AUTHORS NOTE:
Thanks for the reply, selena, its great that your enjoying it. Once again, it was a chapter I enjoyed to write.. Anyway, heres more (I'll read more of both your stories).
Chapter XIII.................The Wreckage
Dawn looked up at the night's sky that was slowly drifting away to the west and with light arising to the east. Dawn and Jem walked slowly along the translucent blue road that glimmered in the fading moonlight and cast shadows of the buildings among them.
"We're going the wrong way." Said Jem, pointing at the Palace in front of them, they were close enough to see the entrance.
Dawn sighed. "Are we ever going to find a way out of this stupid city?" she asked, exasperatedly.
"Not if we keep up the way we are.." he scowled as she kicked the road with her foot in frustration. "Shhh.."
Dawn stared absentmindedly until something moving caught her eye and she squinted through the darkness at the palace entrance, a few people were coming out.
"Guards!" she hissed and she grabbed Jem's arm. They dove out of view but the guards kept moving towards them, surely the Guards wouldn't come this far unless-
"I think they saw us!" Jem whispered.
"No way, I mean, how could they have?" Dawn said in a low voice as the footsteps grew closer and soon they were right near their hiding place.
"Might as well get out and fight." said Jem and pulled out his gloves for fighting. Dawn pulled out her hand blades and they jumped out, ready to strike. As quickly as they jumped out, those in front of them were able to stand back well enough to prevent them from attacking. It was none other then the headmistress and master, Quistis and Seifer; Squall, Rinoa and Ellone were among them.
Seifer had gotten his gunblade out before knowing who was there and they all stood ready, in combat positions until they recognized each other's faces.
"What? How?" Quistis sputtered in alarm, she had let Squall's arm drop, he looked to be unconscious, in Dawn's opinion, and Rinoa seemed to be struggling to keep Squall up without falling over.
"That's what we're wondering!" said Jem in 'would be smart' voice, still ready to strike for some reason. Dawn raised her arm and put it over Jems. He lowered his fists reluctantly. Seifer lowered his gunblade and tucked it away safely.
"How did you guys get here?" asked Dawn.
"Long story." Quistis stated abruptly. "How'd you get here?"
"We had to emergency land. we had sent a signal to the battle with explosives and then an enemy jet fired at us and hit us." Dawn explained. "We think that they left in the Garden. Jem repaired it."
"I see." said Quistis and stared out into the horizon, the sun was now visible in the dark horizon, peaking its brightness over the Grandidi forest.
"Any reports?" Quistis asked.
"Er. Airstrike 1, 3 and 5 went down during battle. Airstrike 2 is on the Garden with Ragnarok Two and Airstrike 4, our jet, is over there." Said Dawn, pointing backwards.
"What about Ragnarok One with Irvine and Selphie?" asked Quistis anxiously.
"Er." Dawn said, not wanting to say it. "Umm, we believe that Ragnarok One went down during battle, we lost contact with them before the battle was over."
Quistis, Seifer, Rinoa and Ellone all gaped at them, with their eyes wide.
Seifer didn't seem to know what to say and Rinoa lost balance and landed on the road with a thud, she didn't seem to care about the fact that she fell; her face was filled with sadness and tears ran down her cheeks.
"Irvine and Selphie. dead?" she said, staring at the ground, hardly able to speak. "They can't be!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bright garden illuminated against the sky that was turning light rapidly and they glided across the ocean slowly, heading towards Galbadia.
"What business do we have in Galbadia?" asked Nida to Zell and Clarissa who were still on deck with him. "Shouldn't we be heading to Balamb to settle there for awhile?"
Zell got to his feet; he had been sitting cross-legged, his head in his hands. "Laguna and Kiros are in Deling City on business. We need to go there and get them." he stared out into the horizon, the wind blowing through his hair (the pilot's deck didn't have cover).
"It's getting' light now." Clarissa stated and walked a few steps over to Zell and put her arm around his waist. "It's gonna be alright, you know." She whispered, reassuringly.
Zell sighed and looked down at her. "It won't be though. We've lost Squall's group in Esthar and we don't know what happened to Irvine and Selphie."
"Do you think that Irvine and Selphie are still alive?" Clarissa asked Nida softly and calmly.
Nida said nothing for a moment and then shook his head, unable to find the words to say. He wasn't sure at all whether they were still alive or not.
"I wonder what happened in Esthar?" asked Zell in a concerned voice. "You'd think that they would have been back before we had left, what if they can't get out of Esthar. what if." he choked on his words, unable to continue.
"Deling City, right ahead." Said Nida suddenly; Zell hadn't noticed the Galbadia continent in front of him before Nida spoke up. "What're we going to do when we get there?" Nida said, turning to look at Zell and Clarissa.
Zell thought for a moment, considering what to do. He wasn't even entirely sure what business Laguna and Kiros even had in Deling City, Zell only knew that Laguna and Kiros should come back to Garden. They didn't know if Adel was gone. or what.
"Well." Zell began. "First off, I'd like you to remain in the Garden. in case you need to head off. We don't know if Adel is here or not, she may still be in Esthar or she may even be dead but its best to take precautions."
