Fantasy Thunder Chapter Nineteen: Tau
Blue Dragon
A tarnished heart with no past, Tau himself . . .
Reeve carried a radio with him as he and Red crept around the hall to Zell's room with an anonymous note that they had prepared.
"We stick out like sore thumbs!" Red said in a hissed whisper.
"Why? What's up?"
"Well for one, you're carrying that radio around playing 'Mission Impossible' at max volume waking up everyone we pass by, alerting the disciplinary committee, and earning us weird looks form everyone . . . "
Reeve turned off the radio.
"You know, I really like that song and it added to the mood."
" . . . "
"You can be dry when you want to." Reeve said as the two continued on, keeping his gaze focused on Red who was only looking ahead.
"You can talk too much when you want to, and in turn loose focus on your surroundings . . . "
"What makes you say--" Reeve couldn't finish because he smashed himself into the door of Zell's room.
"Dammit! I think I bit my tongue"
". . . I told you"
"You could have warned me"
"You learn better the hard way"
"We're a team, we have to work together to keep each other safe"
"Like you did back at Gold Saucer with the keystone?"
"Low blow, man, low blow"
"Have you slipped the note?"
"Oh . . . "
Reeve took the note that had been professionally typed and slid it under the crack in the door.
"There we go!"
"Now according to your plan, we have to type the next, correct?"
"Yeah, but I'm no typist. I suck."
"If you say that you do, its certain."
"What?"
"Think of it this way. Strong people think and often know of their strength. Its can be a state of mind sometimes."
"Really? So if I think I can type, I can?"
"True. Same with feeling" Red continued as they walked down the branch in the male dorm area to get to Reeve's room.
"If you think you're happy you can become that way. Same with thinking you're sad, disappointed, embarrassed . . . "
"Insane?"
Red gave him a dirty look.
"I should tear you to pieces just for that."
"What? What did I say?"
"You know well of my predicament in THAT particular state of mind. Don't pretend that you don't know I almost thought I'd go insane!"
"Oh, that . . . " Reeve reflected as they entered his room. Red sat by the desk and Reeve put his radio on the desk next to the keyboard.
"I'm lucky I got one of the rooms with the computers."
"I recommend you take off spell check. I've heard that Zell's grammar, spelling, etc. isn't the greatest. Taking off spelling and grammar checking features might make it easier to make this letter sound like it's from Zell."
"Go on . . . "
"That's it."
"Oh, yeah, I knew that!"
". . . "
***
Yuffie had long since left Reeve's room, offended that they had completely forgotten about her and wanted to find something else to do. In the back of her mind she felt worried about something, but she couldn't remember what it was. She decided she shouldn't be upset if she couldn't remember.
It was then that the realization popped into her mind that she had lost all of her wealth after the materia she had gathered had become obsolete. How could she help anyone or anything if she didn't have the money?
Maybe she could find money from the monsters in the training center?
The thought popped into her head, and she felt uplifted.
"That's what I'll do!" she said aloud as she walked around the center area of the hallway and into the branch that led to the training center.
Unfortunately she couldn't find anything around. The longer she walked through the humid grassy area the more she thought she would be attacked at any second. She slowly withdrew her sherukin and looked left and right for any form of danger. She tensed when she heard a rustle in the forested area in front of her. She looked up, expecting to see the sky, but saw only the high ceiling with the bright red line that displayed warnings every few feet that following the arrows led back to the entrance.
When Kuja walked out of the bushes looking worn out she almost jumped out of her socks.
"Freeze, monster!"
Kuja looked at her.
"I'm no monster" he responded as he began to walk past her.
She moved herself in his way and he looked at her.
"I said I was no monster"
"You have a tail"
"And you have a snake behind you"
"Ahh!"
She jumped to find that nothing was there. She turned back and found that Kuja had taken the opportunity to walk around her.
Yuffie growled and grabbed his tail.
Kuja tensed, turned around, raised his hand, and sent her flying into the trees with a crashing sound.
"If you're not a monster, recite the alphabet!" Yuffie yelled from behind him as she crawled her way out.
Kuja stayed quiet and continued his steady pace following the red arrows that led to the exit.
"Wait up!" she chased after him and latched herself on to his back, not that that stopped him.
"How about gil? Do you like gil?"
It occurred to him that when he went back to Gaia, if he did, he would need gil to support him. He certainly didn't want to steal . . . he had no other way of financial support.
"What do you have in mind?" Kuja asked after turning around and shaking her off his back.
She sprung herself back up.
"With my keen eye for monsters and your devastating power, we can overwhelm tons of these things and pick up all the gil they drop. Think of how much money we can make if we do this non-stop!"
"Why are you interested in cash anyway? Is it for a good cause?"
" . . . It depends on your interpretation of 'a good cause'" She said, mocking Kuja's voice in the last three words.
"You know what? Never mind. As long as I get a fair share I don't care what you use it for. Just let me rest . . . "
"Here"
Yuffie pulled an elixir from her pocket, and Kuja then took it and drank it. He felt renewed, but he was still exhausted.
"I wish these things would take away fatigue as well as injury . . . " he muttered.
"I use 'em all the time!"
Kuja raised an eyebrow.
"You know, curative items and spells speed up healing, but as a result they closed wounds aren't as stable as they normally would be. So if you use them all the time non-stop, then some injury could trigger a lot of the past ones and make them deeper than they would usually be"
" . . ."
"Never mind. How about we start in the desert section? We can probably round off 150 gil by the hour."
"By the HOUR? Geez, this is harder than I thought . . . "
***
Reno counted the fortune of two thousand gil for the seventeenth time.
"Easy as 'Pi'" he looked at Rude and Elena, who weren't laughing.
"What? Don't you get it? Easy as 'Pi'? Get it? Its funny! It's like a homophone and a pun? Don't you get it? Aw, who needs ya!"
Vincent walked out of the mansion and towards the center of the town where Reno and the other Turks were.
"I have what I requested, but I don't feel right paying you. You didn't really do any of the work."
"Right right. But I was still vital to solving you're little problem. Am I the man or what?"
"No!" Elena and Rude said at the same time immediately.
"Hey, it was a rhetorical question."
At that moment, Oren stepped again through his portal, closing it behind him, panting heavily.
"I'm getting too old for this . . . Everyone, come on. We have a problem . . . again. But we also have hostages. In, hurry up, I'm going to collapse" He said, opening the portal once again. It was smaller than usual."
The four people followed by Oren filed their way in as if entering the opening to a small hut and went back to Esthar Garden.
***
While Reeve waited for the document to print on the unfortunately slow printer, he played word games with Red.
"Okay, new one. We have to say words of at least four syllables, and each word has to start with the letter of the alphabet coming after the previous. Ready?"
"Who goes first?" asked Red, lying on his side while watching his tail swing involuntarily left and right.
"I'll start. Remember, bigger words earn bigger points. Alleviate."
"Boulevard"
"Counterproductivity" Reeve said with pride.
"Decolonization"
"Euphoria"
"Festivities"
Red thought for a moment before saying "Gravitation"
"This is getting boring . . . how about we have to perform what we say? Like, helicopter!"
