Who Wants to Bungee-Jump when you have Altophobia
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The eight remaining teams were now put under a mandatory rest period for twelve hours at the camping grounds of the Gazing Mountain summit. The next morning, all teams were happy to have free breakfast at their table and mingled with each other. Some complained about the lack of food and sleep and it was so darn cold last night that they wanted to wrap the whole tent to their body.
"After the cliff climb my back starts to ache really badly," Daniel commented sleepily talking to Jack. Rachel offered some cream to Quistis but was heavily refused.
"Come on. You need some calcium and extra energy," Rachel reasoned.
"Sorry, on a diet," Quistis said gulping down a glass of milk, "Besides, I hate cream and bacon and eggs will do." She then turned from the down looking student to Squall and stared at him thoughtfully. Squall gave a piece of bacon to Rinoa and she happily chewed it down, and then both of them laughed together like a perfectly loving couple.
"Jealous?" Xu tapped on Quistis' shoulder and she turned to see Xu smiling. "I wished I had a boyfriend too."
Seifer, Fujin and Raijin isolated themselves by sitting at the furthest end of the picnic table.
"Hey guys," Selphie walked towards Seifer who was eating his eggs. "Why don't you guys join us and talk together?"
"I would love to, ya know!" Raijin began to rise up from his seat. Fujin silently kicked his ankle causing him to shrink back down to his seat.
"Leave us alone!" Seifer mumbled with eggs in his mouth. "We're in the middle of the discussion."
As Selphie left the posses to rejoin Zell and Irvine, Raijin stared at Fujin in this eye. "Why can't I mix around?"
"FOOL!" she banged the table with her fist. "You'll reveal that we've cheated."
"Yeah, and I'll confess the whole thing to Squall and the others until the part where you almost took away Nida's life!" Raijin scolded.
"Oh, so Fujin cut the rope huh?" Seifer said.
"POSITIVE," Fujin replied. "And thank you for leaving us your penknife."
Seifer's eyes widened suddenly and then raised his head until it was directly towards Fujin's eye patch. "I don't bring a penknife, they're sissy tools. And I didn't leave a knife in the cave. I was planning to hijack the gondolas but I was stuck in this camping ground since I got here so I couldn't get out."
Fujin sat up straight in surprise while Raijin gaped. "Ya mean you didn't leave us that knife?" Raijin said assuring to himself.
"Hell no," Seifer said in irritation going back to eating his breakfast.
"I thought you recognised it as Seifer's honey," Raijin turned to Fujin who had a blank expression.
"ASSUMED," Fujin said turning to Seifer. "YOU PROMISED TO HELP US."
"Sorry!" Seifer said holding his hands up with the table utensils.
"So who left the knife?" Raijin asked to himself.
"Probably the operators or a climber who went into the cave," Seifer suggested.
"Who knows anyone could've left it there."
"But it was on top of the last envelope. It looked like a setup to me," Fujin said.
"I'm going to talk to the others," Raijin stood up but Fujin did not force him to sit back down this time. "Let's take it as a coincidence."
***
After packing their backpacks Jack and King surfaced from their red tent and walked to the checkpoint, which was not far away. It was 7.34 a.m. and the man who greeted them last night gave them the red envelope.
"Good luck," he said. Jack tore the envelope open and read the contents softly.
"Choose a marked car at Bluerock Cliffs and drive yourselves to the Vinzer Pier at Lake Obel. You have 300 gil for this leg of the race."
After counting the money, Jack and King headed for the gondola, which will take them back down to Bluerock Cliffs. The view was magnificent as the rocks showed off their bluish complexion and the morning sunrise looked orange but golden from behind the mountains. King was elated to see even more animals and monsters during the gondola ride than last evening. After the ten-minute ride, they ran to the cars.
"Lake Obel, here we come!" Jack cheered and entered the back seat. After that, King tuned up the engine and the car started to move. They drove through the scenic mountain passes and then into the flat country roads, which was adorned with the scenery of Timber's most prized meadows and farmlands. Jack and King removed their winter clothes as they reentered the warmer part of Timber.
***
Tourists started to pour in Bluerock Cliffs and the summit was bustled with weekenders who want to picnic or camp overnight to look at the view of Timber City at night. The campsite began to jam up causing Rinoa and Squall, Quistis and Xu and the Trepies wanting to leave the place minutes before they officially start the leg. Rinoa and Squall stepped up on the mat to claim their clue at 12.53 p.m., followed by Quistis and Xu and the Trepies who checked in together
ten minutes after Squall and Rinoa had checked in last night.