"And what are you going to do in Deling City?" asked Nida. "Are you taking Clarissa?"
Zell shook his head, "No."
"Why not?" demanded Clarissa, suddenly. "I can help, don't just leave me here."
Zell sighed, frowning but couldn't turn down the determined look on her face. "Fine." And Clarissa nodded.
"Once we get in we're just going to find Laguna and Kiros and that's it. No messing around but like I said, Nida." Zell said pointedly to Nida, ". if you've got to leave then just leave. We're going to walk in but who knows what may happen, we'll figure out something to do if you have to leave."
"I don't - " Nida started but Zell held up a hand to silence him.
"I know its stupid, nothing is probably going to happen but it's just a precaution, alright."
Nida nodded. "Alright then, we're here anyway." He pointed ahead and Deling City glowed against the now lighting sky.
"Let's go then." Zell gestured for Clarissa to follow and they headed out.
'Good Luck!' said Nida. Zell simply nodded and they left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deep in the brush of the Grandidi forest, crashed wreckage lay burning and spread out over a rather large space. The sun peaked over the trees, morning sunlight shone down onto the wreck.
Under a particularly large piece of wreckage came a low groan and Irvine pushed the metal wreckage off him self and stood up. He clutched his arm, which was cut very deep along his forearm, and a cut leaked a bit of blood on his forehead.
He took the bottom of his already ripped jacket and tore off a piece and wrapped it firmly around his forearm to stop the blood.
"Selphie?" he yelled hoarsely.
A low moan of reply came from nearby, under an even larger piece of jagged metal then Irvine was under before. "Selphie, is that you?" Irvine asked, his voice still very hoarse.
"Y.Yeah?" said a low raspy voice, Selphie's voice.
Irvine saw a foot underneath the metal and walked straight over to lift it off of her. "Are you alright?" he asked in a concerned voice, looking down at her leg, her knees were both very bloody and she had a large bump on her head. She arms and the rest of her legs that weren't bleeding were full of bruises.
Selphie groaned as Irvine took her hand and lifted her off the ground. "I'll be okay." She then glanced around at the wreckage. "What happened?"
"We crashed. Remember?" Irvine said.
Selphie nodded, "Yeah. I remember now. I wonder where we are though?"
Irvine didn't say anything, he knew as well as she did, even though she was asking, that they were obviously lost in the forest. He walked over to the large piece of jagged metal that he was under and retrieved his cowboy hat from underneath, setting it on his head.
"We might as well go, I guess." Said Irvine, his voice returning to normal.
"Yeah, looks like its sunrise. We've been here all night." She said and then her eyes widened. "Oh no. what d'you think happened to the battle? I hope they're alright."
"Me too." Irvine said shortly, wondering if the Garden was totally destroyed now. He could tell that Selphie was thinking the same thing because she had begun to shake nervously. He decided to change the subject.
"Where's our weapons?" he asked and Selphie looked around.
"Mine's right here!" she said, moving towards a small clearing where her morning star was. "Yours is over there." She pointed to a pile of metal; Irvine's gun was tucked underneath.
"Let's find a stream to get some water from, then we should head up there to look around." He said, pointing at a large mountain with a visible traveling path that looked to be made by animals.
"Alright." said Selphie and they began to walk, Selphie limping slightly. Soon enough they heard the trickle of a stream though the bushes. Once they reached it they were slightly disappointed; it was barely a stream at all. It was more like a trail of water about one foot wide, nevertheless-
"Let's drink some anyway, we might as well." Said Irvine and cupped his hands together. As he set his hands into the water he felt the pleasant feeling of coldness running through his fingers.
After awhile they had decided to set off, they traveled past the narrow stream and towards the mountain that Irvine had pointed to earlier.
After nearly twenty minutes, which to them, seemed an eternity, they reached flat ground but they were still surrounded by the green forest trees and bushes. They kept going, although they were very much out of breath, until they saw a large clearing that lead out onto a large open rock.
"We can look around from there!" exclaimed Selphie. "Maybe we can even find a way out of the forest, we can't be far from the edge, can we?"
Once they reached the clearing Selphie ran ahead, ignoring the searing pain her legs. She stopped abruptly, near the edge of the cliff of the rock and the collapsed as she looked around. Irvine understood why.
"From as far as they could see it was all lush and thick greenness of the Grandidi Forest. A few cliffs and mountains like the one they were on stuck out but other then that it was all forest.
"What are we going to do now?" asked Selphie in a panicked tone, "We'll never get out of here! Even if Garden survived the battle they'd be gone by now. Squall and Rinoa's group is bound to be gone too! They probably think that we're dead. they won't come looking for us out here!"
Irvine slumped down beside Selphie and looked out into the horizon but stood up suddenly as he said something. "Look, Selphie!" he had wanted to yell happily but he was so tired all that came out was a low murmur.
"Seriously, Look!" he pulled her up and pointed to a place pretty far away but just close enough to see.
"It's the Chocobo Sanctuary!" he exclaimed, but Selphie gave him a strange look. "Don't you see? We can use Chocobos to get out, they're fast and they always know how to get out of forests!"
