Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII, but I do own Final Fantasy VIII. *looks at the FFVIII case in her hands with much confusion*
*Yes, chapter 3 is up! HURRAY!! *applauds herself* I never thought I'd think of something to put in this chapter, but with candy and coke - I can accomplish ANYTHING!! Hope you like it...*
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Chapter 3 : Damsel in Distress
Squall awoke with a start, his peaceful dreams shattered. He sank deeper into the mattress, trying to only pretend he was hearing a phone. He glanced for the clock that usually rested by his dorm's bed. Noticing it wasn't there, and where he was, he picked up his watch, groaning at the time. 4:23. Cursing under his breath, he fumbled for the phone.
"Yeah?" he snapped into the receiver.
"Hullo and good morning," replied a cheerful voice. "Would this be the commander of the SeeD: Unit A forces?"
"Yes, what is it?" Squall groggily pulled on his black pants and a white t-shirt while talking into the phone.
"Oh, well good morning sir! This is Mr. Kinneas of Centra's Deep Sea Research Center. We've sent for your forces, as you've probably figured out, and request your assembly later this afternoon. Let's say, maybe around 2:00?"
"Yeah, sure. Where?"
"I'll try to meet you in the Deling City Hotel's bar. Its straight across the lobby from when you get out of the elevator. Just go down the stairs and wait for me there. I'll be able to find you when I arrive."
"Alright," Squall mumbled. He was already beginning to hate this guy's blithe and casual attitude.
"Good to hear that Mr....uh....?" the man's voice sunk.
"...Leonhart..."
"Ah! Good to hear that Mr. Leonhart. I'll see you there, so until then, have a great morning."
Squall tossed the phone onto the bed and ran his hand through his long hair, sighing. He then pulled on his black jacket, shrugging the sleeves higher onto his shoulders. The white furred brim brushed lightly against his neck when he turned his head. Looking around for something he might need, Squall grabbed his wallet and exited the room.
Along his way to the elevator, Squall stopped at Quistis's door. He knocked lightly, trying not to wake the light-sleeping Selphie in the room across the narrow hall. He bit his bottom lip in bitter frustration when he found the only reply was from Selphie's room.
Selphie opened her door, squinting at Squall through half lidded eyes. Her usually flipped hair lay straight and tangled at her thin shoulders. Pure exhaustion could be read through her face, but the same joy and energy of life lit her green eyes.
"Where's Ms. Trepe?" Squall asked, wondering if he looked as bad as Selphie in the morning.
The weary girl stared at Squall blankly, seeming to have dozed off in her standing position. Then, snapping out of her trance, Selphie shook her head. "I think she's down by the lobby somewhere. She told me she couldn't sleep last night and I think I heard her leave her room earlier this morning.....Is that all?"
There was only silence, followed by a moment in which the two fatigued SeeDs stood in the hallway, sleepily looking at one another. Squall's eyes began to droop and his knees started to buckle. Stifling a yawn, Selphie poked Squall questioningly.
"Hey, are you alive?" she inquired.
"Huh? Yeah. Go back to sleep, we've got to leave at..uh.." Squall peered at his watch, trying to read the microscopic numbers. He blinked back up at her. "Just be ready in about 2 hours."
Squall slowly made his way down the hall and to the elevator , leaning heavily against the wall.
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Down in the dimly lit and vacant lobby, Quistis sat reading yesterday's newspaper, sipping absently at her coffee. She flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures and thinking rather that reading. She knew Cid wasn't completely happy with her instructing. She could feel it churning deep in her gut every time the guy had looked at her.
The man had a good way of hiding it, Quistis had admitted to herself, but he would of kept her at Garden, instructing, rather than sending her on this mission, where everyone knew perfectly well that Squall could have handled it on his own. She wondered what she had done to lead herself to living this false career. And why was Cid not telling her anything? What was he hiding from her? Maybe it was that...
Her thoughts were interrupted when Squall plopped into the seat across from her. Annoyance was written all over his expression, but then again, when wasn't it? He stared at her coldly, piercing her soul with his steel blue eyes.
"Yes..?" Quistis raised an eyebrow.
"We're meeting a Mr. Kinyas, or something like that, in 1400 hours."
"And...?" Quistis was surprised to see Squall up so early during the emergence of dawn.
"And he had to wake me up at 4:30 just to tell me that!" Squall stormed.
Quistis chuckled lowly under her breath. "Maybe you should go to sleep earlier, Mr. Leonhart," she scolded playfully.
Squall glared at her, his mouth open and about to say something (or breath fire). Instead, he just narrowed his eyes, got up, and gave her one of his sarcastic whatever's. In a fury, he stomped off out the door and into the pristine streets of morning.
