Fantasy Thunder Chapter Seven: Eta
By Blue Dragon
.Now I'm mad. They injured five of them, and Zeta? If Eta fails, I'm going to quit.
"Gather everyone! Gather! How exciting! We won! No losses! So much ahead of us!" Oren started jumping around and cheering as if he was ten years younger. The many people gathered came to the center, half expecting and explanation.
"We are about to make a big leap. Jessica, prepare us for the big leap into Esthar Garden"
"Esthar Garden!?" Squall's group, with a 'what' from Seifer all said at once.
"I'll explain later. But first. . . Tidus, Cloud, take your guys to the left conference area, or what's left of it." Oren realized that the Turks, particularly Reno, did not enjoy being referred to as 'Cloud's guys'
"And the Turks" they hesitantly complied and followed suit. The crowd heading to the conference area was murmuring with feelings of happiness, uneasiness, and of course imminent doubt. Tidus carried Yuna with him, as he had done in a time that was only a few hours ago but seemed like half a day.
Oren followed the crowd he had summoned, the other half of the fighters that had no idea what was going on. Everyone took various positions around the slightly damaged imperial council room.
***
Zidane sighed in dismay at his wrecked castle. People were in clusters conversing about the past events. Zidane looked to his right, to see his queen's face an awful white, her eyes wide in shock. The king followed her gaze and saw something that made his heart leap with shock. There stood Squall, talking to Kuja the Terran. The person he thought was far away, and was deeply upsetting his wife.
He moved swiftly over to the two, causing Squall to look at him.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Kuja? Kuja the Terran? How ya doin'!" He disregarded all of his training to act like royalty and talked to his former enemy as if he was an old friend.
"Zidane. . . I am glad to see you are doing well. And stronger than me, too"
"You think so? So how did you get here?"
"Wait, you guys know each other? Tell me a little about it"
Zidane looked at Kuja, waiting for his okay to explain his dark past.
"You see, Zidane and I are Terrans from the extinct planet Terra. Zidane came here because I dropped him, but I came on an assignment to ferment enough souls to make it possible for assimilation"
"Ferment? Assimilation?"
"Terra survives by absorbing other planets, but it cannot unless the planet is weak. To do that I had to kill many people, with methods such as starting wars and causing sadness."
"So that's what you did?"
"I killed people. I made instruments of war. I filled the leaders' heads with junk to make them fight. I alone almost wiped out the population of Gaia. What I have done cannot be forgiven, and I hope to rectify a small fraction of it by trying to help keep this world and others alive. I saw your Balamb Garden, and kindly students let me in. Later I sensed a brawl here, so I came to provide aid."
"I see. Well you can be forgiven if you're willing to. . . "
"What's the matter?" Kuja now questioned Squall.
"My friends and I were hostile to Seifer. He had a bit of a past like you. It was unfair, the way I was to him. I can forgive you who have done more for a longer time, but because I don't know you that well your actions didn't affect me directly. But, Seifer's did; yet I should still give him a chance to right his wrongs. He seems willing. And deserves another chance"
Zidane nodded his head.
"I guess we do have a little in common, Squall. Look, we probably got off to a bad start, but I'm willing to start over" Zidane held out his hand. Squall took it, and they shook.
It was then that he realized Dagger was still staring in shock not moving at all. He ran over to his wife.
"What were you doing? Have you forgotten?"
"No, Dagger. I rescued him remember? Did you expect him to just disappear?"
"Don't talk to me like that! Don't shrug me off as if I hadn't been suffering from just the thought, not to mention the new revelation, that his heart is still beating!"
Zidane was quite surprised, for he had never seen such anger on her face directed at him, and it was especially strange seeing she was acting 'out of code' in her queen's garments.
"I'm sorry. Listen, I'm not asking anything of you other than tolerating his presence for a while. He might be a real help to us. If by the time whatever this is over, and you still feel the same way, then he can leave. Is that alright?"
"Only because I love you, Zidane, and the fact that I know I will still feel the same way"
"Good enough. How about we change you into more comfortable clothes? I don't think the work we'll be doing will require this. . . "
Zidane looked down at his rumpled and slightly torn imperial king's garments, which had actually been the first pair created seeing as he was the first king.
"Alright"
The two headed up the stairs lined with the red carpet into the royal quarters, which was still mostly intact.
"Can you believe this? That he's still here?"
Zell addressed Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa, and Irvine in anger.
"After all that he just walks back in? He should be in custody! Lets get him outta here!"
Quistis looked as if she wanted to tell Zell to calm down, but couldn't disagree with him.
"I think so too. The garden is still around. Squall contacted them and told them we would be back soon. Could we possibly just bring him into custody here?"
"I think so. He needs to be for disgracing the name of Galbadia Garden" Irvine apparently still cared about his old home.
The four walked over to the side of the room where Seifer was ready to fight if necessary. Rinoa paused for a moment, and then hesitantly followed.
I can't be too mad, or can I? He didn't do anything that wasn't corrected. Could he deserve another chance? No. He almost killed me, he has this coming too him.
Seifer had been leaning against the wall looking down as if in deep thought, when he noticed he was surrounded. The subtle and quiet attitude he had been holding subsided, as he felt he needed to return to his cocky, arrogant, Seifer-like ways.
"Oh, hello there. I wish we could have met under nicer circumstances, but now here we are to talk. So old buddies, how has it been?" Seifer said the words with the exact tone Quistis had pictured. Speaking as if they were old friends, as if he wasn't guilty, as if he wasn't currently surrounded.