"Could you perform that?"
" . . . Damn"
"Its finished."
"What's finished?"
"The paper"
"The paper?"
"The one you printed."
"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Reeve pulled the paper out of the old-model printer.
"Now the only thing we have to do is get this to Andrea in the library."
"I ask you once again" Red said, standing up. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Young love is easily stimulated, my friend! We just need to give it a little push is all . . . "
"I don't even know why I'm still with you on this. If you ask me, you're simply asking for trouble. Remember, if we're caught this was solely your idea and I knew nothing about it or had nothing to do with it"
"Fine, fine, but with my skills we won't get caught."
"Your skills? Like playing 'Mission Impossible' on the radio as loud as you can?"
" . . . "
"Like trying to sneak through windows when the door is open?"
" . . . "
"Like trying to dress up like Solid Snake!?"
"Okay, OKAY! I know I'm a little bad but I'm just saying that I've done this kind of thing before. Where's your sense of adventure?"
"It's still inside my room, that, by the way, I still can't get into"
"Must you be so pessimistic? Come on, we're heading out" Reeve said, folding the letter in an envelope and opening the door for both him and Red, and then closing it. When they were out in the hall Reeve pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, and set a pair in front of Red.
"Wear this, you'll look cool."
" . . . " Red didn't feel like objections, so he nosed the glasses onto his face.
"Oh man! You look awesome! A four-legged creature with sunglasses, and me. Together, we're so inconspicuous it isn't even funny!"
"Sure, a grown man playing secret agent and an oversized dog with sunglasses, scars, and a tattoo. We blend in, alright."
"Can't you only talk when you have something positive to say?"
"If you want a mime, then you can hire one from Shinra"
"Very funny. Why hire one from Shinra?"
"Because they only produce . . . " Red looked at Reeve. " . . . Clowns"
"Oh hah. Let me clutch my sides and laugh my lungs out, Red"
"You do that. In the meantime, I'll be looking for my dignity"
"Where do you suppose we can find it?"
"In my room that you still won't help me open!"
"Screw the room, already! If you want it open I'll do it for you, but only after the mission."
"Fine. After the mission."
Red and Reeve began their trip to the library. They were down on luck, the halls were crowded and they stood out like sore thumbs. Simply moving earned them weird looks and whispered comments from about everyone they encountered.
"Now what was that about 'blending in'?"
"Quiet, they don't need to know you can talk!" Reeve answered in hushed exclamation.
Red just sighed and followed Reeve through the crowds.
When they reached the library, they saw Andrea look at some papers, and a few minutes later retreat back to the room she had went to earlier.
Reeve went down to the ground, and started crawling, incidentally becoming eye-to-eye with Red.
"Now what are you doing?"
"Stealth, my friend, stealth"
The two of them slunk over to the counter, and Reeve slowly placed the piece of paper on the counter, and then began slinking to the door on. The people that walked in gave them weird looks, and Reeve seemed to ignore them.
Red was beyond embarrassed.
"I don't know him" he said. The glasses that the two of them wore told a different story.
Reeve stood up and went through the door back into the hall with Red.
"Now what?" he asked.
"Now, we wait."
"Wait?"
"What did you expect?"
"Shouldn't we check up on Zell to see if he got the letter?"
"Wait, I'm thinking . . . I've just gotten a great idea!"
"Don't do it!" Red said, thinking he knew what Reeve was planning from having watching similar events on the television on numerous occasions.
"What? I was just thinking we would open your door and wait a while."
"Good. I thought you were going to say my idea as if it were your own--"
"And THEN we check up on Zell to see if he got the letter."
Red let out an exasperated sigh.
***
Oren opened the door to the currently empty cafeteria storage closet that was currently a makeshift holding cell. He slowly set the unconscious body of Pi number one next to Pi number two, who was being monitored by Seifer.
When Seifer noticed Oren had come, he inquired:
"What are you planning on doing with them?"
"They should be out a while longer. I'll ask you to watch over them for a few minutes while I ask Dr. Kadowaki for the blood results." He answered, walking out of the door.
"Can't you do that shifty-portal thing to get there?" Seifer asked, making an imaginary swirl with his index finger.
"I wouldn't want to tire myself for a trivial distance."
"Oh."
When Oren arrived at the infirmary, he remembered that it had been the only place he hadn't gone too. The section was an impressive improvement. What had once been a simple medical area was changed into a radical establishment that looked like a real hospital and even had waiting rooms and multiple 'employees'.
On the second sub-floor there were offices for high-ranking medical officials, and Dr. Kadowaki's was at the very end of the white-tiled hallway. All through the trip he had flown at a good ten feet. The people in the crowds below showed no reaction, being used to seeing the unbelievable.
Oren knocked once before hearing the okay to come in. The Dr. was staring at two dark purple blood samples in the flat plastic squares. The look on her face mirrored disbelief.
Oren walked to her side.
"What did you find?"
"The blood samples you gave me from those two girls . . . they are exactly alike in every way."
"Twins, possibly?"
"No, even twins' DNA is slightly different. These patterns show that the two individuals you got these from must be the same in height, build, eye and hair color (which by the way is unusual), blood type, everything. I have three conclusions."
"Yeah?"
"First, you got these samples from the same person."
"No, they were two different people."
"Second, one of them is cloned."
"Cloning technology is non-existent where I come from. People see it as immoral."
"Well, the third is that two of them were made by some sort of supernatural or highly advanced power, but it doesn't seem possible and I highly doubt it, unless done by some unknown sorceress."
"Oh . . . well, thank you for the information." Oren said, feeling defeated and beginning to walk out.
"Wait! Are the people who's blood you extracted here?"
"Yes. In a makeshift cell at the cafeteria."
"Could a take a look at them?"
"Yes, follow me."
In a few minutes Oren and Dr. Kadowaki had arrived at the cell, where the bodies of Pi number one and two were in slightly different positions. Seifer was still there, only with Jessica, now.
"Did something happen?" Oren asked.
"They woke up and got kind of unruly, so I had to knock 'em out."
"By yourself?" Oren asked Seifer doubtfully.
"I'll explain later." Jessica told him.
Dr. Kadowaki immediately began examining the bodies.
"These two young ladies seem to be exactly alike. But there is something about one of them . . . "
"Yes? Oren pressed."
"The difference in one DNA sample was so trivial, I didn't care to bring it up. One of them has a gene that I've never before found in human DNA, the other one has it missing. It is very small, and barely connected."
Oren looked alarmed.
"The P5XE!?"
"Is that what it's called?"
"That is the very gene that makes a Zatach different from your own species! Without it, one is no different from a human."
"What would happen if a human had that gene?" Seifer asked Oren.
"Well, I suppose their body would gain the abilities of one, but that hasn't happened so its just a guess."
" . . . "
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
"No, nothing at all" Seifer answered nervously."
"Dr, you may want to take a sample of his blood and analyze it."
"What!? I hate needles!" Seifer made a mistake with the statement.
"Hmm."
Dr. Kadowaki paced around Seifer.