Quistis sat there, watching him leave, with the expectant smile she used to cover her worry. She knew Squall back since her early juvenile days, when she still was residing in the orphanage. And even though Squall was more mature than her back then, she, being one year older, found it necessary to mother him. She did it at this age, too, but only to pester and flare his anger and frustration. Quistis always saw it as simple teasing, not relieve of her own burdens.
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Squall could see his breath clouding out in front of his vision as he walked. He puffed out warm air in rhythms, amused by this simple game. Suddenly stopping as a car passed, Squall blushed, hoping they hadn't seen his foolish regale. He was remined, by seeing an add posted on the passing vehicle, that he had better stop by a shop to pick up supplies and food.
As he walked, Squall was bemused by the desolate streets that had been so occupied only hours before. Shrugging, he continued around a corner only to be stopped in his tracks by an imposing mansion. Three stories is must have been, rising above the surrounding park. Squall couldn't see it at first because a lush grove circled the tower, hiding the mansion between its branches. The tower was built of brick and cement, sitting upon a courtyard of flowers and bushes. Several terraces bordered the house, each marked with a threatening sculpture that Squall recognized as Guardian Forces. A mote of crystal waters mazed through the gardens, hanging still in the breezeless weather.
The SeeD shook his head when he realized his jaw had been hanging loose. He turned around and diverted his gaze from the glorious citadel, jealous in some sense, but at the same time, eternally grateful. He walked along side the mansion, keeping his eyes on the sidewalk as he passed the blacks gates that dared entry. He was almost to the end of the curb when he heard a small rustling. He turned to see some of the bordering bushes shaking violently at the struggle of a young woman.
Squall watched for a moment, confused on what to do. He could only see the back of her small body flailing helplessly. Her jet hair, which would have rested mid way of her shoulder blades, swayed furiously and protested to her movements. Squall wondered if he should help the girl or slip away unnoticed. He considered the latter and was about the turn, when he heard the faint voice calling after him.
"Hey! Hey you! Could you help me please?" Squall turned to see her now facing him and gesturing to her stuck leg. He approached her with an exasperated sigh and noticed she was making no more efforts without his help, apparently catching her breath. As he advanced, he could begin to make out her features. Her eyes were wide and pleading, the pupils embedded in dancing brown irises. Her small hands rested on her slip waist while she panted for breath.
"Thank Hyne you came around! Usually nobody's out at these peak hours," the girl looked at Squall with glittering eyes. "Mine name's Rin..uh...Casey Salmore." The girl thrust out her hand to shake Squall's, oblivious to the fact that she was still caught.
Squall ignored the gesture and looked at her cooley, then at her trapped leg. "How'd you get stuck?" He asked her coldly, with a hint of sarcasm.
"Oh!" Casey blushed at the fact that she was distracted by his pulchritude. "I...umm...uh...why do you want to know?," she asked defiantly, straightening her shoulders.
Squall looked at her contumacious expression, giving her one of his rare, but beautiful grins. "Whatever..." was all he said.
The SeeD leaned over her ensnared leg, not noticing Casey's sigh of relief. He firmly gripped her ankle, trying to untangle the brush from the boot straps. As he held onto her, he could feel the strong, but slim muscle of her calf move beneath his palm. The smoothness of her skin induced Squall to then put his elbow over her thigh, gripping the entire leg. He dared not go any farther, though, for fear he would make this lovely girl as uncomfortable as himself.
Casey didn't notice though, too busy marveling at his beauty and strength. She was glad that she couldn't see any recognition in his eyes when he looked at her. She was taking chances enough when she called him over.
But surely,' she reminded herself, it was either that or being stuck here until someone did recognize me. Then I would have been sent back to that hell...again.'
Squall finally managed to unravel the bush's death grip. He released her leg and stood up, brushing off leaves and debris. When he looked up at the girl, she was already heading down the sidewalk.
The girl turned around once more. "Thanks!" she chirped from a distance. Then, after blowing Squall a kiss, she sprinted down the walkway.
Squall started to protest, but suddenly stopped, scolding himself for getting caught up in the moment. He ran his fingers through his mopped hair, rearranging it to look only a tad bit better. Then, after eliminated missed leaves, he headed down the opposite way the girl had gone.
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Zell sat alone at a table in a bar located not too far from the hotel. He had tried to pick up 3 women today, and was rejected 4 times. He drank only one beer, though, remembering the long lectures his mother had given him on self discipline. He envied a couple sitting behind him, lovingly teasing eachother - and he resented Seifer, who had picked up the girl that had dissed him earlier. So here he was, sitting alone, drunk on self pity.
Zell was about to start conversation with the wasted woman next to him, when his attention was brought to the television flashing in the corner of the bar. The news was on, Zell had figured by hearing the reports being given about the shown scene. An inferno was shown, eating away the flat lands of Central Galbadia. The heat was apparently too intense for the helicopter to get a close view. I circled from far, far above, casting live as the flames tried desperately to grasp the chopper's body. Reporters talked, but Zell payed no attention, too engulfed it the excitement of it all, suddenly wishing he was a fireman. But no firemen attempted to keep the flames at bay. The fire consumed freely, getting dangerously close to surrounding towns and civilizations. Zell could now hear the reporters saying something about cause unknown' and firefighters killed.'