"Seifer Almasy, you are now under custody of Balamb Garden" she said with not a hint of emotion.
"Oh really? Oh really? Is that so? Well you're going to have to kill me. Or better yet, I'd sooner kill myself in the hands of garden than live and face up to whatever stupid punishment you have saved up."
With new spark to the flame, Zell immediately rushed Seifer with a knockout punch.
Seifer stepped into it, and withdrew his Hyperion for a counterstrike. Before a blow could be landed, however. . .
"Cut it out!" Jessica had observed this and appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
"I know you probably have your differences, but I honestly don't care. I was dragged light-years for five years practically against my will, but certainly not to see you all destroy each other after all of the time we spent summoning you. Whatever nasty plan you have in store will have to wait"
Irvine opened his mouth, and then remembered she was a girl and closed it.
"You don't know what he has done. You may have a soft spot for him, but he is dangerous and a threat to us all. We have no reason to listen to you"
"Quistis, stop" Squall appeared on the scene.
"Listen to her. Leave Seifer alone for the time being. We don't have the time to deal with him, and I honestly don't think he needs to be dealt with"
"Listen to your commander" Seifer said with fake authority.
"Shut up!" Zell was further angered by the fact that he was now forbidden to kill that imp.
The group backed off, throwing poisonous looks at him, and then retreated. Rinoa remained, sighed, and followed her friends.
"Thank you, Mr. Leonhart" Jessica relaxed and went back to an unknown location.
"But seriously, thanks man" Seifer regained his strange mood as if to turn down his attitude level when his accusers left.
"Think nothing of it." Squall turned to rejoin his comrades, when he felt a gloved hand on his shoulder.
"Squall, do you want to duel again? Gunblades only?"
". . . "
"What?"
". . . "
"Oh yeah. Don't worry, no illegal magic spells, no severe injury, yatta yatta."
"Fine. But lets wait till we're sure we don't have anything else to do"
"I can deal with that"
Squall continued his retreat, leaving in Seifer's mind something to look forward to.
***
"Okay"
Oren looked around at the large group of people.
"My name is Oren Murasaki. You may have heard of me before, I am here to explain."
He then explained to them the situation and everything that they needed to know.
"Any questions?"
Reno raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"From what I saw, you could have gotten beaten easily. And if they had to work like that to beat a wimp like you, then why should I believe that your little group of warriors is strong enough to be taken lightly?"
"Wimp, huh?"
He materialized the Altron blade and did something that made everyone jump. He stabbed himself completely through the stomach and pulled it out of the other side.
He then closed his eyes, closing up the wound, the purple blood disappearing.
Marlene looked as if she were about to cry, as Reno's face turned a lovely shade of green.
"Good. And Tidus, you wouldn't happen to know Yuna's blood type, would you?"
"O, why?"
With a tiny shock of blue Yuna jumped suddenly from her temporary station slumped against the wall.
"Where is he? I want to fight!"
"Show's over, lady" both Cid Highwind and Cid the Al Bhed said at the same time. The looked at each other and gave thumbs up signs.
"That's enough of that. All right everyone. We're almost ready to go back to Squall's planet."
Oren was met with a chorus of "Who's Squall?"'s and "Squall?"'s and other miscellaneous questioning.
"Oh yeah. One more thing. Each and every one of you is going to have to introduce yourself, give a little information, maybe a joke here and there. Try to be friends, okay? The more you like each other, the better you fight."
Oren left, and the group followed him out into the open hall.
***
"Pyros, Alpha through Zeta were, how can I put this, whooped."
"What? Unbelievable. But keep in mind your stronger than all six combined"
"I know sir. Do you want me to eliminate them?"
"No. Give them a while longer. Let them try and regroup so when you beat them you can show the world how helpless they are."
Eta shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't like killing people.
***
Zidane came down in his favorite outfit, the one he never thought he would get to wear again. Dagger followed through with her original tight orange bodysuit with the white sleeves, perfect for travel. When they came back, they were shocked to see everyone in their respective positions around the castle hall.
"Zidane, take your place"
At first, Zidane didn't know what Oren meant by 'his place', but soon noticed that his comrades were standing by the door. He joined them.
"Good. Everyone, introduce yourselves. Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Tidus, in that order with whoever backs them following it up"
Cloud stepped forward.
"My name is Cloud Strife. I'm twenty-one years old and a swordsman"
The others were hesitant at first, but followed.
"Tifa Lockheart. I'm twenty and a martial artist"
Zell perked up at this statement, thought of a challenge in his mind.
"Barret Wallace, and this is Marlene. My age is none of your da--" he remembered his manners in front of Marlene.
"He's thirty five!" Reno yelled from the back.
"WHO SAID THAT!?"
"Cid Highwind. You won't find a pilot like me."
"I'm Reeve, and I. . . uh--"
"I am Vincent" were all the words from the shadowy man.
"My name is Elena, and this is Rude and. . . "
"Reno. Try to stay out of our way"
"Yuffie, mess with them all you want!"
Reno shot Yuffie a look.
"You may call me Nanaki, Red XIII, or simply Red"
"My name is Squall Leonhart. I'm seventeen, and I use a gunblade"
"Seifer Almasy, eighteen. I use a gunblade as well"
"Rinoa Heartily, seventeen"
"Quistis Trepe, eighteen"
"Irvine Kinneas. Seventeen, and ready for your love!"
There was a silence before introductions continued.
"Zell Dincht, seventeen, and a martial artist!"