"Lake Obel, let's go," Quistis said, riding a taxi to the summit's gondola station to Bluerock Cliffs.
***
The blue reflective complexion of Lake Obel, the largest lake of Galbadia Continent soon surfaced from the meadows as Jack and King drove along the road. Soon, they reached Lakeside Meadows, a small town located by the shore of Lake Obel and also a holiday home to the late Galbadian President Vinzer Deling.
"Hey, there's a flag," Jack spotted the blue and yellow flag with an arrow pointing to the left junction perched on a streetlight. King diverted the car into the junction and arrived at the pier. King parked the car messily by the beach and soon the two card players stepped down from the car to run to the clue box, which was standing at the end of the pier.
"Detour," Jack said after he ripped the envelope open. "Paddle: Row longboats to
Shadow Isle in a distance of two miles. Saddle: Ride Chocobos in a distance of four miles to the Sanpiper's Bridge and cross it to get to Shadow Isle."
"Oh I wanted to ride Chocobos but let's take the boats since it's fast," he said turning to the longboats below the pier. After wearing water vests, King lowered to the boat followed by Jack and then he released the knot that kept the boat from drifting away. The boat drifted offshore and the two people started to paddle to the island.
A boy got up and shouted at the boat from the pier in warning. "Hey, don't swim in the water 'cause it's the piranas' mating season!"
***
Seifer and Selphie rode midway down the cable in their gondola, sitting side by side but turned away from each other in deep thought. Suddenly the cables screeched and Seifer jolted forward.
"Oh my god, what's going on?" Selphie said in panic as she saw the other gondolas stopped moving at 300 feet above the mountain range. Presently, a man's voice started to speak from the intercom.
"We apologise for the inconvenience. There's been a technical error in the cable car system so we had to halt the gondola. It won't take long until the gondolas start functioning again. Oh yeah, and do not panic. We guarantee that you will not fall and crash into the mountains and die. Thank you."
"What the %$&%*%&^*," Zell cursed waiting for a gondola ride at the summit station along with Irvine, Matron and Dr. Kadowaki.
"Hope it doesn't take long," Dr. Kadowaki longed with a sigh.
"Hmm... I wonder if Selphie made her move if she and Seifer were trapped in the gondola," Irvine thought dirtily.
Seifer looked down at the mountains from the gondola's window. Below there were chunks of rocks jutting out of the surface that can pierce through a human body. Seifer began to feel sick in his seat as the gondola wobbled back and forth due to the wind. As every minute passed by he could feel the gondola declining a few inches downwards and he thought he was a sure goner.
"Seifer," Selphie said leaning her body to Seifer, who was sinking his head in his arms. Selphie then tried to sound flirtatious. "This is the best time we should explore each other!"
Seifer looked up at Selphie's grin and gaped. "What are you trying to do?"
Seifer looked around in panic but there was nobody else but the Selphie. "No. NOOOOOO!!!"
Fujin and Raijin were the last couple to receive their envelope at the checkpoint at 3.15 in the evening. They took their final chance to eye at the beauty of Timber from the viewpoint.
"RUN," Fujin said ordering Raijin to dash for a taxi. After a 2-minute taxi ride, Fujin and Raijin reached the station. As they enter, they spotted Zell by his face tattoo looking at the large clock and shaking his legs impatiently.
"Hey guys," Raijin greeted and then Fujin jabbed him telling him not to be to friendly. "Why are you guys waiting here?"
"The freakin' gondola just got shut down and we've been forced to wait for almost an hour now," Zell explained.
"SEIFER, WHERE?" Fujin asked coolly.
"Let's just assume that Seifer might either be on his way to Lake Obel or stuck midway with Selphie in the gondola ride," Irvine said turning his attention to the woman fiddling her silver hair. "Wanna take a bet?"
Raijin raised his hand.
"Ugh, help me!" Seifer laughed lying on the steel floor as Selphie tickled his chest when she tried to remove his black T-shirt with a skull in the middle. As Selphie finished removing the T-shirt, revealing Seifer's muscular body, she then continued to unbuckle Seifer's belt. That caused Seifer to react by lifting his legs to kick Selphie's torso, which made her huddled to one side. Seifer got up with his senses fully recovered. "What are you trying to do to me you bitch!" Seifer barked at her while putting back on his T-shirt and sweater. He then approached Selphie and found her sniffling. At the moment, Seifer and Selphie exchanged glances and kissed passionately. After a few seconds, Seifer departed from her lips and whispered, "Are you heterosexual, bitch?"