Selphie didn't seem to convinced by this, but Irvine was. "Listen, all that we've got to do is head directly straight and we'll be there in about a day or two, walking! Then we'll be about to get out of here!"
**********************************************
**********************************************
Chapter XIV..............Presidental Manner
"With all do respect, Landers, I see no reason for you to refuse my proposal!" said Laguna angrily to Joseph Landers, the president of Galbadia. "Sorceress Adel is back now. we know it. My grand-daughter is in grave danger, Adel has possessed her and the entire world is close to Adel's grasp."
Landers slammed his fist down on the desk of General Caraway where Caraway stood to the side, staring out the window into the sunrise that glowed softly over Deling City.
"Loire, just because you're the 'most powerful' man in the world. just because you're the president of the 'all great' Esthar, doesn't mean that you can demand me to put my country at risk for you." Landers stated, seriously.
"Yes. I know that you shouldn't have to but that's not the point," Laguna urged, "The point is, we need to be united. I have reason to believe that my country is her first target. she may have already taken it but once she has succeeded she'll be after Galbadia. Mark my words."
"Your only doing this to protect yourself, you don't care if Galbadia is taken over. you just don't want your country to go to pieces," Landers said, "It will because of the way you run things which is very amateur."
Laguna began pacing back in forth, scowling, in front of Kiros who was sitting silently on the couch, listening intently to their conversation and tutting now and then at Landers remarks.
"It wouldn't hurt to try, Mr. President," said Kiros after a long, awkward silence, "I mean. I know Galbadia and Esthar have had there differences in the past but if we don't want to be destroyed then we should put aside our ways and unite together to defeat Adel before she becomes too strong." "Precisely!" said Laguna.
"Not a chance!" said General Caraway and Landers at the same times. Caraway said it slightly louder then Landers as he moved away from the window and stared at Laguna, his eyes flashing.
Just as Laguna sighed and was about to continue to argue a loud crash made him jump a little and he looked behind him to see a few Galbadian soldiers come running in, looking frantic.
"Mr. President. General Caraway," the one on the left said, "We have a problem."
"Not now, we're busy at the moment. Can't it wait?" said Caraway, looking rather angry at the disturbance. Laguna wouldn't have been surprised if he fired the soldier right there and then by the look upon his face.
"I'm sorry, sir. It cannot wait." Said the soldier on the left and then the soldier on the right spoke up. "Deling City is out of control. People are panicking. there have been several riots. We heard word that there is a sorceress here. and is demanding to see you."
Landers blanched. "What!" he said, his voice both furious and angry, "Where is the sorceress. who is she?"
"She's at the presidential residence. its sorceress Adel." Said the soldier on the left.
Laguna turned to Landers and smirked a little, "So what do you say, Landers?" he asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hot sun burned down onto Irvine and Selphies backs through the trees. It was midday in the Grandidi Forest and they trudged along silently, hungry, sweating and in pain.
"D'you think we're nearly there?" asked Selphie in a hoarse voice.
"No, Selphie," Said Irvine exasperatedly. "I told you already, it'll take us at least the rest of the day to get there, if not tomorrow too, if we stop for camp. Especially at the rate we're going!"
Selphie groaned, " I wonder if there's a stream anywhere. or better yet, a lake! Then we can go swimming for a minute!"
"Maybe." Irvine said in a less then sure voice, but tried to keep his hopes up and just prayed that they were still going in the right direction.
They walked slowly, in silence once again, until Selphie shouted out and when Irvine turned around, she had disappeared.
"Selphie?" he asked quietly, and looked around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What's going on?" asked Clarissa, quietly, as they stepped through the Deling City gates and saw several riots and people screaming.
"I've no idea." Zell said, his eyes wide and concerned, "We'd better find Laguna and Kiros though. tell'em what's happened."
"Yeah." Agreed Clarissa and they began moving along the road, avoiding anyone who looked slightly murderous.
"Where do you think that they are?" asked Clarissa as they neared the presidential residence, still moving cautiously as ever and carefully avoiding anyone near them.
"Probably here." Zell said as they rounded the corner into the large plaza in front of the residence but soon realized that they couldn't be there.
As they moved into the open they saw something that made them move quickly backwards, towards the large archway. In front of the residence several people were lying on the ground. they looked to be either unconscious or even dead and behind the people stood someone towering over everyone else. someone they only recognized all to well.
"Adel!" sputtered Zell. "But how. when. I thought Aurora. I mean."
"Zell," said Clarissa, her eyes flicker back and forth between Adel and the people around them. "Come on. we've gotta get out of here. We need to find Laguna and Kiros, don't we?"
"Y.Yeah." said Zell, "Let's go then."
They tore off to the side, down a path towards General Caraway's mansion, looking back every now and then. "I bet they're at Caraways. that's where Laguna would go. maybe. if not to the presidential palace."
"Zell, what if." Clarissa started but Zell finished her sentence.
".she has them?" he said, ". there's no way she could, is there?"
"But how do you know for sure? If Adel got there and. and." she said, looking over at Zell frowning.