He and Tifa momentarily locked eyes.
"My names Selphie, and I'm seventeen, too"
"Zidane Tribal, king of Alexandria, so deal with it!"
"He's only sixteen. And my name is Amarant Coral. Ask my age I'll shove a knife down your throat"
"Queen Garnet 'til Alexandros the--just call me Dagger. I turn seventeen in five months"
"You all look very tasty. Me Quina!"
"Captain Steiner of the Pluto Knights, an honor it is"
"General Beatrix of the Alexandria imperial guard."
"I'm Eiko Carol from the Mandain Sari. I may be six but I pack a punch!"
"Vivi Ornitier. Hello, everyone."
"Freya Crescent of the Burmecian imperial guard. I am looking for another with a lance"
Kimahri twitched his tail.
"My name is Tidus, uh, just Tidus. I like blitzball, and I'm seventeen. I also like diving, swimming, volleyball; I'm popular with the ladies, too. My sword isn't as sharp as my tongue, and I--"
Yuna put her hand over his mouth.
"My name is Yuna. It is a pleasure to meet you all"
"Wakka here, da ex-captain of de Aurochs, practically a twenny-tree year old prodigy!"
There were questioning glances.
"He said twenty three. My name is Lulu, a black mage"
She doesn't look like a black mage, Vivi thought.
"I'm Rikku, an Al Bhed"
"And I'm her pops, Cid the Al Bhed"
"Kimahri Ronso" The blue lion man felt the tip of his lance. "Lance master, as well"
"You can call me Kuja"
Fortunately, Zidane had explained the situation. Only Amarant and Quina seemed to be indifferent.
"My name is Jessica Takahashi, seventeen, I assume you already know me"
"And I, at nineteen, am O--oh to heck with it, that's enough introductions. We all know each other. So here's the plan. We are all cramming into Balamb Garden parked somewhere around here, and making a transition to Squall's planet. There I will train you to extreme measures and make you're very powerful, but there is something you all should know. I am gifted with the power of revision, so I can revive some of you lost allies. . . "
Thoughts of Aeris and Auron popped into everyone's heads.
"But I need to revive three that you might really, really, really hate. They will help us with all we need. They are willing, I can sense it, but I have to tell you, it won't be easy"
"Who could they possibly be?" Barret called.
Oren took a deep breath.
"Seymour. . . "
Tidus' group seemed to come alive with anger.
"Ultimecia. . . "
"You're freakin' kidding me!" Zell yelled.
"Well that doesn't sound so bad!" Barret called again.
"And. . . well. . . we need Sephiroth too."
"AHHHHH!"
"DAMMIT!"
"YOU'RE KIDDING ME!"
"NEVER!"
"NEVER!"
"NEVER!"
There were violent screams.
"Listen, the process is necessary, and we need them. I promise I'll see to it that they don't cause trouble"
"Listen, man, you don't know Sephiroth like we do. He brought chaos to our planet. He's only going to bring up more if you continue with this crazy plan. Sephiroth in the world of the living is out of the question"
"Look, Mr. Strife, the existence of our planet depends on this. We need these guys. You don't even have to be around, just cooperate for now. Come on!"
The group was hesitant, but they simply calmed down by pretending Oren hadn't said anything.
"Alright, are we all set?"
"Wait!" Called Zidane.
"What about the people of Alexandria, we can't just leave them!"
"Already taken care of, Zidane. I announced our temporary leave, the place is in good hands" said Dagger to her husband.
"Oh. Well then I guess we can leave with no delay."
The phone in Squall's pocket rang, and he pulled it out and answered it.
"Yeah? What? Darn." He put it back in his pocket and addressed Oren directly.
"The garden is immobile. The impact of that landing has made it unable to be flown."
"Well, we just need an engineer in that case"
Cid Highwind and the Al Bhed opened their mouths, but Zidane beat them to it.
"What about Regent Cid, he's a great engineer"
"Another Cid!?" both said at the same time.
"Oh, yes. I can teleport there. Jessica, come with me--"
"Wait!" Eiko called from the crowd.
"I haven't said goodbye yet, let me come, too"
"Fine. Jessica, if you would be so kind?"
She crouched down and held Eiko's hand, and the two disappeared. After that, Oren rubbed a hand through his head and disappeared as well.
***
"This is an outrage! Where in heavens has that girl gone off too? I thought she said she would be back soon. I should have never trusted Lani to pilot my ship."
"Calm down, now, I'm sure that for whatever reason she is gone is a perfectly good one"
Hilda massaged Cid's back as he paced around in his throne room, worried to death about his adopted daughter.
"She should have been back hours ago! How could I let her--"
TSSAAAP
The teleportation made another one of its unique sounds when Jessica and Eiko landed right in front of the regent from nowhere, and a few seconds later, Oren.
"Hello there. Could we borrow the regent?" she asked.
"What? What did you do to my daughter"!
"Dad!" Eiko ran to her father and have him a hug from the leg.
"Where have you been? Did those people do anything bad to you?"
"No. They just need me. And they need you too, can we go?"
"Absolutely not! You're mother is still here, Lindblum would be in chaos"
"It is just for a while sir" Oren tried to alleviate the tension of the situation.
"Please, dad?" she gave him a fake look as if she were about to cry.
Cid gave a sigh and turned to his wife.
"Hilda, can you manage here? I don't know what crazy stunt this is, but we'll be back in just a few minutes."