"If you're going to be here then I recommend I give you all your shots. You missed at least two while you were 'away'"
"Oh crap."
"Come now."
The Dr. led a worried Seifer down the hall to the infirmary, and Oren left to follow them leaving Jessica alone watching Pi number one and two.
When Dr. Kadowaki and Oren arrived back at the infirmary with Seifer, Oren sat on one of the chairs in the busy lobby while the Dr. dragged Seifer into her office. A few minutes later a scream of pain sliced through the air, and surprised those that hadn't been given prior warning.
Seifer came back looking pitiful and rubbing his arm, holding something hidden in one hand and a report in another.
"Let me see that." Oren said, standing up and taking the report. Seifer paced around uncomfortably while Oren read the report aloud.
"Oren, the gene you were worried about was detected in Seifer's blood, which I found was purple"
Seifer paid no attention as he tried to lick his lollipop where no one would see. Oren peeked slightly over his shoulder.
" . . . You're not eating a sucker are you?"
" . . . That needle really hurt."
"Answer the question."
"So what if I am?"
"You'd better not eat too much sugar, its not good for a Zatach body. And by not good I mean hazardous to everyone you come in contact with."
"Hold on, haven't you figured out what's going on?"
"No. But frankly, who cares? You're much stronger than you were before, and we have a better chance of winning our battles. We might as well go with it." Oren said as he turned around and left for the cafeteria.
***
Reeve and Red found Zell in the cafeteria wolfing hot dogs.
They both waited at the entrance, thinking of a good time to make a move.
"You know, we can't simply waltz in. He doesn't really know us in the least. We should wait till the condition calls for our presence" Red, of course.
"How about now."
"Were you listening to me!? We should--"
"He's choking, lets help him!"
Reeve walked briskly to the table where Zell was choking violently, and not a soul seemed to care. He positioned his hands around the boy and put a fist down under his chest near his diaphragm and jerked slightly upwards. A piece of a hotdog flew out of his mouth and bounced from the ceiling to the chair, and then by a twist of fate came forward and into Red's eye.
Poor Red howled in agony and clutched his eye partially with his paw as he lay on the ground.
"Quit playin' around, Red" Reeve said, ignoring his partner in agony.
Red looked up, bared his teeth, and growled.
"Uh, is he safe . . . ?" Zell asked him cautiously.
"No. He'll bite you the first chance he gets. And if you turn your back on him, you just might find yourself missing a kidney."
"Nice doggy . . . " Zell said nervously.
Red growled louder out of aggravation.
"He doesn't like to be called that. You best call him Nanaki."
"Red is fine." Red stated, automatically losing his "wild animal" state.
"I forgot he could talk"
"Uh, Zell" Reeve turned the conversation and sat on the chair across from Zell.
"Did you get a letter by any chance?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"A faerie told me. But, what did it say?"
Zell looked happy.
"I'll tell you all about it, but first . . . "
"Yes . . . ?"
"I forgot to thank you! You saved me!"
"Oh yeah, that. Think nothing of it. I just happened to be in the area."
"What was your name?"
"My name's Reeve. And of course you've been acquainted with Red . . . " Reeve found that Red was nowhere, but then saw him trying to order something from one of the surprised cafeteria ladies.
"Anyway, about the letter?"
"Yeah. You know that girl in the library, Andrea?"
"What about her?"
"That letter was from her, it said she had the hots for me!"
"No kidding?" Reeve said, all too knowingly.
"Yeah! The only problem is, I want to meet her somewhere special because, I kinda like her too. You see, she talked to me a while ago but I wasn't really interested 'cause I had a lot on my mind. But now . . . "
"Hmm. I see. Doesn't this garden have some events?"
"Well, Selphie was planning a dance tonight at about seven." Zell looked down at his watch.
"Which is in two hours. But I'm the only one helping and it will be cancelled if she can't get enough people."
"I see. Well, my friend, me and my partner will take care of that, you just sit tight!" Reeve stood up and walked over to Red who was finishing the last of a bowl of soda.
"Buddy, we have a new mission."
"What about my door?"
"Later, later. You have to talk to Andrea to make sure she believes the whole note thing. In the meantime, I'll gather up people to organize help for this dance that's supposed to be today and meet you in the library."
Red sighed and shook his head.
"What are you? Thirty five? Forty?"
"I'm twenty-three!" Reeve said, looking offended.
"Whatever. Aren't you a little old for this? Fixing up people? This is bound for heartbreak!"
"Hey, Zell said he liked her back."
"You're kidding."
"Don't doubt. Let's get to it. Your new assignment is the library!"
Reeve ran off to the unknown to gather volunteers.
***
Cloud pressed buttons fervently at the small arcade he had discovered in the waiting room. He sighed as his ship was blown up for the umpteenth time and hurriedly stuffed another coin in.
"You know, faults in life, particularly video games, can be divided into three categories. That of treachery, stupidity, and mindless puppets."
Cloud groaned when he heard Sephiroth behind him.
"Don't you have something to be doing?"
"Like what?"
"Maybe figuring out some planet to kill?"
"Today? Never! That's next week . . . "
Cloud groaned again when his ship was blown from the sky.
"What happened this time?"
"A Martian blew me up because I wasn't looking."
"Killed by a mindless puppet."
"Shut up . . . " Cloud muttered. He saw extra point boxes at the high corner of the screen and pushed the joystick to obtain it, but launched himself right into a line of fire, destroying his ship.
"Killed by your own treachery."
"Shut up!" he said louder. Cloud wasn't paying attention and ended destroying his ship by ramming it into a wall.
"Killed by your own stupidity. See? Three categories."
"Oh yeah? Suppose Tifa bumped into me by mistake and made me lose?"
"Killed by a mindless puppet."
" . . . What if you bumped into me."
"That wouldn't happen."
"What if it did?" Cloud said, stuffing in another coin and pressing buttons.
"You were a big enough idiot to have me bump into you. Killed by your own stupidity."
"How about a guy gets killed trying to save his wife?"
"Killed by his own stupidity. The only person to look out for is yourself."
" . . . " Cloud died again when trying to collect points.
"Killed by--"
"Dammit, shut up! This level's length is infinite, and increases each time someone loses!"
"So?"
"What do you mean, so?"
"Who cares about extra if the level is infinite?"
"?"
"Something finite plus the same thing infinite is still infinity. Adding finite numbers to infinity doesn't make it any longer."
"You're either really intelligent or really bored." Cloud muttered.
"Both." He said as Cloud died when the largest ship appeared and destroyed him."
"Killed by a mindless puppet. You see? You stink at life."
"If you're so good, why don't you try?"
Cloud put in a quarter and let Sephiroth try his hand at the machine. He smiled a few minutes later when Sephiroth flew forward to get treasure, and then tried to slow down to evade the fire. The boss and a minor enemy destroyed him at the same time.
"Hah!"
" . . . Just like real life. I was killed first by my own stupidity. I went for that coin when I knew it was too far out of reach, mirroring my action of letting you and your friends live . . . My treachery killed me. I could have become a god long ago before you arrived. What did I do? I waited so I could absorb even more power, just like I felt dissatisfied with my score." Sephiroth continued while entering in his initials: G.O.D.