"I guess we'll have to find out then, won't we." Said Zell as they crossed the road full of rioting people and ran down the path towards Caraway's mansion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Loire." Landers began, but was unable to finish what he was going to say when Laguna interrupted him. He spoke to Caraway who had just dismissed the two soldiers.
"Caraway," he said menacingly, "Aurora is your grand-daughter too. It's Rinoa's daughter for Hyne's sakes! If not for the world then do it for your own grand daughter and your daughter."
Caraway sighed, his cold eyes seemed to turn soft. Laguna knew he'd hit the spot.
"Mr. President. I think that we should do this with Loire. Even if the countries still aren't on good terms when this is over." said Caraway, turning to Landers, "We may be able to save Galbadia and Esthar."
Landers took a deep breath and seemed to be doing some very quick thinking. "I suppose." he said. "Alright. You win Loire. I'll order out to Galbadia that we are to help out your country, but that means you'll have to help defend mine."
Laguna nearly jumped for joy. Instead, he nodded and leaned over the desk to shake Landers hand. "You won't regret this, Landers."
"Let's hope not." Said Landers and very reluctantly, shook Laguna's hand.
"I should head back to Esthar. see what happened there. Balamb Garden was headed there when we took off," said Laguna, "You can come to Esthar with your fleet if you want to. unless you'd rather stay and be called if you're needed."
"Why was Garden heading to Esthar?" asked Landers, frowning.
"My son, Squall, and his crew went to find Aurora. they hoped to be able to bring her back." Laguna answered.
"I see. Squall, he is the SeeD commander, am I right?" asked Landers.
"Yes." Said Laguna curtly, "Why?"
"I won't allow Balamb Garden to take part in this, it's too dangerous. He won't have any say in what will happen." Said Landers.
"But why?"
"It is dangerous because Galbadia and Balamb Garden, any Garden at that, haven't been on very good terms ever since the Trabia Garden incident 15 years ago when they were bombed." Landers replied.
"You can't be on much worse terms then my country and yours?" asked Laguna.
"Oh, but we are," intervened Caraway, "We even tried to bomb Balamb and we took over the Galbadia Garden before Landers was president. They do not want anything to do with us. I hardly think that we can work together."
"Listen, Garden is a good asset to have on our side." Laguna said, "Especially with Squall as the SeeD commander! I'll talk to him and SeeD will help us. it will make us stronger."
"We shall see. we shall see." Landers said in a final tone. "But, I'm afraid that I cannot accompany you to Esthar. My place is here, with my country. There's no way that I can leave them. I'll send Caraway with you."
Laguna nodded in understanding, as he would do the same for his own country. "Very well." he said.
Kiros stood up and followed Laguna and Caraway to the door. Before Laguna touched the handle it sprang open and Laguna was knocked over by Zell. They both fell on the floor. Laguna noticed Zell's wife was with him.
"Laguna!" Zell gasped and sprang up, holding his hand out to Laguna and looked at the bewildered face of Landers.
"Sorry." He said and then turned back to Laguna who began to speak.
"What's going on?" asked Laguna.
"It's Adel, she's here!" said Zell.
"We know that already." Caraway said.
"Did you know that it's really her though?" asked Zell.
"What are you talking about?" Laguna asked, furiously.
"I'm saying that it's really her. It's not Adel in Aurora's body. it's her."
Laguna's eyes widened and he looked around the room; everyone seemed as awestruck as he did.
"What happened to Aurora?" he asked quietly.
"W. We don't know."
"Where's Squall and Rinoa?" Laguna asked frantically.
"Still in Esthar with Seifer, Quistis, Ellone and Sirus. I imagine." Zell shrugged, "We had to leave without them, after we withdrew."
"Withdrew?" asked Laguna.
"We battled with Esthar." Zell started to explain but Laguna interrupted again.
"You battled with Esthar!"
"Yes. after the Garden broke down." Zell was once again interrupted by Laguna.
"The Garden broke down?"
"YES! Now will you let me explain?" said Zell exasperatedly. "When we got to Esthar, Adel must have already taken over because the soldiers were coming towards us. We tried to withdraw before a battle happened but the Garden wouldn't move, it must have been damaged on the rough terrain."
"We had no choice but to try and fight, Squall's crew left and went into Esthar as we headed out into battle. One of the mechanical students tried to fix the Garden as we fought and Nida plus some more students went out to battle the air fleet."
"There were so many soldiers. almost twice as many as the students." said Clarissa, who'd moved beside Zell before he continued.
"After awhile we saw some of the jets being taken down and then one did this strange dive thing and we figured it was a sign to withdraw, the Garden was fixed. We couldn't wait for Squall's crew to get back. there was too many soldiers and that wasn't our only worry, either. One of the Ragnarok's is missing."
"And who was in the Ragnarok?" asked Laguna.
"Irvine and Selphie." Said Clarissa and Laguna took a long and deep breath but said nothing.
"We had to leave and we knew that we had to come here to get you," said Zell, "Laguna, I think that Esthar is in the hands of Adel and it looks to me like Galbadia is soon to be as well."