Zell leaned over in the stool, about to ask the bar tender to turn up the volume, when a firm hand yanked him back into his seat. "Hey Chickewuss," hissed a familiar voice into Zell's ear. "The instructor from hell' sent me out to snag. She said, and I quote, Where's Zell? He's usually not late! Seifer, get off you firm ass and go find Zell...'" Seifer stopped, seeing the disbelief in Zell's cunning eyes. "Okay, so maybe it was lazy ass', but its all the same, I've snagged you." Seifer forcefully led Zell out of the bar and back to the hotel, where everyone was waiting.
Back at the Deling City Hotel, Squall, Selphie, and Quistis sat around a table, listening to a man in a brown trench coat and a cowboy hat introduce himself as Irvine Kinneas. His long red hair was pulled back in a thick ponytail and he constantly winked and grinned at Quistis, Selphie, and the waitress.
"Can you get to the point?" Squall growled in annoyance after Irvine had changed the subject three times to something about his own brilliance.
"Sure thing," replied Irvine casually. "Uhh...where was I...? Oh yeah! During our research, we have discovered something in Deling's outskirts. Ya ever heard of The Tomb of the Unknown King?" He leaned back in his chair and didn't wait for an answer. "Its an old tomb of some sort and supposably has a GF residing somewhere in its depths. To the point!" Irvine rushed after seeing Squall's anger rise. "Me and my team of archeologist have found some remains of a very interesting mineral. Within this crushed stone, as it seems, we have found tiny shreds of parchment that match a description and date of the doctrines of Hyne herself!" Irvine glanced around at them excitedly, expecting to see some kind of enthusiasm. After seeing none, Irvine frowned and continued.
"Well, we spent a couple years researching Hyne's documents alone, and found predictions and prophecies about forthcoming disaster'!" Seeing no acknowledgment on their faces, the cowboy basically summed up that he would appreciate the SeeDs to accompany him in further studies, just in case his team triggered the apocalypse.
"We aren't archeologist," was all that Squall replied with.
Irvine let escape an exasperated sigh. "But what are SeeDs?"
"A special force throughout Gia created and trained to protect Gia and her population from any physical harm or stress. In case of any such occurences..." Selphie recited happily, but was cut short.
"Precisely, darlin'," Irvine beamed at Selphie. "And the apocalypse is the destruction of Gia and her population, so therefore, as Ms. Tilmitt informed us all, it is your responsibility and pledge as SeeDs to accompany me in further study of the destruction of what you were all trained to protect..." Irvine took a breath, "And..."
"Okay! Shut up! We'll do your damn mission!" Squall roared, rewarding him the attention of everyone in the bar.
Irvine was a little taken aback, but quickly regained his posture. "Thank you for your permission, Mr....?"
"...Leonhart..."
"Mr. Leonhart! I will see you in 3 days' time, so prepare while time permits....for we have little left.." Irvine stated sadly and put on his hat, which had been resting on the table.
The three SeeDs looked questioningly at eachother, but they only shrugged. All of them watched as Mr. Kinneas headed up the stairs, bumping into Zell and Seifer. "'evening" they saw him mouth and hurry on his way.
Zell and Seifer approached the three angered SeeDs with caution. Quistis was the first to snap.
"Where were you two?! First it was Squall and Selphie, now you guys?!" Quistis boomed.
"Hey, hey, calm it your majesty, it took a while to find the little shit. He was all the way on the other side of the city!" Seifer malignly stated about Zell.
"What? You lier! I'll ki..." Zell fumed from behind Seifer.
"Shut up, both of you! I don't want to hear or see it again! Next time carry a watch!" Quistis raged on, almost losing her controlled disposition. Then, taking a deep breath, she formally stated, "You are now all dismissed. Be ready for the journey in 3 days. I will NOT accept delays!"
Both Zell and Seifer looked at eachother, startled by the sudden outbursts. Each gulped down their shock and hurried up to their rooms, hoping to not see Quistis again in that state of anger.
Quistis turned around to Squall and Selphie, who seemed enthralled by the reaction Zell and Seifer had just given.
"I'm sorry..." Quistis looked down at her feet, ashamed of herself.
Both Selphie and Squall looked at eachother, humor dancing in their eyes. They soon after dismissed themselves and left Quistis in the bar, sitting desolate.
Squall welcomed morning by the time the third day had arrived.
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Ooooh, aaaah, aren't you enthralled?? yeah, well you should be! ; P
Pleeeease R+R and I'll love you for life!!