"And finally, I was killed by a mindless puppet, that drone ship. Much like I was killed by . . . " he turned around and faced Cloud.
"I'll be going now. I have someone to meet." He said, walking past Cloud and out of the room.
***
Reeve had been talking to Selphie, but at a point ended up spilling details about his old job.
"The Shinra executives treated us like scum. Our complaints to them were like rhetorical questions: Never meant to be answered."
"That's so sad . . . "
"So you can imagine we never had any fun. You wouldn't happen to organize any parties here, would you . . . ?" Reeve asked, knowing full well that she did.
"Well actually, yes!" Selphie said, taking a clipboard from the stage.
"Would you like to help me organize it! We have a few hours and we might be able to do it if--"
"I'd love to."
"What?"
"I want to help you organize your festival and find as many people as I can."
"You . . . do?" Selphie looked at him with a weird look on her face.
"Are you okay?"
"You're the first person to agree to that in almost a year . . . " She said, staring into Reeve's eyes.
"Uh . . . are you okay?"
"Can you hold my hand?"
This is when Reeve started to get scared.
"Uh, well, I have to get people to help first! Do you have any suggestions?"
"Ask Quisty. She's in room 192 . . . " Selphie said dreamily and softly to him.
"Alright . . . are you okay?"
"Will you hold my hand?"
" . . . I'll be back, and then I'll hold your hand."
"Hurry back . . . " she said as she steadied herself on the corner of the stage. Reeve rushed out and sped his way down the hall to gather volunteers.
***
Oren, who was with Jessica and Seifer in the makeshift holding cell, paced around in front of Pi number one and two.
"I'll ask again. Do you two know why you are separate?"
"I do." Pi number one said with no emotion. The two were constantly being held in a sitting position in place by Jessica who was focusing her mind onto a small telepathic freezing.
Oren sighed, knowing what was coming next.
"How?"
"We cannot tell you under the code of--"
"I know! I know already! But I'm certainly not going to use any methods of torture . . . "
He noticed Pi number one stiffen, and decided he had hit a nerve.
"How about this. Tell us how to get to Pyros' ship."
"We cannot tell you under the co--"
"Never mind. What if I promise to bring Omicron to you?"
" . . . "
Pi number two spoke up.
"We want to hurt him for what he did to us."
"Is that so? Tell me where Pyros' ship is . . . "
"Pyros' ship is currently located in the Stardust galaxy sector F358 at the far end, vector 176" Pi number one basically sang.
"How can I trust your information is accurate?"
" . . . "
"Jessica, please release holds."
"Are you crazy?"
" . . . "
She sighed and lowered her concentration, but the two Pi's just sat there.
"They have no wish to move . . . you two can do what you want now, they'll stay here. You two, find a dorm or something, there are still hundreds left."
Without another word, Oren left with Jessica staring as if he had lost his mind.
"I guess we can trust Oren" Seifer said, walking out.
"You're just going to let them roam free?"
"Oren said they were harmless, and has he steered us wrong yet?"
" . . . "
Seifer caught up with Oren.
"You wanted something?" he asked as he walked out of the cafeteria and into the elevator, Seifer following.
"No. Just heading your way."
"Well, I had something I needed to tell you. I'm planning on announcing something . . . I'm going to be in the 'shadows' so to speak. I was thinking of leaving you as one of the people in charge."
"In charge? When did you get the power to do that?"
"I'm sure I'm trusted, by now. But, I won't be able to do much more for this place than contribute to the battle and give advice and information. Most of the people here are much more qualified to take charge. Furthermore, I've been lazy and should be trying to make myself tougher, not running around the galaxy . . . "
"Right . . . " Seifer said, somewhat distracted when the elevator opened and Reeve almost flew in.
"Ahh! Oren, just the person I was looking for! The Garden Festival committee is organizing an event in the Quad today in an hour and a half, and we need a LOT of people to get it ready." He said, dragging Oren out of the elevator and leaving Seifer in alone.
" . . . And this pertains to me . . . how?"
"Will you help?"
"Where's the Quad?"
"I can take you there."
"I'm sure, but where is it?"
"Its on this floor and to the left--"
The translucent floor was almost set ablaze as Oren grabbed Reeve and sped across it almost ten times as fast as any human. In a matter of seconds, he had brought Reeve into the very middle of the empty Quad, where Selphie was pacing around the stage looking at the clipboard.
Reeve wobbled on his feet and steadied himself by sitting down.
"What a ride . . . "
"Selphie, what do you need done?!" Oren called to her from the other side of the area.
Without looking up, she began dictating.
"We need a disco ball in the middle of the ceiling . . . "
Oren used an invisible force to fling the disco ball that was in one of the boxes near Selphie into the air and onto the ceiling.
"Multicolored balloons around the perimeter of the quad . . . "
Oren used the same force to empty a box of hundreds of balloons on the stage, and held them there. He then blew out a seemingly small bit of air that somehow filled each and every balloon, after which he levitated several staplers that released hundreds of staples to hold the balloons up by pinning down the ends.
"A stand on the far side with food, drinks, and a record player . . . "
Oren had already started. Three long tables were taken by levitation from the stage and set at the far wall, and eight large boxes were emptied along with scoops, bowls, and those thingies with the cup at the end for getting punch from the punch bowl. In a tornado the things were set on the table in a wonderful array of color, from The red punch with gelatin cubes, small hot candies, tiny carrots, and small sandwiches to the end of the spectrum that included purple grapes, plums, and wine.
"We need the lights completely off and the disco ball on . . . "
Oren blinked and the conditions were met.
"Microphones set up on the stage with instruments . . . "
The microphones danced as if they were alive from the storage room and landed on the stage, then seemingly connected themselves to the sockets. The instruments followed suit.
"And, this might take a while, but we need the whole Quad swept!"
Oren waved his hand, and every speck of dust in the area materialized into wandering protons and neutrons. He heard silence, figured his job was done, and flew out of the room.
"And that's all . . ." Selphie looked up and saw the whole place organized, Reeve in the middle.
"What?!" She fell onto the stage when she noticed every instrument was set, all dust swept, all refreshments placed, every microphone ready, and even the disco ball set at the top.
"Who . . . did this?" Selphie asked Reeve.
"Oren did."
"But how? That was only a minute!"
"Don't ask me. He just used some magic or something and every time you said what you needed he waved his hands or blew or something and it was all organized."
"Reeve, w-will you go to the bridge and announce that there will be a Garden Festival?"
"Why me?"
"Because I can't feel my legs!" She squealed with delight as she fell to the ground.
________________________________________________________________________
AN: Okay, I lied again! Romance can't be done until the G-Festival starts, and I really couldn't do THAT until I got everything else out of the way . . . meaning that it took me over 5000 words to do that . . . and this chapter was getting way too long. This time I swear it will be in chapter twenty. Also, this fic may last longer than twenty-four chapters, so if anyone has suggestions for the chapters after twenty four, tell me.