*********************************************
*********************************************
Thanks for the reply, selena, its great that your enjoying it. Once again, it was a chapter I enjoyed to write.. Anyway, heres more (I'll read more of both your stories).
Chapter XIII.................The Wreckage
Dawn looked up at the night's sky that was slowly drifting away to the west and with light arising to the east. Dawn and Jem walked slowly along the translucent blue road that glimmered in the fading moonlight and cast shadows of the buildings among them.
"We're going the wrong way." Said Jem, pointing at the Palace in front of them, they were close enough to see the entrance.
Dawn sighed. "Are we ever going to find a way out of this stupid city?" she asked, exasperatedly.
"Not if we keep up the way we are.." he scowled as she kicked the road with her foot in frustration. "Shhh.."
Dawn stared absentmindedly until something moving caught her eye and she squinted through the darkness at the palace entrance, a few people were coming out.
"Guards!" she hissed and she grabbed Jem's arm. They dove out of view but the guards kept moving towards them, surely the Guards wouldn't come this far unless-
"I think they saw us!" Jem whispered.
"No way, I mean, how could they have?" Dawn said in a low voice as the footsteps grew closer and soon they were right near their hiding place.
"Might as well get out and fight." said Jem and pulled out his gloves for fighting. Dawn pulled out her hand blades and they jumped out, ready to strike. As quickly as they jumped out, those in front of them were able to stand back well enough to prevent them from attacking. It was none other then the headmistress and master, Quistis and Seifer; Squall, Rinoa and Ellone were among them.
Seifer had gotten his gunblade out before knowing who was there and they all stood ready, in combat positions until they recognized each other's faces.
"What? How?" Quistis sputtered in alarm, she had let Squall's arm drop, he looked to be unconscious, in Dawn's opinion, and Rinoa seemed to be struggling to keep Squall up without falling over.
"That's what we're wondering!" said Jem in 'would be smart' voice, still ready to strike for some reason. Dawn raised her arm and put it over Jems. He lowered his fists reluctantly. Seifer lowered his gunblade and tucked it away safely.
"How did you guys get here?" asked Dawn.
"Long story." Quistis stated abruptly. "How'd you get here?"
"We had to emergency land. we had sent a signal to the battle with explosives and then an enemy jet fired at us and hit us." Dawn explained. "We think that they left in the Garden. Jem repaired it."
"I see." said Quistis and stared out into the horizon, the sun was now visible in the dark horizon, peaking its brightness over the Grandidi forest.
"Any reports?" Quistis asked.
"Er. Airstrike 1, 3 and 5 went down during battle. Airstrike 2 is on the Garden with Ragnarok Two and Airstrike 4, our jet, is over there." Said Dawn, pointing backwards.
"What about Ragnarok One with Irvine and Selphie?" asked Quistis anxiously.
"Er." Dawn said, not wanting to say it. "Umm, we believe that Ragnarok One went down during battle, we lost contact with them before the battle was over."
Quistis, Seifer, Rinoa and Ellone all gaped at them, with their eyes wide.
Seifer didn't seem to know what to say and Rinoa lost balance and landed on the road with a thud, she didn't seem to care about the fact that she fell; her face was filled with sadness and tears ran down her cheeks.
"Irvine and Selphie. dead?" she said, staring at the ground, hardly able to speak. "They can't be!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bright garden illuminated against the sky that was turning light rapidly and they glided across the ocean slowly, heading towards Galbadia.
"What business do we have in Galbadia?" asked Nida to Zell and Clarissa who were still on deck with him. "Shouldn't we be heading to Balamb to settle there for awhile?"
Zell got to his feet; he had been sitting cross-legged, his head in his hands. "Laguna and Kiros are in Deling City on business. We need to go there and get them." he stared out into the horizon, the wind blowing through his hair (the pilot's deck didn't have cover).
"It's getting' light now." Clarissa stated and walked a few steps over to Zell and put her arm around his waist. "It's gonna be alright, you know." She whispered, reassuringly.
Zell sighed and looked down at her. "It won't be though. We've lost Squall's group in Esthar and we don't know what happened to Irvine and Selphie."
"Do you think that Irvine and Selphie are still alive?" Clarissa asked Nida softly and calmly.
Nida said nothing for a moment and then shook his head, unable to find the words to say. He wasn't sure at all whether they were still alive or not.
"I wonder what happened in Esthar?" asked Zell in a concerned voice. "You'd think that they would have been back before we had left, what if they can't get out of Esthar. what if." he choked on his words, unable to continue.
"Deling City, right ahead." Said Nida suddenly; Zell hadn't noticed the Galbadia continent in front of him before Nida spoke up. "What're we going to do when we get there?" Nida said, turning to look at Zell and Clarissa.
Zell thought for a moment, considering what to do. He wasn't even entirely sure what business Laguna and Kiros even had in Deling City, Zell only knew that Laguna and Kiros should come back to Garden. They didn't know if Adel was gone. or what.
"Well." Zell began. "First off, I'd like you to remain in the Garden. in case you need to head off. We don't know if Adel is here or not, she may still be in Esthar or she may even be dead but its best to take precautions."
