend Ward. Irvine could see a few teardrops coming from both Laguna and Kiros.
Laguna stepped up to the podium and wiped away his tears and began the speech that he insisted on doing.
"Whoa. I don't think Ward would like this." he started with, a few people who knew Ward well, smiled weakly, remembering how he didn't like to make big deals out of that kind of stuff.
"Ward was. well Ward. He was his own person, nobody could ever compare to him, I don't think. Even in the times when we fought as Galbadian Soldiers and I always managed to get Kiros, him and I lost; he still managed to put up with my conceitedness and my ways! He was always very supportive of both Kiros and I and was a generally friendly guy all around." He paused, but continued after catching the falter in his voice.
"Unfortunately he lost his voice at the accident in the excavation site. We had to jump off of a cliff (my idea.) to get away from Esthar soldiers. After the accident we got split up, I was in Winhill with my late wife, Raine; Kiros was looking all over the world for me and Ward had a job in the D-District Prison. We found each other and set off for Esthar, I became president and Kiros and Ward stayed by me, Ward being my reliable general along with Kiros."
Laguna looked around, tears were beginning to run down his cheeks silently and he looked down at his paper again, struggling to find the right words. "There really isn't any words to describe how much Ward meant to me, how much he meant to everyone. He always had this way of making you feel like a friend. like you were important. and he always put others first." Laguna stopped again, and when he began to speak again, he trailed off a lot.
"It's impossible to say how much we'll miss him. how much." Laguna stopped and turned away. He stepped off the platform and walked straight out of the Quad, his hand placed on his forehead. Kiros hugged Squall and Rinoa and followed Laguna. Ellone remained behind.
People began to get up and walk past Ward's casket, muttering words then leaving. Soon after the only ones left were Rajin, Fujin, Nida, Seifer, Quistis, Zell, Clarissa, Selphie, Irvine, Ellone, Rinoa and Squall.
Rajin and Fujin nodded to Seifer and left the Quad also followed by Zell, his wife, Irvine and Selphie.
"Squall. we'll take care of this. you and Rinoa can go now if you lie. Take Ellone with you." Said Seifer softly.
Squall nodded and left, holding Rinoa's hand with Ellone beside them.
"Do you think its going to be ok?" asked Rinoa quietly.
Squall nodded. "Yeah, I think so. everything's going to be fine." He said reassuringly.
They walked silently out of the Quad and went towards the library, intending to stay there for a little while, and then head to Quistis's office again. "What are we gonna do now?" Rinoa asked softly as they reached the library and sat around a table together.
Squall stared at the table. 'I honestly don't know. I think we need to deal with the garden first. everyone is shaken up by what happened." he said.
"But what about Aurora." Asked Ellone.
"Aurora? I don't know. I don't know how we can help her." said Squall.
"I suppose your right. I mean, there's nothing that we can do right now for her. you guys have to deal with the garden too." said Ellone.
Squall looked over to Rinoa, she had her arms crossed and some tears were running down her cheeks. Squall put his arm around her but said nothing. The three of them sat there for nearly a half and hour, just thinking and barely saying a word until Squall finally stood up and said, "We'd better get going."
They left the library, looking at students as they passed by and they headed towards Quistis's office.
***************************************
"Oh. You came." said Quistis as the elevator door opened and Squall, Rinoa and Ellone stepped out. "You guys could have waited awhile. Seifer and I."
"Its ok, Quistis. we have to deal with this problem now. before it gets worse." said Squall right away.
Ellone stepped back, "I think that I'd better leave, let you guys too it. I'll go and see Laguna and Kiros."
Squall and Rinoa nodded; Ellone left.
"Well, lets get started then." Said Quistis. "So far we've told the Garden students at the ball to keep this affair quiet, they say that it won't get around but its only a matter of time before someone talks and then the whole Garden knows."
"Your right." said Rinoa heavily as she plopped into a nearby armchair. "Well, we'd better get on with this. What's our status?"
"Well. yesterday we agreed that Adel would be headed for Esthar because it was her country." said Quistis slowly.
"What do you mean, you guys know it's Adel? How.?" asked Rinoa quickly, sitting straight up in her seat.