Blue Dragon
A tarnished heart with no past, Tau himself . . .
Reeve carried a radio with him as he and Red crept around the hall to Zell's room with an anonymous note that they had prepared.
"We stick out like sore thumbs!" Red said in a hissed whisper.
"Why? What's up?"
"Well for one, you're carrying that radio around playing 'Mission Impossible' at max volume waking up everyone we pass by, alerting the disciplinary committee, and earning us weird looks form everyone . . . "
Reeve turned off the radio.
"You know, I really like that song and it added to the mood."
" . . . "
"You can be dry when you want to." Reeve said as the two continued on, keeping his gaze focused on Red who was only looking ahead.
"You can talk too much when you want to, and in turn loose focus on your surroundings . . . "
"What makes you say--" Reeve couldn't finish because he smashed himself into the door of Zell's room.
"Dammit! I think I bit my tongue"
". . . I told you"
"You could have warned me"
"You learn better the hard way"
"We're a team, we have to work together to keep each other safe"
"Like you did back at Gold Saucer with the keystone?"
"Low blow, man, low blow"
"Have you slipped the note?"
"Oh . . . "
Reeve took the note that had been professionally typed and slid it under the crack in the door.
"There we go!"
"Now according to your plan, we have to type the next, correct?"
"Yeah, but I'm no typist. I suck."
"If you say that you do, its certain."
"What?"
"Think of it this way. Strong people think and often know of their strength. Its can be a state of mind sometimes."
"Really? So if I think I can type, I can?"
"True. Same with feeling" Red continued as they walked down the branch in the male dorm area to get to Reeve's room.
"If you think you're happy you can become that way. Same with thinking you're sad, disappointed, embarrassed . . . "
"Insane?"
Red gave him a dirty look.
"I should tear you to pieces just for that."
"What? What did I say?"
"You know well of my predicament in THAT particular state of mind. Don't pretend that you don't know I almost thought I'd go insane!"
"Oh, that . . . " Reeve reflected as they entered his room. Red sat by the desk and Reeve put his radio on the desk next to the keyboard.
"I'm lucky I got one of the rooms with the computers."
"I recommend you take off spell check. I've heard that Zell's grammar, spelling, etc. isn't the greatest. Taking off spelling and grammar checking features might make it easier to make this letter sound like it's from Zell."
"Go on . . . "
"That's it."
"Oh, yeah, I knew that!"
". . . "
***
Yuffie had long since left Reeve's room, offended that they had completely forgotten about her and wanted to find something else to do. In the back of her mind she felt worried about something, but she couldn't remember what it was. She decided she shouldn't be upset if she couldn't remember.
It was then that the realization popped into her mind that she had lost all of her wealth after the materia she had gathered had become obsolete. How could she help anyone or anything if she didn't have the money?
Maybe she could find money from the monsters in the training center?
The thought popped into her head, and she felt uplifted.
"That's what I'll do!" she said aloud as she walked around the center area of the hallway and into the branch that led to the training center.
Unfortunately she couldn't find anything around. The longer she walked through the humid grassy area the more she thought she would be attacked at any second. She slowly withdrew her sherukin and looked left and right for any form of danger. She tensed when she heard a rustle in the forested area in front of her. She looked up, expecting to see the sky, but saw only the high ceiling with the bright red line that displayed warnings every few feet that following the arrows led back to the entrance.
When Kuja walked out of the bushes looking worn out she almost jumped out of her socks.
"Freeze, monster!"
Kuja looked at her.
"I'm no monster" he responded as he began to walk past her.
She moved herself in his way and he looked at her.
"I said I was no monster"
"You have a tail"
"And you have a snake behind you"
"Ahh!"
She jumped to find that nothing was there. She turned back and found that Kuja had taken the opportunity to walk around her.
Yuffie growled and grabbed his tail.
Kuja tensed, turned around, raised his hand, and sent her flying into the trees with a crashing sound.
"If you're not a monster, recite the alphabet!" Yuffie yelled from behind him as she crawled her way out.
Kuja stayed quiet and continued his steady pace following the red arrows that led to the exit.
"Wait up!" she chased after him and latched herself on to his back, not that that stopped him.
"How about gil? Do you like gil?"
It occurred to him that when he went back to Gaia, if he did, he would need gil to support him. He certainly didn't want to steal . . . he had no other way of financial support.
"What do you have in mind?" Kuja asked after turning around and shaking her off his back.
She sprung herself back up.
"With my keen eye for monsters and your devastating power, we can overwhelm tons of these things and pick up all the gil they drop. Think of how much money we can make if we do this non-stop!"
"Why are you interested in cash anyway? Is it for a good cause?"
" . . . It depends on your interpretation of 'a good cause'" She said, mocking Kuja's voice in the last three words.
"You know what? Never mind. As long as I get a fair share I don't care what you use it for. Just let me rest . . . "
"Here"
Yuffie pulled an elixir from her pocket, and Kuja then took it and drank it. He felt renewed, but he was still exhausted.
"I wish these things would take away fatigue as well as injury . . . " he muttered.
"I use 'em all the time!"
Kuja raised an eyebrow.
"You know, curative items and spells speed up healing, but as a result they closed wounds aren't as stable as they normally would be. So if you use them all the time non-stop, then some injury could trigger a lot of the past ones and make them deeper than they would usually be"
" . . ."
"Never mind. How about we start in the desert section? We can probably round off 150 gil by the hour."
"By the HOUR? Geez, this is harder than I thought . . . "
***
Reno counted the fortune of two thousand gil for the seventeenth time.
"Easy as 'Pi'" he looked at Rude and Elena, who weren't laughing.
"What? Don't you get it? Easy as 'Pi'? Get it? Its funny! It's like a homophone and a pun? Don't you get it? Aw, who needs ya!"
Vincent walked out of the mansion and towards the center of the town where Reno and the other Turks were.
"I have what I requested, but I don't feel right paying you. You didn't really do any of the work."
"Right right. But I was still vital to solving you're little problem. Am I the man or what?"
"No!" Elena and Rude said at the same time immediately.
"Hey, it was a rhetorical question."
At that moment, Oren stepped again through his portal, closing it behind him, panting heavily.
"I'm getting too old for this . . . Everyone, come on. We have a problem . . . again. But we also have hostages. In, hurry up, I'm going to collapse" He said, opening the portal once again. It was smaller than usual."
The four people followed by Oren filed their way in as if entering the opening to a small hut and went back to Esthar Garden.
***
While Reeve waited for the document to print on the unfortunately slow printer, he played word games with Red.
"Okay, new one. We have to say words of at least four syllables, and each word has to start with the letter of the alphabet coming after the previous. Ready?"
"Who goes first?" asked Red, lying on his side while watching his tail swing involuntarily left and right.
"I'll start. Remember, bigger words earn bigger points. Alleviate."
"Boulevard"
"Counterproductivity" Reeve said with pride.
"Decolonization"
"Euphoria"
"Festivities"
Red thought for a moment before saying "Gravitation"
"This is getting boring . . . how about we have to perform what we say? Like, helicopter!"