"And what are you going to do in Deling City?" asked Nida. "Are you taking Clarissa?"
Zell shook his head, "No."
"Why not?" demanded Clarissa, suddenly. "I can help, don't just leave me here."
Zell sighed, frowning but couldn't turn down the determined look on her face. "Fine." And Clarissa nodded.
"Once we get in we're just going to find Laguna and Kiros and that's it. No messing around but like I said, Nida." Zell said pointedly to Nida, ". if you've got to leave then just leave. We're going to walk in but who knows what may happen, we'll figure out something to do if you have to leave."
"I don't - " Nida started but Zell held up a hand to silence him.
"I know its stupid, nothing is probably going to happen but it's just a precaution, alright."
Nida nodded. "Alright then, we're here anyway." He pointed ahead and Deling City glowed against the now lighting sky.
"Let's go then." Zell gestured for Clarissa to follow and they headed out.
'Good Luck!' said Nida. Zell simply nodded and they left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deep in the brush of the Grandidi forest, crashed wreckage lay burning and spread out over a rather large space. The sun peaked over the trees, morning sunlight shone down onto the wreck.
Under a particularly large piece of wreckage came a low groan and Irvine pushed the metal wreckage off him self and stood up. He clutched his arm, which was cut very deep along his forearm, and a cut leaked a bit of blood on his forehead.
He took the bottom of his already ripped jacket and tore off a piece and wrapped it firmly around his forearm to stop the blood.
"Selphie?" he yelled hoarsely.
A low moan of reply came from nearby, under an even larger piece of jagged metal then Irvine was under before. "Selphie, is that you?" Irvine asked, his voice still very hoarse.
"Y.Yeah?" said a low raspy voice, Selphie's voice.
Irvine saw a foot underneath the metal and walked straight over to lift it off of her. "Are you alright?" he asked in a concerned voice, looking down at her leg, her knees were both very bloody and she had a large bump on her head. She arms and the rest of her legs that weren't bleeding were full of bruises.
Selphie groaned as Irvine took her hand and lifted her off the ground. "I'll be okay." She then glanced around at the wreckage. "What happened?"
"We crashed. Remember?" Irvine said.
Selphie nodded, "Yeah. I remember now. I wonder where we are though?"
Irvine didn't say anything, he knew as well as she did, even though she was asking, that they were obviously lost in the forest. He walked over to the large piece of jagged metal that he was under and retrieved his cowboy hat from underneath, setting it on his head.
"We might as well go, I guess." Said Irvine, his voice returning to normal.
"Yeah, looks like its sunrise. We've been here all night." She said and then her eyes widened. "Oh no. what d'you think happened to the battle? I hope they're alright."
"Me too." Irvine said shortly, wondering if the Garden was totally destroyed now. He could tell that Selphie was thinking the same thing because she had begun to shake nervously. He decided to change the subject.
"Where's our weapons?" he asked and Selphie looked around.
"Mine's right here!" she said, moving towards a small clearing where her morning star was. "Yours is over there." She pointed to a pile of metal; Irvine's gun was tucked underneath.
"Let's find a stream to get some water from, then we should head up there to look around." He said, pointing at a large mountain with a visible traveling path that looked to be made by animals.
"Alright." said Selphie and they began to walk, Selphie limping slightly. Soon enough they heard the trickle of a stream though the bushes. Once they reached it they were slightly disappointed; it was barely a stream at all. It was more like a trail of water about one foot wide, nevertheless-
"Let's drink some anyway, we might as well." Said Irvine and cupped his hands together. As he set his hands into the water he felt the pleasant feeling of coldness running through his fingers.
After awhile they had decided to set off, they traveled past the narrow stream and towards the mountain that Irvine had pointed to earlier.
After nearly twenty minutes, which to them, seemed an eternity, they reached flat ground but they were still surrounded by the green forest trees and bushes. They kept going, although they were very much out of breath, until they saw a large clearing that lead out onto a large open rock.
"We can look around from there!" exclaimed Selphie. "Maybe we can even find a way out of the forest, we can't be far from the edge, can we?"
Once they reached the clearing Selphie ran ahead, ignoring the searing pain her legs. She stopped abruptly, near the edge of the cliff of the rock and the collapsed as she looked around. Irvine understood why.
"From as far as they could see it was all lush and thick greenness of the Grandidi Forest. A few cliffs and mountains like the one they were on stuck out but other then that it was all forest.
"What are we going to do now?" asked Selphie in a panicked tone, "We'll never get out of here! Even if Garden survived the battle they'd be gone by now. Squall and Rinoa's group is bound to be gone too! They probably think that we're dead. they won't come looking for us out here!"
Irvine slumped down beside Selphie and looked out into the horizon but stood up suddenly as he said something. "Look, Selphie!" he had wanted to yell happily but he was so tired all that came out was a low murmur.
"Seriously, Look!" he pulled her up and pointed to a place pretty far away but just close enough to see.
"It's the Chocobo Sanctuary!" he exclaimed, but Selphie gave him a strange look. "Don't you see? We can use Chocobos to get out, they're fast and they always know how to get out of forests!"