"Of course. But I think it would be better if we didn't even tell them you would be gone. No need to send the place into worry over trivial matters such as this"
"Great!" with no warning or preparation, Jessica zapped them all back to their waiting crowd.
"!?" Cid was speechless when he saw the mass of unfamiliar faces in strange clothing, and the queen out of uniform during daily hours.
"Queen? Zidane? What is the meaning of this?"
"I'll explain later, Regent. Everyone, we're off!"
***
Cloud had quite a few questions. He had just been whisked off and drafted for some fight. What happened to sanity? And Sephiroth alive and willing to cooperate? This is something he hadn't even dreamed of.
"Tifa, what do you think?" he asked as the group began moving towards the edge of the castle, and ultimately the city itself.
"Think of what? The fact that we're possibly a million miles away from home? The fact that there are three different engineering Cids? The fact that we might see Aeris again? The fact that we're involved in some crazy plan to see Sephiroth? What do I think of what?"
"A dangerous combination of all four"
"I think this is all just a dream, a really long one that's really vivid because I had to much vodka at the bar last night"
"Me too, except I had too much whiskey" said Cloud.
"How 'bout liquor?" Barret joined in.
"Cider" Cid added.
"Wine would be preferable" Vincent put in his two cents of alcoholic preference.
"Red wine, of course" Red made a rare joke. It took a moment for it to sink in, and then everyone laughed.
"How does sparkling wine sound?" was Yuffie's remark.
"Well what does Marlene think?" Barret looked down at his daughter.
"Why not just beer?"
Another laugh came out of the Cloud's group from the tike's narrowly wide sense of alcoholic preference.
Elena raised an eyebrow and whispered to Reno:
"Do you think they've lost it? We find ourselves like this and they want to joke about booze?"
"Keep in mind they've never been on the smart side. Let's just play along for a while" was his response."
Everyone neared the outside of the castle gates and made their way like a parade through the city.
***
"Squall, why did you keep us from arresting him? Why did you stick up for him? Didn't I teach you anything when you were in my class?"
Quistis constantly harassed Squall about the earlier situation.
"Quistis, he didn't do anything truly punishable when you think about it."
"But he could have--"
"Key words. Could have. Can we really punish someone for something they could have done? I could have killed Zidane when he was turned around, but that would be murderous and wrong. Do I get in trouble for that?"
"This is different and you know it. What he did was already triggered, and would have happened if we didn't stop him. What you're talking about wasn't even in a factor of prevention"
"What did he do like that?"
"He could have killed you, sacrificed Rinoa to Adel and succeeded if not for us, destroyed Balamb Garden, he fought for Ultimecia, and over all, he betrayed our garden and put us all in danger! Not to mention he tortured you. Imagine you, of all people, being forgiving to him after what he did to you."
"Why not hold him to a fresh start? His help is apparently necessary when we have--"
"--The whole garden at our disposal! He is easily replaced? What skills does he have that can't be copied with one of our own students, Squall?"
"He's the only one other than me that uses a gunblade" Squall knew he had made a mistake.
"Oh. Now I see. You just want someone to fight, so you keep trusting him until you fight, and then arrest him, right?"
"No! That's not it at all. Don't get the wrong impression"
"Squall, there are other ways to get a good fight. All I'm to stay is, keep an eye on him, and get rid of him fast"
Quistis walked ahead without saying another word.
***
The party now left the city limits of Alexandria, and walked across the grass through the fields with the impressive waterfalls to the right, Balamb garden now a visible destination.
Wakka noticed that Lulu hadn't said much, and seemed to be less stale than usual.
"Lulu, you alright?"
She looked up as if she expected him to say something.
"You really look a lot like Chappu, too you know?"
He was surprised to here the sudden new subject.
"You think so?"
"When you were very young I could never tell the difference. My parents couldn't either"
"Your mom, dad?"
"It was right before Sin took them from me. I wasn't always like this, Wakka. I wasn't always quiet, strict, and maybe a bit stoic. But that tends to happen when a single cause takes away so much from a person. I knew your parents. They were alive when you were very young. They were decent people. One day they went to sea and never came back."
Wakka was temporarily silent.
"Lulu, did something happen? I've never heard you like this until now. What happened?"
"Nothing happened. I'm just tired of hiding it. I have to speak with someone Wakka. I'm tired of harboring these feelings. And maybe I tell you because I feel I can trust you more than anyone. You may think Chappu was better than you Wakka, but I think you were both great. And I loved you both. I still love you both"
"Are you sure something's not the matter?"
"Call me crazy, but I never realized how close you are until now. And when one realized the ignored opportunity to enjoy friendship, one wants to take complete advantage."
There was silence again.
"I only regret that Chappu didn't live long enough to propose. If I knew he was going to die. . . now it's too late for me to love again"
"You're still young. You're only twenty-two, there's still time. And don't forget that you have all of us with you"
"Thank you, then. And keep in mind that I'll remove you're tongue if a word of this conversation reaches the minds of anyone excluding the two of us due to your mouthing"
"You don't have to worry about that!"
The Besaidian gave her a big hug and she couldn't help but release a tiny smile.
"We're here!" Oren called from the front. "All Cids report to the front, and lets see what the problem is. Seifer and Kuja, I also need to see you!"
It was almost time for departure. The group had made it to Balamb Garden.
________________________________________________________________________
AN: Okay, you may think it's impossible, but I plan on covering every character ever so thoroughly. So don't worry about your favorite character not getting recognized. Also, this is one last reminder for you non- authors that couldn't review before that I removed the block that was accidentally in place, so you're now free to do so.