"Could you perform that?"
" . . . Damn"
"Its finished."
"What's finished?"
"The paper"
"The paper?"
"The one you printed."
"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Reeve pulled the paper out of the old-model printer.
"Now the only thing we have to do is get this to Andrea in the library."
"I ask you once again" Red said, standing up. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Young love is easily stimulated, my friend! We just need to give it a little push is all . . . "
"I don't even know why I'm still with you on this. If you ask me, you're simply asking for trouble. Remember, if we're caught this was solely your idea and I knew nothing about it or had nothing to do with it"
"Fine, fine, but with my skills we won't get caught."
"Your skills? Like playing 'Mission Impossible' on the radio as loud as you can?"
" . . . "
"Like trying to sneak through windows when the door is open?"
" . . . "
"Like trying to dress up like Solid Snake!?"
"Okay, OKAY! I know I'm a little bad but I'm just saying that I've done this kind of thing before. Where's your sense of adventure?"
"It's still inside my room, that, by the way, I still can't get into"
"Must you be so pessimistic? Come on, we're heading out" Reeve said, folding the letter in an envelope and opening the door for both him and Red, and then closing it. When they were out in the hall Reeve pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, and set a pair in front of Red.
"Wear this, you'll look cool."
" . . . " Red didn't feel like objections, so he nosed the glasses onto his face.
"Oh man! You look awesome! A four-legged creature with sunglasses, and me. Together, we're so inconspicuous it isn't even funny!"
"Sure, a grown man playing secret agent and an oversized dog with sunglasses, scars, and a tattoo. We blend in, alright."
"Can't you only talk when you have something positive to say?"
"If you want a mime, then you can hire one from Shinra"
"Very funny. Why hire one from Shinra?"
"Because they only produce . . . " Red looked at Reeve. " . . . Clowns"
"Oh hah. Let me clutch my sides and laugh my lungs out, Red"
"You do that. In the meantime, I'll be looking for my dignity"
"Where do you suppose we can find it?"
"In my room that you still won't help me open!"
"Screw the room, already! If you want it open I'll do it for you, but only after the mission."
"Fine. After the mission."
Red and Reeve began their trip to the library. They were down on luck, the halls were crowded and they stood out like sore thumbs. Simply moving earned them weird looks and whispered comments from about everyone they encountered.
"Now what was that about 'blending in'?"
"Quiet, they don't need to know you can talk!" Reeve answered in hushed exclamation.
Red just sighed and followed Reeve through the crowds.
When they reached the library, they saw Andrea look at some papers, and a few minutes later retreat back to the room she had went to earlier.
Reeve went down to the ground, and started crawling, incidentally becoming eye-to-eye with Red.
"Now what are you doing?"
"Stealth, my friend, stealth"
The two of them slunk over to the counter, and Reeve slowly placed the piece of paper on the counter, and then began slinking to the door on. The people that walked in gave them weird looks, and Reeve seemed to ignore them.
Red was beyond embarrassed.
"I don't know him" he said. The glasses that the two of them wore told a different story.
Reeve stood up and went through the door back into the hall with Red.
"Now what?" he asked.
"Now, we wait."
"Wait?"
"What did you expect?"
"Shouldn't we check up on Zell to see if he got the letter?"
"Wait, I'm thinking . . . I've just gotten a great idea!"
"Don't do it!" Red said, thinking he knew what Reeve was planning from having watching similar events on the television on numerous occasions.
"What? I was just thinking we would open your door and wait a while."
"Good. I thought you were going to say my idea as if it were your own--"
"And THEN we check up on Zell to see if he got the letter."
Red let out an exasperated sigh.
***
Oren opened the door to the currently empty cafeteria storage closet that was currently a makeshift holding cell. He slowly set the unconscious body of Pi number one next to Pi number two, who was being monitored by Seifer.
When Seifer noticed Oren had come, he inquired:
"What are you planning on doing with them?"
"They should be out a while longer. I'll ask you to watch over them for a few minutes while I ask Dr. Kadowaki for the blood results." He answered, walking out of the door.
"Can't you do that shifty-portal thing to get there?" Seifer asked, making an imaginary swirl with his index finger.
"I wouldn't want to tire myself for a trivial distance."
"Oh."
When Oren arrived at the infirmary, he remembered that it had been the only place he hadn't gone too. The section was an impressive improvement. What had once been a simple medical area was changed into a radical establishment that looked like a real hospital and even had waiting rooms and multiple 'employees'.
On the second sub-floor there were offices for high-ranking medical officials, and Dr. Kadowaki's was at the very end of the white-tiled hallway. All through the trip he had flown at a good ten feet. The people in the crowds below showed no reaction, being used to seeing the unbelievable.
Oren knocked once before hearing the okay to come in. The Dr. was staring at two dark purple blood samples in the flat plastic squares. The look on her face mirrored disbelief.
Oren walked to her side.
"What did you find?"
"The blood samples you gave me from those two girls . . . they are exactly alike in every way."
"Twins, possibly?"
"No, even twins' DNA is slightly different. These patterns show that the two individuals you got these from must be the same in height, build, eye and hair color (which by the way is unusual), blood type, everything. I have three conclusions."
"Yeah?"
"First, you got these samples from the same person."
"No, they were two different people."
"Second, one of them is cloned."
"Cloning technology is non-existent where I come from. People see it as immoral."
"Well, the third is that two of them were made by some sort of supernatural or highly advanced power, but it doesn't seem possible and I highly doubt it, unless done by some unknown sorceress."
"Oh . . . well, thank you for the information." Oren said, feeling defeated and beginning to walk out.
"Wait! Are the people who's blood you extracted here?"
"Yes. In a makeshift cell at the cafeteria."
"Could a take a look at them?"
"Yes, follow me."
In a few minutes Oren and Dr. Kadowaki had arrived at the cell, where the bodies of Pi number one and two were in slightly different positions. Seifer was still there, only with Jessica, now.
"Did something happen?" Oren asked.
"They woke up and got kind of unruly, so I had to knock 'em out."
"By yourself?" Oren asked Seifer doubtfully.
"I'll explain later." Jessica told him.
Dr. Kadowaki immediately began examining the bodies.
"These two young ladies seem to be exactly alike. But there is something about one of them . . . "
"Yes? Oren pressed."
"The difference in one DNA sample was so trivial, I didn't care to bring it up. One of them has a gene that I've never before found in human DNA, the other one has it missing. It is very small, and barely connected."
Oren looked alarmed.
"The P5XE!?"
"Is that what it's called?"
"That is the very gene that makes a Zatach different from your own species! Without it, one is no different from a human."
"What would happen if a human had that gene?" Seifer asked Oren.
"Well, I suppose their body would gain the abilities of one, but that hasn't happened so its just a guess."
" . . . "
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
"No, nothing at all" Seifer answered nervously."
"Dr, you may want to take a sample of his blood and analyze it."
"What!? I hate needles!" Seifer made a mistake with the statement.
"Hmm."
Dr. Kadowaki paced around Seifer.