Selphie didn't seem to convinced by this, but Irvine was. "Listen, all that we've got to do is head directly straight and we'll be there in about a day or two, walking! Then we'll be about to get out of here!"
**********************************************
**********************************************
Chapter XIV..............Presidental Manner
"With all do respect, Landers, I see no reason for you to refuse my proposal!" said Laguna angrily to Joseph Landers, the president of Galbadia. "Sorceress Adel is back now. we know it. My grand-daughter is in grave danger, Adel has possessed her and the entire world is close to Adel's grasp."
Landers slammed his fist down on the desk of General Caraway where Caraway stood to the side, staring out the window into the sunrise that glowed softly over Deling City.
"Loire, just because you're the 'most powerful' man in the world. just because you're the president of the 'all great' Esthar, doesn't mean that you can demand me to put my country at risk for you." Landers stated, seriously.
"Yes. I know that you shouldn't have to but that's not the point," Laguna urged, "The point is, we need to be united. I have reason to believe that my country is her first target. she may have already taken it but once she has succeeded she'll be after Galbadia. Mark my words."
"Your only doing this to protect yourself, you don't care if Galbadia is taken over. you just don't want your country to go to pieces," Landers said, "It will because of the way you run things which is very amateur."
Laguna began pacing back in forth, scowling, in front of Kiros who was sitting silently on the couch, listening intently to their conversation and tutting now and then at Landers remarks.
"It wouldn't hurt to try, Mr. President," said Kiros after a long, awkward silence, "I mean. I know Galbadia and Esthar have had there differences in the past but if we don't want to be destroyed then we should put aside our ways and unite together to defeat Adel before she becomes too strong." "Precisely!" said Laguna.
"Not a chance!" said General Caraway and Landers at the same times. Caraway said it slightly louder then Landers as he moved away from the window and stared at Laguna, his eyes flashing.
Just as Laguna sighed and was about to continue to argue a loud crash made him jump a little and he looked behind him to see a few Galbadian soldiers come running in, looking frantic.
"Mr. President. General Caraway," the one on the left said, "We have a problem."
"Not now, we're busy at the moment. Can't it wait?" said Caraway, looking rather angry at the disturbance. Laguna wouldn't have been surprised if he fired the soldier right there and then by the look upon his face.
"I'm sorry, sir. It cannot wait." Said the soldier on the left and then the soldier on the right spoke up. "Deling City is out of control. People are panicking. there have been several riots. We heard word that there is a sorceress here. and is demanding to see you."
Landers blanched. "What!" he said, his voice both furious and angry, "Where is the sorceress. who is she?"
"She's at the presidential residence. its sorceress Adel." Said the soldier on the left.
Laguna turned to Landers and smirked a little, "So what do you say, Landers?" he asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hot sun burned down onto Irvine and Selphies backs through the trees. It was midday in the Grandidi Forest and they trudged along silently, hungry, sweating and in pain.
"D'you think we're nearly there?" asked Selphie in a hoarse voice.
"No, Selphie," Said Irvine exasperatedly. "I told you already, it'll take us at least the rest of the day to get there, if not tomorrow too, if we stop for camp. Especially at the rate we're going!"
Selphie groaned, " I wonder if there's a stream anywhere. or better yet, a lake! Then we can go swimming for a minute!"
"Maybe." Irvine said in a less then sure voice, but tried to keep his hopes up and just prayed that they were still going in the right direction.
They walked slowly, in silence once again, until Selphie shouted out and when Irvine turned around, she had disappeared.
"Selphie?" he asked quietly, and looked around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What's going on?" asked Clarissa, quietly, as they stepped through the Deling City gates and saw several riots and people screaming.
"I've no idea." Zell said, his eyes wide and concerned, "We'd better find Laguna and Kiros though. tell'em what's happened."
"Yeah." Agreed Clarissa and they began moving along the road, avoiding anyone who looked slightly murderous.
"Where do you think that they are?" asked Clarissa as they neared the presidential residence, still moving cautiously as ever and carefully avoiding anyone near them.
"Probably here." Zell said as they rounded the corner into the large plaza in front of the residence but soon realized that they couldn't be there.
As they moved into the open they saw something that made them move quickly backwards, towards the large archway. In front of the residence several people were lying on the ground. they looked to be either unconscious or even dead and behind the people stood someone towering over everyone else. someone they only recognized all to well.
"Adel!" sputtered Zell. "But how. when. I thought Aurora. I mean."
"Zell," said Clarissa, her eyes flicker back and forth between Adel and the people around them. "Come on. we've gotta get out of here. We need to find Laguna and Kiros, don't we?"
"Y.Yeah." said Zell, "Let's go then."
They tore off to the side, down a path towards General Caraway's mansion, looking back every now and then. "I bet they're at Caraways. that's where Laguna would go. maybe. if not to the presidential palace."
"Zell, what if." Clarissa started but Zell finished her sentence.
".she has them?" he said, ". there's no way she could, is there?"
"But how do you know for sure? If Adel got there and. and." she said, looking over at Zell frowning.