By Blue Dragon
.Now I'm mad. They injured five of them, and Zeta? If Eta fails, I'm going to quit.
"Gather everyone! Gather! How exciting! We won! No losses! So much ahead of us!" Oren started jumping around and cheering as if he was ten years younger. The many people gathered came to the center, half expecting and explanation.
"We are about to make a big leap. Jessica, prepare us for the big leap into Esthar Garden"
"Esthar Garden!?" Squall's group, with a 'what' from Seifer all said at once.
"I'll explain later. But first. . . Tidus, Cloud, take your guys to the left conference area, or what's left of it." Oren realized that the Turks, particularly Reno, did not enjoy being referred to as 'Cloud's guys'
"And the Turks" they hesitantly complied and followed suit. The crowd heading to the conference area was murmuring with feelings of happiness, uneasiness, and of course imminent doubt. Tidus carried Yuna with him, as he had done in a time that was only a few hours ago but seemed like half a day.
Oren followed the crowd he had summoned, the other half of the fighters that had no idea what was going on. Everyone took various positions around the slightly damaged imperial council room.
***
Zidane sighed in dismay at his wrecked castle. People were in clusters conversing about the past events. Zidane looked to his right, to see his queen's face an awful white, her eyes wide in shock. The king followed her gaze and saw something that made his heart leap with shock. There stood Squall, talking to Kuja the Terran. The person he thought was far away, and was deeply upsetting his wife.
He moved swiftly over to the two, causing Squall to look at him.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Kuja? Kuja the Terran? How ya doin'!" He disregarded all of his training to act like royalty and talked to his former enemy as if he was an old friend.
"Zidane. . . I am glad to see you are doing well. And stronger than me, too"
"You think so? So how did you get here?"
"Wait, you guys know each other? Tell me a little about it"
Zidane looked at Kuja, waiting for his okay to explain his dark past.
"You see, Zidane and I are Terrans from the extinct planet Terra. Zidane came here because I dropped him, but I came on an assignment to ferment enough souls to make it possible for assimilation"
"Ferment? Assimilation?"
"Terra survives by absorbing other planets, but it cannot unless the planet is weak. To do that I had to kill many people, with methods such as starting wars and causing sadness."
"So that's what you did?"
"I killed people. I made instruments of war. I filled the leaders' heads with junk to make them fight. I alone almost wiped out the population of Gaia. What I have done cannot be forgiven, and I hope to rectify a small fraction of it by trying to help keep this world and others alive. I saw your Balamb Garden, and kindly students let me in. Later I sensed a brawl here, so I came to provide aid."
"I see. Well you can be forgiven if you're willing to. . . "
"What's the matter?" Kuja now questioned Squall.
"My friends and I were hostile to Seifer. He had a bit of a past like you. It was unfair, the way I was to him. I can forgive you who have done more for a longer time, but because I don't know you that well your actions didn't affect me directly. But, Seifer's did; yet I should still give him a chance to right his wrongs. He seems willing. And deserves another chance"
Zidane nodded his head.
"I guess we do have a little in common, Squall. Look, we probably got off to a bad start, but I'm willing to start over" Zidane held out his hand. Squall took it, and they shook.
It was then that he realized Dagger was still staring in shock not moving at all. He ran over to his wife.
"What were you doing? Have you forgotten?"
"No, Dagger. I rescued him remember? Did you expect him to just disappear?"
"Don't talk to me like that! Don't shrug me off as if I hadn't been suffering from just the thought, not to mention the new revelation, that his heart is still beating!"
Zidane was quite surprised, for he had never seen such anger on her face directed at him, and it was especially strange seeing she was acting 'out of code' in her queen's garments.
"I'm sorry. Listen, I'm not asking anything of you other than tolerating his presence for a while. He might be a real help to us. If by the time whatever this is over, and you still feel the same way, then he can leave. Is that alright?"
"Only because I love you, Zidane, and the fact that I know I will still feel the same way"
"Good enough. How about we change you into more comfortable clothes? I don't think the work we'll be doing will require this. . . "
Zidane looked down at his rumpled and slightly torn imperial king's garments, which had actually been the first pair created seeing as he was the first king.
"Alright"
The two headed up the stairs lined with the red carpet into the royal quarters, which was still mostly intact.
"Can you believe this? That he's still here?"
Zell addressed Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa, and Irvine in anger.
"After all that he just walks back in? He should be in custody! Lets get him outta here!"
Quistis looked as if she wanted to tell Zell to calm down, but couldn't disagree with him.
"I think so too. The garden is still around. Squall contacted them and told them we would be back soon. Could we possibly just bring him into custody here?"
"I think so. He needs to be for disgracing the name of Galbadia Garden" Irvine apparently still cared about his old home.
The four walked over to the side of the room where Seifer was ready to fight if necessary. Rinoa paused for a moment, and then hesitantly followed.
I can't be too mad, or can I? He didn't do anything that wasn't corrected. Could he deserve another chance? No. He almost killed me, he has this coming too him.
Seifer had been leaning against the wall looking down as if in deep thought, when he noticed he was surrounded. The subtle and quiet attitude he had been holding subsided, as he felt he needed to return to his cocky, arrogant, Seifer-like ways.
"Oh, hello there. I wish we could have met under nicer circumstances, but now here we are to talk. So old buddies, how has it been?" Seifer said the words with the exact tone Quistis had pictured. Speaking as if they were old friends, as if he wasn't guilty, as if he wasn't currently surrounded.