"If you're going to be here then I recommend I give you all your shots. You missed at least two while you were 'away'"
"Oh crap."
"Come now."
The Dr. led a worried Seifer down the hall to the infirmary, and Oren left to follow them leaving Jessica alone watching Pi number one and two.
When Dr. Kadowaki and Oren arrived back at the infirmary with Seifer, Oren sat on one of the chairs in the busy lobby while the Dr. dragged Seifer into her office. A few minutes later a scream of pain sliced through the air, and surprised those that hadn't been given prior warning.
Seifer came back looking pitiful and rubbing his arm, holding something hidden in one hand and a report in another.
"Let me see that." Oren said, standing up and taking the report. Seifer paced around uncomfortably while Oren read the report aloud.
"Oren, the gene you were worried about was detected in Seifer's blood, which I found was purple"
Seifer paid no attention as he tried to lick his lollipop where no one would see. Oren peeked slightly over his shoulder.
" . . . You're not eating a sucker are you?"
" . . . That needle really hurt."
"Answer the question."
"So what if I am?"
"You'd better not eat too much sugar, its not good for a Zatach body. And by not good I mean hazardous to everyone you come in contact with."
"Hold on, haven't you figured out what's going on?"
"No. But frankly, who cares? You're much stronger than you were before, and we have a better chance of winning our battles. We might as well go with it." Oren said as he turned around and left for the cafeteria.
***
Reeve and Red found Zell in the cafeteria wolfing hot dogs.
They both waited at the entrance, thinking of a good time to make a move.
"You know, we can't simply waltz in. He doesn't really know us in the least. We should wait till the condition calls for our presence" Red, of course.
"How about now."
"Were you listening to me!? We should--"
"He's choking, lets help him!"
Reeve walked briskly to the table where Zell was choking violently, and not a soul seemed to care. He positioned his hands around the boy and put a fist down under his chest near his diaphragm and jerked slightly upwards. A piece of a hotdog flew out of his mouth and bounced from the ceiling to the chair, and then by a twist of fate came forward and into Red's eye.
Poor Red howled in agony and clutched his eye partially with his paw as he lay on the ground.
"Quit playin' around, Red" Reeve said, ignoring his partner in agony.
Red looked up, bared his teeth, and growled.
"Uh, is he safe . . . ?" Zell asked him cautiously.
"No. He'll bite you the first chance he gets. And if you turn your back on him, you just might find yourself missing a kidney."
"Nice doggy . . . " Zell said nervously.
Red growled louder out of aggravation.
"He doesn't like to be called that. You best call him Nanaki."
"Red is fine." Red stated, automatically losing his "wild animal" state.
"I forgot he could talk"
"Uh, Zell" Reeve turned the conversation and sat on the chair across from Zell.
"Did you get a letter by any chance?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"A faerie told me. But, what did it say?"
Zell looked happy.
"I'll tell you all about it, but first . . . "
"Yes . . . ?"
"I forgot to thank you! You saved me!"
"Oh yeah, that. Think nothing of it. I just happened to be in the area."
"What was your name?"
"My name's Reeve. And of course you've been acquainted with Red . . . " Reeve found that Red was nowhere, but then saw him trying to order something from one of the surprised cafeteria ladies.
"Anyway, about the letter?"
"Yeah. You know that girl in the library, Andrea?"
"What about her?"
"That letter was from her, it said she had the hots for me!"
"No kidding?" Reeve said, all too knowingly.
"Yeah! The only problem is, I want to meet her somewhere special because, I kinda like her too. You see, she talked to me a while ago but I wasn't really interested 'cause I had a lot on my mind. But now . . . "
"Hmm. I see. Doesn't this garden have some events?"
"Well, Selphie was planning a dance tonight at about seven." Zell looked down at his watch.
"Which is in two hours. But I'm the only one helping and it will be cancelled if she can't get enough people."
"I see. Well, my friend, me and my partner will take care of that, you just sit tight!" Reeve stood up and walked over to Red who was finishing the last of a bowl of soda.
"Buddy, we have a new mission."
"What about my door?"
"Later, later. You have to talk to Andrea to make sure she believes the whole note thing. In the meantime, I'll gather up people to organize help for this dance that's supposed to be today and meet you in the library."
Red sighed and shook his head.
"What are you? Thirty five? Forty?"
"I'm twenty-three!" Reeve said, looking offended.
"Whatever. Aren't you a little old for this? Fixing up people? This is bound for heartbreak!"
"Hey, Zell said he liked her back."
"You're kidding."
"Don't doubt. Let's get to it. Your new assignment is the library!"
Reeve ran off to the unknown to gather volunteers.
***
Cloud pressed buttons fervently at the small arcade he had discovered in the waiting room. He sighed as his ship was blown up for the umpteenth time and hurriedly stuffed another coin in.
"You know, faults in life, particularly video games, can be divided into three categories. That of treachery, stupidity, and mindless puppets."
Cloud groaned when he heard Sephiroth behind him.
"Don't you have something to be doing?"
"Like what?"
"Maybe figuring out some planet to kill?"
"Today? Never! That's next week . . . "
Cloud groaned again when his ship was blown from the sky.
"What happened this time?"
"A Martian blew me up because I wasn't looking."
"Killed by a mindless puppet."
"Shut up . . . " Cloud muttered. He saw extra point boxes at the high corner of the screen and pushed the joystick to obtain it, but launched himself right into a line of fire, destroying his ship.
"Killed by your own treachery."
"Shut up!" he said louder. Cloud wasn't paying attention and ended destroying his ship by ramming it into a wall.
"Killed by your own stupidity. See? Three categories."
"Oh yeah? Suppose Tifa bumped into me by mistake and made me lose?"
"Killed by a mindless puppet."
" . . . What if you bumped into me."
"That wouldn't happen."
"What if it did?" Cloud said, stuffing in another coin and pressing buttons.
"You were a big enough idiot to have me bump into you. Killed by your own stupidity."
"How about a guy gets killed trying to save his wife?"
"Killed by his own stupidity. The only person to look out for is yourself."
" . . . " Cloud died again when trying to collect points.
"Killed by--"
"Dammit, shut up! This level's length is infinite, and increases each time someone loses!"
"So?"
"What do you mean, so?"
"Who cares about extra if the level is infinite?"
"?"
"Something finite plus the same thing infinite is still infinity. Adding finite numbers to infinity doesn't make it any longer."
"You're either really intelligent or really bored." Cloud muttered.
"Both." He said as Cloud died when the largest ship appeared and destroyed him."
"Killed by a mindless puppet. You see? You stink at life."
"If you're so good, why don't you try?"
Cloud put in a quarter and let Sephiroth try his hand at the machine. He smiled a few minutes later when Sephiroth flew forward to get treasure, and then tried to slow down to evade the fire. The boss and a minor enemy destroyed him at the same time.
"Hah!"
" . . . Just like real life. I was killed first by my own stupidity. I went for that coin when I knew it was too far out of reach, mirroring my action of letting you and your friends live . . . My treachery killed me. I could have become a god long ago before you arrived. What did I do? I waited so I could absorb even more power, just like I felt dissatisfied with my score." Sephiroth continued while entering in his initials: G.O.D.