Selphie shook her head shyly. "Hey let's do that again."
Presently, the gondola started to motion. Selphie got up and wore back her yellow cardigan. "I enjoyed that Seifer," Selphie said to Seifer who was getting up from the floor. "I didn't know you could tame me that well."
"Well, let's just say I've got experie... uh... male instinct," Seifer replied.
***
Squall and Rinoa were paddling in the middle of Lake Obel to the Shadow Isle.
"Squall," Rinoa stopped paddling and said, "Isn't this the time to like... do something romantic?"
Squall stopped and gave a stern look at Rinoa. "Honey, this is a race and after this leg we can have a private time together okay?"
"Aw but can we have it once in the middle of the race, especially since Lake Obel looked so pretty now?"
The two lovers approached each other lovingly and their lips began to touch and a kiss began. Quistis, who was struggling with the oar, looked at the reflection of the couple smooching passionately on the crystal clear lake. Xu noticed Quistis' behaviour and started to act sternly.
"Quistis, I think I'll turn around so that we can synchronise our paddling," she said firmly.
Meanwhile, Rachel and Daniel rode the Chocobos across the town and towards the bridge connected to Shadow Isle. Suddenly, Rachel's Chocobo hesitated as it approached the water. "Kweh!!!" it wailed and danced around in panic causing Rachel to fall off and hit the water. Daniel laughed as Rachel rose to the shore dripping wet. Rachel then approached the Chocobo.
"What's wrong, lil' fella?" she talked to the medium-sized Chocobo stroking its cheek.
"Kweh kweh!!" The chocobo started again and pointed to the water with its beak.
Rachel then walked to the bridge and looked at her perfect reflection on the clear waters. Subsequently, the reflection rippled and a silver-coloured fish jumped out of the water trying to bite Rachel's nose with its razor-sharp teeth. Rachel was lucky to dodge the attack and ran back to Daniel.
"Daniel, the Chocobos are scared of the piranas so we'd better walk to the island. Daniel dismounted from the Chocobo and jogged to Rachel and both of them crossed the lake, trying not to touch the railing in case the piranas attacked again.
Squall and Rinoa got off the boat and landed on the shore of Shadow Isle. Then, they headed to the clue box located between the bridge and the boat drop-off point. Rinoa opened the box and took out the envelope.
"Let's see where we're going next," Rinoa ripped the envelope open and a route-info popped out. "Take a train to Dollet and find the Nautilus Fountain."
"Dollet, huh," Squall said to himself.
"Let's go!" Rinoa tugged Squall by the hand to the bridge and they ran in with Rachel and Daniel.
"Don't touch the railings cuz there are piranas in the water!" Rachel warned.
"Okay," Rinoa yelled and nodded.
Rachel and Daniel then took the envelope from the box, ripping it apart.
"DOLLET!" Rachel and Daniel both screamed in joy. Presently, Quistis and Xu wearily approached the clue box and opened it sluggishly to reveal a pile of red envelopes.
"Oh we're going to Dollet next," Quistis said, looking at the cityscape of Timber across the lake.
***
Selphie did not rant like yesterday as they were driving along Lake Obel, but was brooding for a long time. Seifer noticed the strange silence in Selphie.
"Selphie, are you all right?" She turned to Seifer's reflection in the back view mirror.
"I didn't know Seifer would ask such a question," she said innocently, but it hit Seifer's heart.
"I didn't mean to say that you bitch, 'cause I'll never change like that son of a bitch Squall!" Seifer pressed the accelerator harder and the car sped blowing away the leaves lying on the road.
After about 30 minutes, Seifer parked the car next to the pier. After reading the clue, both of them started mounting the Chocobos and signaled them to move. Ten minutes later, three cars arrived at the pier, which were Zell and Irvine, Dr. Kadowaki and Matron, and Fujin and Raijin. Then, Zell and Irvine and Fujin and Raijin lowered themselves to the longboats while Dr. Kadowaki and Matron mounted on the Chocobos' saddle.
"FOOL!" Fujin hissed at Raijin. "Don't you know how to row!?"
Raijin then turned around to face Fujin's back and paddled making their boat to move away from Zell and Irvine's. Zell and Irvine did the same and their boat started to move straightly towards the island.
"Yay, we're going to Dollet!" Fujin could hear Selphie's loud and cheery voice.
"HURRY UP!" Fujin ordered. Raijin obeyed like a dog and paddled faster.
Suddenly, water started to build up below Raijin's seat.
"Oh I think I peed," Raijin whined.