"Seifer Almasy, you are now under custody of Balamb Garden" she said with not a hint of emotion.
"Oh really? Oh really? Is that so? Well you're going to have to kill me. Or better yet, I'd sooner kill myself in the hands of garden than live and face up to whatever stupid punishment you have saved up."
With new spark to the flame, Zell immediately rushed Seifer with a knockout punch.
Seifer stepped into it, and withdrew his Hyperion for a counterstrike. Before a blow could be landed, however. . .
"Cut it out!" Jessica had observed this and appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
"I know you probably have your differences, but I honestly don't care. I was dragged light-years for five years practically against my will, but certainly not to see you all destroy each other after all of the time we spent summoning you. Whatever nasty plan you have in store will have to wait"
Irvine opened his mouth, and then remembered she was a girl and closed it.
"You don't know what he has done. You may have a soft spot for him, but he is dangerous and a threat to us all. We have no reason to listen to you"
"Quistis, stop" Squall appeared on the scene.
"Listen to her. Leave Seifer alone for the time being. We don't have the time to deal with him, and I honestly don't think he needs to be dealt with"
"Listen to your commander" Seifer said with fake authority.
"Shut up!" Zell was further angered by the fact that he was now forbidden to kill that imp.
The group backed off, throwing poisonous looks at him, and then retreated. Rinoa remained, sighed, and followed her friends.
"Thank you, Mr. Leonhart" Jessica relaxed and went back to an unknown location.
"But seriously, thanks man" Seifer regained his strange mood as if to turn down his attitude level when his accusers left.
"Think nothing of it." Squall turned to rejoin his comrades, when he felt a gloved hand on his shoulder.
"Squall, do you want to duel again? Gunblades only?"
". . . "
"What?"
". . . "
"Oh yeah. Don't worry, no illegal magic spells, no severe injury, yatta yatta."
"Fine. But lets wait till we're sure we don't have anything else to do"
"I can deal with that"
Squall continued his retreat, leaving in Seifer's mind something to look forward to.
***
"Okay"
Oren looked around at the large group of people.
"My name is Oren Murasaki. You may have heard of me before, I am here to explain."
He then explained to them the situation and everything that they needed to know.
"Any questions?"
Reno raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"From what I saw, you could have gotten beaten easily. And if they had to work like that to beat a wimp like you, then why should I believe that your little group of warriors is strong enough to be taken lightly?"
"Wimp, huh?"
He materialized the Altron blade and did something that made everyone jump. He stabbed himself completely through the stomach and pulled it out of the other side.
He then closed his eyes, closing up the wound, the purple blood disappearing.
Marlene looked as if she were about to cry, as Reno's face turned a lovely shade of green.
"Good. And Tidus, you wouldn't happen to know Yuna's blood type, would you?"
"O, why?"
With a tiny shock of blue Yuna jumped suddenly from her temporary station slumped against the wall.
"Where is he? I want to fight!"
"Show's over, lady" both Cid Highwind and Cid the Al Bhed said at the same time. The looked at each other and gave thumbs up signs.
"That's enough of that. All right everyone. We're almost ready to go back to Squall's planet."
Oren was met with a chorus of "Who's Squall?"'s and "Squall?"'s and other miscellaneous questioning.
"Oh yeah. One more thing. Each and every one of you is going to have to introduce yourself, give a little information, maybe a joke here and there. Try to be friends, okay? The more you like each other, the better you fight."
Oren left, and the group followed him out into the open hall.
***
"Pyros, Alpha through Zeta were, how can I put this, whooped."
"What? Unbelievable. But keep in mind your stronger than all six combined"
"I know sir. Do you want me to eliminate them?"
"No. Give them a while longer. Let them try and regroup so when you beat them you can show the world how helpless they are."
Eta shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't like killing people.
***
Zidane came down in his favorite outfit, the one he never thought he would get to wear again. Dagger followed through with her original tight orange bodysuit with the white sleeves, perfect for travel. When they came back, they were shocked to see everyone in their respective positions around the castle hall.
"Zidane, take your place"
At first, Zidane didn't know what Oren meant by 'his place', but soon noticed that his comrades were standing by the door. He joined them.
"Good. Everyone, introduce yourselves. Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Tidus, in that order with whoever backs them following it up"
Cloud stepped forward.
"My name is Cloud Strife. I'm twenty-one years old and a swordsman"
The others were hesitant at first, but followed.
"Tifa Lockheart. I'm twenty and a martial artist"
Zell perked up at this statement, thought of a challenge in his mind.
"Barret Wallace, and this is Marlene. My age is none of your da--" he remembered his manners in front of Marlene.
"He's thirty five!" Reno yelled from the back.
"WHO SAID THAT!?"
"Cid Highwind. You won't find a pilot like me."
"I'm Reeve, and I. . . uh--"
"I am Vincent" were all the words from the shadowy man.
"My name is Elena, and this is Rude and. . . "
"Reno. Try to stay out of our way"
"Yuffie, mess with them all you want!"
Reno shot Yuffie a look.
"You may call me Nanaki, Red XIII, or simply Red"
"My name is Squall Leonhart. I'm seventeen, and I use a gunblade"
"Seifer Almasy, eighteen. I use a gunblade as well"
"Rinoa Heartily, seventeen"
"Quistis Trepe, eighteen"
"Irvine Kinneas. Seventeen, and ready for your love!"
There was a silence before introductions continued.
"Zell Dincht, seventeen, and a martial artist!"