"I guess we'll have to find out then, won't we." Said Zell as they crossed the road full of rioting people and ran down the path towards Caraway's mansion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Loire." Landers began, but was unable to finish what he was going to say when Laguna interrupted him. He spoke to Caraway who had just dismissed the two soldiers.
"Caraway," he said menacingly, "Aurora is your grand-daughter too. It's Rinoa's daughter for Hyne's sakes! If not for the world then do it for your own grand daughter and your daughter."
Caraway sighed, his cold eyes seemed to turn soft. Laguna knew he'd hit the spot.
"Mr. President. I think that we should do this with Loire. Even if the countries still aren't on good terms when this is over." said Caraway, turning to Landers, "We may be able to save Galbadia and Esthar."
Landers took a deep breath and seemed to be doing some very quick thinking. "I suppose." he said. "Alright. You win Loire. I'll order out to Galbadia that we are to help out your country, but that means you'll have to help defend mine."
Laguna nearly jumped for joy. Instead, he nodded and leaned over the desk to shake Landers hand. "You won't regret this, Landers."
"Let's hope not." Said Landers and very reluctantly, shook Laguna's hand.
"I should head back to Esthar. see what happened there. Balamb Garden was headed there when we took off," said Laguna, "You can come to Esthar with your fleet if you want to. unless you'd rather stay and be called if you're needed."
"Why was Garden heading to Esthar?" asked Landers, frowning.
"My son, Squall, and his crew went to find Aurora. they hoped to be able to bring her back." Laguna answered.
"I see. Squall, he is the SeeD commander, am I right?" asked Landers.
"Yes." Said Laguna curtly, "Why?"
"I won't allow Balamb Garden to take part in this, it's too dangerous. He won't have any say in what will happen." Said Landers.
"But why?"
"It is dangerous because Galbadia and Balamb Garden, any Garden at that, haven't been on very good terms ever since the Trabia Garden incident 15 years ago when they were bombed." Landers replied.
"You can't be on much worse terms then my country and yours?" asked Laguna.
"Oh, but we are," intervened Caraway, "We even tried to bomb Balamb and we took over the Galbadia Garden before Landers was president. They do not want anything to do with us. I hardly think that we can work together."
"Listen, Garden is a good asset to have on our side." Laguna said, "Especially with Squall as the SeeD commander! I'll talk to him and SeeD will help us. it will make us stronger."
"We shall see. we shall see." Landers said in a final tone. "But, I'm afraid that I cannot accompany you to Esthar. My place is here, with my country. There's no way that I can leave them. I'll send Caraway with you."
Laguna nodded in understanding, as he would do the same for his own country. "Very well." he said.
Kiros stood up and followed Laguna and Caraway to the door. Before Laguna touched the handle it sprang open and Laguna was knocked over by Zell. They both fell on the floor. Laguna noticed Zell's wife was with him.
"Laguna!" Zell gasped and sprang up, holding his hand out to Laguna and looked at the bewildered face of Landers.
"Sorry." He said and then turned back to Laguna who began to speak.
"What's going on?" asked Laguna.
"It's Adel, she's here!" said Zell.
"We know that already." Caraway said.
"Did you know that it's really her though?" asked Zell.
"What are you talking about?" Laguna asked, furiously.
"I'm saying that it's really her. It's not Adel in Aurora's body. it's her."
Laguna's eyes widened and he looked around the room; everyone seemed as awestruck as he did.
"What happened to Aurora?" he asked quietly.
"W. We don't know."
"Where's Squall and Rinoa?" Laguna asked frantically.
"Still in Esthar with Seifer, Quistis, Ellone and Sirus. I imagine." Zell shrugged, "We had to leave without them, after we withdrew."
"Withdrew?" asked Laguna.
"We battled with Esthar." Zell started to explain but Laguna interrupted again.
"You battled with Esthar!"
"Yes. after the Garden broke down." Zell was once again interrupted by Laguna.
"The Garden broke down?"
"YES! Now will you let me explain?" said Zell exasperatedly. "When we got to Esthar, Adel must have already taken over because the soldiers were coming towards us. We tried to withdraw before a battle happened but the Garden wouldn't move, it must have been damaged on the rough terrain."
"We had no choice but to try and fight, Squall's crew left and went into Esthar as we headed out into battle. One of the mechanical students tried to fix the Garden as we fought and Nida plus some more students went out to battle the air fleet."
"There were so many soldiers. almost twice as many as the students." said Clarissa, who'd moved beside Zell before he continued.
"After awhile we saw some of the jets being taken down and then one did this strange dive thing and we figured it was a sign to withdraw, the Garden was fixed. We couldn't wait for Squall's crew to get back. there was too many soldiers and that wasn't our only worry, either. One of the Ragnarok's is missing."
"And who was in the Ragnarok?" asked Laguna.
"Irvine and Selphie." Said Clarissa and Laguna took a long and deep breath but said nothing.
"We had to leave and we knew that we had to come here to get you," said Zell, "Laguna, I think that Esthar is in the hands of Adel and it looks to me like Galbadia is soon to be as well."
*********************************************
*********************************************