"Rinoa. when Ward died Dr. Kadowski and I were talking, she knows that something or someone is in there. and if you remember, right after Aurora was possessed the person inside said, 'I told you "d be back.'" Squall interjected.
"Yeah. before Adel died she promised she'd be back. I guess you're right, I mean. if it was Ultimecia back then she'd want Seifer, right?" Rinoa said, staring off into nothingness.
"Ultimecia? It's been 15 years, how could she even possibly be back?" asked Seifer in a quivering voice.
"She did come from way off in the future. remember? Who's to say that since she's from the future that she didn't realize that she could take over the world earlier in her age. its as if she never died. If you think about it a sorceress never dies." Rinoa stated.
Seifer shivered. "It's not possible." he said tonelessly.
"I never told you guys this. but when Ultimecia died. when Squall killed her. I heard this voice in my mind. it was like I was paralyzed. The voice told me that it'd be back. it was Ultimecia. She told me that I knew how and why. but I don't." she said directly to Seifer, who began to pace.
"But. but like you said, Rinoa, she'd want me back, right?" Seifer said with a wave of his hand as if to push to bad feeling he had away.
"Not necessarily. maybe she wanted someone with a the right type of mind to take over, and easier mind.. maybe she's still weak, maybe she wanted someone easier to take over. Seifer, your much stronger now then you were 15 years ago." she replied in a confident voice.
Quistis, who was standing by the large window and staring into the horizon and at the now afternoon sun turned and spoke. "It's possible but I don't think so."
"Why not?" asked Squall who stepped forward.
"Because if it was Ultimecia then why would she say that it was Adel. Ultimecia is pure evil, she would want to take credit for her work." She said airily.
"Hmmm." Squall started.
"Don't you even remember? When Adel took over Aurora she said herself that it was her then she took off." Quistis interrupted.
"I guess." Said Rinoa in a surrendering tone. "But we can't leave all possibilities out."
"Yeah. but what I think we really should do right now is move the Garden to the Esthar continent but stay away from the city. We don't want to endanger the student's lives." Said Squall finally.
"Yes. I'll notify Nida to head there straight away. We'll station the Garden near the lunar base and take a car to Esthar." Said Quistis. She grabbed the small microphone and called Nida to the pilot's deck to direct the Garden to Esthar from near Winhill where they currently were.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Seifer had resumed pacing the floor. Rinoa was biting her nails nervously as she sat on the edge of the armchair. Quistis was leaning against the window and Squall was standing near the elevator.
Seifer suddenly stopped pacing when an idea struck his mind, a crazy and possible dangerous idea.
"Squall?" he asked with a smirk crossing his face.
"Yes?" said Squall and Rinoa raised her head.
"I have an idea. we all need to know where Aurora is, exactly and how she is. if she's safe." he said.
"Yes." said Squall hoping that Seifer wasn't thinking what Squall thought he was thinking.
"Ellone is here and." Seifer started but Squall interrupted him immediately when he saw where he was leading.
"No." he said simply.
"Oh, come on. she'll be fine. You said that she once connected with you, through her mind, and she's been in Ultimecia's mind before. she helped Quistis save Laguna's and my life. Please, she can help us." Seifer argued.
Squall groaned knowing that he was right. Ellone could help them, that was if she was up to it. "I guess. only if she wants to though." Said Squall in agreement. Rinoa looked as though she had just woke up on Christmas morning. They'd finally know how Aurora was.
"I'm here." Said Nida as he stepped out of the elevator.
"Nida, direct the Garden to Esthar please." Said Quistis.
Nida nodded and went up the elevator lift to the pilot's deck, they all felt a small jolt as the Garden turned.
"Rinoa and I are going down to the dormitory to get ready." said Squall.
"Sure." Said Quistis. "We'll notify the students that they must all remain in the Garden, at all times."
"You know. we may be met with some hostility once we get into Esthar you know. what if Adel was already taken it over. we may be met with some 'greeting' soldiers." Said Seifer.
Squall nodded. "Quistis. Get our comrades, looks like we better ready ourselves."
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