He and Tifa momentarily locked eyes.
"My names Selphie, and I'm seventeen, too"
"Zidane Tribal, king of Alexandria, so deal with it!"
"He's only sixteen. And my name is Amarant Coral. Ask my age I'll shove a knife down your throat"
"Queen Garnet 'til Alexandros the--just call me Dagger. I turn seventeen in five months"
"You all look very tasty. Me Quina!"
"Captain Steiner of the Pluto Knights, an honor it is"
"General Beatrix of the Alexandria imperial guard."
"I'm Eiko Carol from the Mandain Sari. I may be six but I pack a punch!"
"Vivi Ornitier. Hello, everyone."
"Freya Crescent of the Burmecian imperial guard. I am looking for another with a lance"
Kimahri twitched his tail.
"My name is Tidus, uh, just Tidus. I like blitzball, and I'm seventeen. I also like diving, swimming, volleyball; I'm popular with the ladies, too. My sword isn't as sharp as my tongue, and I--"
Yuna put her hand over his mouth.
"My name is Yuna. It is a pleasure to meet you all"
"Wakka here, da ex-captain of de Aurochs, practically a twenny-tree year old prodigy!"
There were questioning glances.
"He said twenty three. My name is Lulu, a black mage"
She doesn't look like a black mage, Vivi thought.
"I'm Rikku, an Al Bhed"
"And I'm her pops, Cid the Al Bhed"
"Kimahri Ronso" The blue lion man felt the tip of his lance. "Lance master, as well"
"You can call me Kuja"
Fortunately, Zidane had explained the situation. Only Amarant and Quina seemed to be indifferent.
"My name is Jessica Takahashi, seventeen, I assume you already know me"
"And I, at nineteen, am O--oh to heck with it, that's enough introductions. We all know each other. So here's the plan. We are all cramming into Balamb Garden parked somewhere around here, and making a transition to Squall's planet. There I will train you to extreme measures and make you're very powerful, but there is something you all should know. I am gifted with the power of revision, so I can revive some of you lost allies. . . "
Thoughts of Aeris and Auron popped into everyone's heads.
"But I need to revive three that you might really, really, really hate. They will help us with all we need. They are willing, I can sense it, but I have to tell you, it won't be easy"
"Who could they possibly be?" Barret called.
Oren took a deep breath.
"Seymour. . . "
Tidus' group seemed to come alive with anger.
"Ultimecia. . . "
"You're freakin' kidding me!" Zell yelled.
"Well that doesn't sound so bad!" Barret called again.
"And. . . well. . . we need Sephiroth too."
"AHHHHH!"
"DAMMIT!"
"YOU'RE KIDDING ME!"
"NEVER!"
"NEVER!"
"NEVER!"
There were violent screams.
"Listen, the process is necessary, and we need them. I promise I'll see to it that they don't cause trouble"
"Listen, man, you don't know Sephiroth like we do. He brought chaos to our planet. He's only going to bring up more if you continue with this crazy plan. Sephiroth in the world of the living is out of the question"
"Look, Mr. Strife, the existence of our planet depends on this. We need these guys. You don't even have to be around, just cooperate for now. Come on!"
The group was hesitant, but they simply calmed down by pretending Oren hadn't said anything.
"Alright, are we all set?"
"Wait!" Called Zidane.
"What about the people of Alexandria, we can't just leave them!"
"Already taken care of, Zidane. I announced our temporary leave, the place is in good hands" said Dagger to her husband.
"Oh. Well then I guess we can leave with no delay."
The phone in Squall's pocket rang, and he pulled it out and answered it.
"Yeah? What? Darn." He put it back in his pocket and addressed Oren directly.
"The garden is immobile. The impact of that landing has made it unable to be flown."
"Well, we just need an engineer in that case"
Cid Highwind and the Al Bhed opened their mouths, but Zidane beat them to it.
"What about Regent Cid, he's a great engineer"
"Another Cid!?" both said at the same time.
"Oh, yes. I can teleport there. Jessica, come with me--"
"Wait!" Eiko called from the crowd.
"I haven't said goodbye yet, let me come, too"
"Fine. Jessica, if you would be so kind?"
She crouched down and held Eiko's hand, and the two disappeared. After that, Oren rubbed a hand through his head and disappeared as well.
***
"This is an outrage! Where in heavens has that girl gone off too? I thought she said she would be back soon. I should have never trusted Lani to pilot my ship."
"Calm down, now, I'm sure that for whatever reason she is gone is a perfectly good one"
Hilda massaged Cid's back as he paced around in his throne room, worried to death about his adopted daughter.
"She should have been back hours ago! How could I let her--"
TSSAAAP
The teleportation made another one of its unique sounds when Jessica and Eiko landed right in front of the regent from nowhere, and a few seconds later, Oren.
"Hello there. Could we borrow the regent?" she asked.
"What? What did you do to my daughter"!
"Dad!" Eiko ran to her father and have him a hug from the leg.
"Where have you been? Did those people do anything bad to you?"
"No. They just need me. And they need you too, can we go?"
"Absolutely not! You're mother is still here, Lindblum would be in chaos"
"It is just for a while sir" Oren tried to alleviate the tension of the situation.
"Please, dad?" she gave him a fake look as if she were about to cry.
Cid gave a sigh and turned to his wife.
"Hilda, can you manage here? I don't know what crazy stunt this is, but we'll be back in just a few minutes."