"And finally, I was killed by a mindless puppet, that drone ship. Much like I was killed by . . . " he turned around and faced Cloud.
"I'll be going now. I have someone to meet." He said, walking past Cloud and out of the room.
***
Reeve had been talking to Selphie, but at a point ended up spilling details about his old job.
"The Shinra executives treated us like scum. Our complaints to them were like rhetorical questions: Never meant to be answered."
"That's so sad . . . "
"So you can imagine we never had any fun. You wouldn't happen to organize any parties here, would you . . . ?" Reeve asked, knowing full well that she did.
"Well actually, yes!" Selphie said, taking a clipboard from the stage.
"Would you like to help me organize it! We have a few hours and we might be able to do it if--"
"I'd love to."
"What?"
"I want to help you organize your festival and find as many people as I can."
"You . . . do?" Selphie looked at him with a weird look on her face.
"Are you okay?"
"You're the first person to agree to that in almost a year . . . " She said, staring into Reeve's eyes.
"Uh . . . are you okay?"
"Can you hold my hand?"
This is when Reeve started to get scared.
"Uh, well, I have to get people to help first! Do you have any suggestions?"
"Ask Quisty. She's in room 192 . . . " Selphie said dreamily and softly to him.
"Alright . . . are you okay?"
"Will you hold my hand?"
" . . . I'll be back, and then I'll hold your hand."
"Hurry back . . . " she said as she steadied herself on the corner of the stage. Reeve rushed out and sped his way down the hall to gather volunteers.
***
Oren, who was with Jessica and Seifer in the makeshift holding cell, paced around in front of Pi number one and two.
"I'll ask again. Do you two know why you are separate?"
"I do." Pi number one said with no emotion. The two were constantly being held in a sitting position in place by Jessica who was focusing her mind onto a small telepathic freezing.
Oren sighed, knowing what was coming next.
"How?"
"We cannot tell you under the code of--"
"I know! I know already! But I'm certainly not going to use any methods of torture . . . "
He noticed Pi number one stiffen, and decided he had hit a nerve.
"How about this. Tell us how to get to Pyros' ship."
"We cannot tell you under the co--"
"Never mind. What if I promise to bring Omicron to you?"
" . . . "
Pi number two spoke up.
"We want to hurt him for what he did to us."
"Is that so? Tell me where Pyros' ship is . . . "
"Pyros' ship is currently located in the Stardust galaxy sector F358 at the far end, vector 176" Pi number one basically sang.
"How can I trust your information is accurate?"
" . . . "
"Jessica, please release holds."
"Are you crazy?"
" . . . "
She sighed and lowered her concentration, but the two Pi's just sat there.
"They have no wish to move . . . you two can do what you want now, they'll stay here. You two, find a dorm or something, there are still hundreds left."
Without another word, Oren left with Jessica staring as if he had lost his mind.
"I guess we can trust Oren" Seifer said, walking out.
"You're just going to let them roam free?"
"Oren said they were harmless, and has he steered us wrong yet?"
" . . . "
Seifer caught up with Oren.
"You wanted something?" he asked as he walked out of the cafeteria and into the elevator, Seifer following.
"No. Just heading your way."
"Well, I had something I needed to tell you. I'm planning on announcing something . . . I'm going to be in the 'shadows' so to speak. I was thinking of leaving you as one of the people in charge."
"In charge? When did you get the power to do that?"
"I'm sure I'm trusted, by now. But, I won't be able to do much more for this place than contribute to the battle and give advice and information. Most of the people here are much more qualified to take charge. Furthermore, I've been lazy and should be trying to make myself tougher, not running around the galaxy . . . "
"Right . . . " Seifer said, somewhat distracted when the elevator opened and Reeve almost flew in.
"Ahh! Oren, just the person I was looking for! The Garden Festival committee is organizing an event in the Quad today in an hour and a half, and we need a LOT of people to get it ready." He said, dragging Oren out of the elevator and leaving Seifer in alone.
" . . . And this pertains to me . . . how?"
"Will you help?"
"Where's the Quad?"
"I can take you there."
"I'm sure, but where is it?"
"Its on this floor and to the left--"
The translucent floor was almost set ablaze as Oren grabbed Reeve and sped across it almost ten times as fast as any human. In a matter of seconds, he had brought Reeve into the very middle of the empty Quad, where Selphie was pacing around the stage looking at the clipboard.
Reeve wobbled on his feet and steadied himself by sitting down.
"What a ride . . . "
"Selphie, what do you need done?!" Oren called to her from the other side of the area.
Without looking up, she began dictating.
"We need a disco ball in the middle of the ceiling . . . "
Oren used an invisible force to fling the disco ball that was in one of the boxes near Selphie into the air and onto the ceiling.
"Multicolored balloons around the perimeter of the quad . . . "
Oren used the same force to empty a box of hundreds of balloons on the stage, and held them there. He then blew out a seemingly small bit of air that somehow filled each and every balloon, after which he levitated several staplers that released hundreds of staples to hold the balloons up by pinning down the ends.
"A stand on the far side with food, drinks, and a record player . . . "
Oren had already started. Three long tables were taken by levitation from the stage and set at the far wall, and eight large boxes were emptied along with scoops, bowls, and those thingies with the cup at the end for getting punch from the punch bowl. In a tornado the things were set on the table in a wonderful array of color, from The red punch with gelatin cubes, small hot candies, tiny carrots, and small sandwiches to the end of the spectrum that included purple grapes, plums, and wine.
"We need the lights completely off and the disco ball on . . . "
Oren blinked and the conditions were met.
"Microphones set up on the stage with instruments . . . "
The microphones danced as if they were alive from the storage room and landed on the stage, then seemingly connected themselves to the sockets. The instruments followed suit.
"And, this might take a while, but we need the whole Quad swept!"
Oren waved his hand, and every speck of dust in the area materialized into wandering protons and neutrons. He heard silence, figured his job was done, and flew out of the room.
"And that's all . . ." Selphie looked up and saw the whole place organized, Reeve in the middle.
"What?!" She fell onto the stage when she noticed every instrument was set, all dust swept, all refreshments placed, every microphone ready, and even the disco ball set at the top.
"Who . . . did this?" Selphie asked Reeve.
"Oren did."
"But how? That was only a minute!"
"Don't ask me. He just used some magic or something and every time you said what you needed he waved his hands or blew or something and it was all organized."
"Reeve, w-will you go to the bridge and announce that there will be a Garden Festival?"
"Why me?"
"Because I can't feel my legs!" She squealed with delight as she fell to the ground.
________________________________________________________________________
AN: Okay, I lied again! Romance can't be done until the G-Festival starts, and I really couldn't do THAT until I got everything else out of the way . . . meaning that it took me over 5000 words to do that . . . and this chapter was getting way too long. This time I swear it will be in chapter twenty. Also, this fic may last longer than twenty-four chapters, so if anyone has suggestions for the chapters after twenty four, tell me.