"Of course. But I think it would be better if we didn't even tell them you would be gone. No need to send the place into worry over trivial matters such as this"
"Great!" with no warning or preparation, Jessica zapped them all back to their waiting crowd.
"!?" Cid was speechless when he saw the mass of unfamiliar faces in strange clothing, and the queen out of uniform during daily hours.
"Queen? Zidane? What is the meaning of this?"
"I'll explain later, Regent. Everyone, we're off!"
***
Cloud had quite a few questions. He had just been whisked off and drafted for some fight. What happened to sanity? And Sephiroth alive and willing to cooperate? This is something he hadn't even dreamed of.
"Tifa, what do you think?" he asked as the group began moving towards the edge of the castle, and ultimately the city itself.
"Think of what? The fact that we're possibly a million miles away from home? The fact that there are three different engineering Cids? The fact that we might see Aeris again? The fact that we're involved in some crazy plan to see Sephiroth? What do I think of what?"
"A dangerous combination of all four"
"I think this is all just a dream, a really long one that's really vivid because I had to much vodka at the bar last night"
"Me too, except I had too much whiskey" said Cloud.
"How 'bout liquor?" Barret joined in.
"Cider" Cid added.
"Wine would be preferable" Vincent put in his two cents of alcoholic preference.
"Red wine, of course" Red made a rare joke. It took a moment for it to sink in, and then everyone laughed.
"How does sparkling wine sound?" was Yuffie's remark.
"Well what does Marlene think?" Barret looked down at his daughter.
"Why not just beer?"
Another laugh came out of the Cloud's group from the tike's narrowly wide sense of alcoholic preference.
Elena raised an eyebrow and whispered to Reno:
"Do you think they've lost it? We find ourselves like this and they want to joke about booze?"
"Keep in mind they've never been on the smart side. Let's just play along for a while" was his response."
Everyone neared the outside of the castle gates and made their way like a parade through the city.
***
"Squall, why did you keep us from arresting him? Why did you stick up for him? Didn't I teach you anything when you were in my class?"
Quistis constantly harassed Squall about the earlier situation.
"Quistis, he didn't do anything truly punishable when you think about it."
"But he could have--"
"Key words. Could have. Can we really punish someone for something they could have done? I could have killed Zidane when he was turned around, but that would be murderous and wrong. Do I get in trouble for that?"
"This is different and you know it. What he did was already triggered, and would have happened if we didn't stop him. What you're talking about wasn't even in a factor of prevention"
"What did he do like that?"
"He could have killed you, sacrificed Rinoa to Adel and succeeded if not for us, destroyed Balamb Garden, he fought for Ultimecia, and over all, he betrayed our garden and put us all in danger! Not to mention he tortured you. Imagine you, of all people, being forgiving to him after what he did to you."
"Why not hold him to a fresh start? His help is apparently necessary when we have--"
"--The whole garden at our disposal! He is easily replaced? What skills does he have that can't be copied with one of our own students, Squall?"
"He's the only one other than me that uses a gunblade" Squall knew he had made a mistake.
"Oh. Now I see. You just want someone to fight, so you keep trusting him until you fight, and then arrest him, right?"
"No! That's not it at all. Don't get the wrong impression"
"Squall, there are other ways to get a good fight. All I'm to stay is, keep an eye on him, and get rid of him fast"
Quistis walked ahead without saying another word.
***
The party now left the city limits of Alexandria, and walked across the grass through the fields with the impressive waterfalls to the right, Balamb garden now a visible destination.
Wakka noticed that Lulu hadn't said much, and seemed to be less stale than usual.
"Lulu, you alright?"
She looked up as if she expected him to say something.
"You really look a lot like Chappu, too you know?"
He was surprised to here the sudden new subject.
"You think so?"
"When you were very young I could never tell the difference. My parents couldn't either"
"Your mom, dad?"
"It was right before Sin took them from me. I wasn't always like this, Wakka. I wasn't always quiet, strict, and maybe a bit stoic. But that tends to happen when a single cause takes away so much from a person. I knew your parents. They were alive when you were very young. They were decent people. One day they went to sea and never came back."
Wakka was temporarily silent.
"Lulu, did something happen? I've never heard you like this until now. What happened?"
"Nothing happened. I'm just tired of hiding it. I have to speak with someone Wakka. I'm tired of harboring these feelings. And maybe I tell you because I feel I can trust you more than anyone. You may think Chappu was better than you Wakka, but I think you were both great. And I loved you both. I still love you both"
"Are you sure something's not the matter?"
"Call me crazy, but I never realized how close you are until now. And when one realized the ignored opportunity to enjoy friendship, one wants to take complete advantage."
There was silence again.
"I only regret that Chappu didn't live long enough to propose. If I knew he was going to die. . . now it's too late for me to love again"
"You're still young. You're only twenty-two, there's still time. And don't forget that you have all of us with you"
"Thank you, then. And keep in mind that I'll remove you're tongue if a word of this conversation reaches the minds of anyone excluding the two of us due to your mouthing"
"You don't have to worry about that!"
The Besaidian gave her a big hug and she couldn't help but release a tiny smile.
"We're here!" Oren called from the front. "All Cids report to the front, and lets see what the problem is. Seifer and Kuja, I also need to see you!"
It was almost time for departure. The group had made it to Balamb Garden.
________________________________________________________________________
AN: Okay, you may think it's impossible, but I plan on covering every character ever so thoroughly. So don't worry about your favorite character not getting recognized. Also, this is one last reminder for you non- authors that couldn't review before that I removed the block that was accidentally in place, so you're now free to do so.