"FOOL! WATER ENTERING BOAT, ROW FAST BEFORE SINKING!" Immediately, the both of them hastened their movement, but it made things worse as the boat rotated as it moved forward due to unsynchronized paddling. Consequently, just before they could reach the shore, the boat sank and Fujin and Raijin were seen floating on the water.
"RAGE!!!" Fujin screeched as she looked at Seifer walking on the bridge with Selphie behind him. Raijin felt a tickling sensation on his finger. He held up his hand a eyed at the baby pirana biting his thumb playfully.
"PIRANAS!!!" The warning marked Fujin and Raijin's swim to the shore of the isle. Fujin then climbed to the shore and then Raijin followed to rest on the sand beside her out of breath.
"CLOSE!!" Fujin wiped off the moisture on her face and wrung her drenched pink sleeveless blouse.
"Ow I think I got my butt bitten," Raijin said in pain as he rubbed his buttocks carefully. After that they shuffled to the box, dripping wet.
"NAUTILUS FOUNTAIN. TRAIN FROM TIMBER TO DOLLET," Fujin announced, with Zell and Irvine presently stepping out of the boat. Fujin then clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. "SEIFER!"
***
Jack and King got off the train after it had stopped at the Dollet train station. The communication tower which stood high on top of the Dollet Plateau was an unmistakable monument representing the Dukedom of Dollet, which was founded since the era of the Sorceress War and its capital city Dollet was a charming seaside town with an ancient and nostalgic charm to it. Jack and King admired at the golden architecture of old alleys, buildings and statues as they rode a taxi to the city center, where the magnificent Nautilus Fountain was set and its statue, the Nautilus, was a work of Stiletto, one of the greatest architects of the thousand-year old dukedom. The card players did not stop to admire the beauty of the statue, the son of the seas, Nautilus, with his arms stretching out to hold a giant basin of water, one of the basic creations of life, into the shallow well with the carving of the world map.
King opened the clue box, which was in front of the fountain and took out the envelope. He then ripped it open and read it to Jack. "Your next destination is where the 'Lost King' is pointing."
Jack then asked the people around the square the whereabouts of the 'Lost King'.
"I think it's a statue at the Dollet Museum," a man said.
Immediately, the team called for a taxi to take them to the museum. After their arrival, Jack and King entered the museum to look for the statue. Then they found a figure that resembled an aging king with a sceptre in his hand, but the statue is not pointing.
"Why aren't you pointing?" King scolded at the statue, whose eyes looked at him sternly. This caught the attention of a guide.
"Sir, can you please pay some respect to our 'father'?" she said approaching the team.
"I'm sorry but maybe you can help us?" Jack said showing the route-info to the woman, who soon giggled after reading it.
"The 'lost king' is another name of the big satellite dish at the communications tower," she explained briefly. "And if I'm not mistaken, the first building it should be pointing directly to is the Belle Lighthouse on Rhondia Island off Dollet beach."
"Thanks," Jack said, then seen running to the exit.
"No running!" she shouted.
***
Squall looked at the sky thoughtfully in the Dollet bound train, which turned from bright blue to golden as the hours go by. He felt someone tugging his sleeve and turned to see Rinoa smiling.
"What are you thinking of, honey?" she asked meekly.
"Whatever," he said in his breath and continued looking at the sky. Quistis set her eyes on Squall who was just sitting at the opposite table, waving her fork back and forth above her plate of sirloin steak.
"Quistis, are you alright?" Xu tapped on Quistis' shoulder. "Snap out of it."
"Sorry Xu, got distracted," Quistis said turning to Xu. "What'd you do if your dream boyfriend has already someone beside him?"
"I'd say forget him," Xu munched her salad. "But if you're serious, then when the perfect opportunity strikes, yank it in and tie it up."
"The perfect opportunity huh?" Quistis thought deeply. Her thoughts suddenly burst when the Trepies surprised her from behind. She turned around to see Daniel and Rachel and stared at them in irritation. "You almost choked me. Have you no manners?" she chided.
"Sorry Instructor Trepe," Rachel apologised. "We thought that we asked to come to our table. We have the most beautiful view of Dollet!"
"Yeah, and there are lost of castles," Daniel added.
"Sure, we'll go to your place," Xu rose from her seat but Rachel shook her head at Xu. "Sorry, Instructor Xu. We're only inviting Instructor Trepe."
"Sorry I'm not in the mood. Anyway I've been to Dollet and seen most of the sites," Quistis tried to reason, making the Trepies nod in disappointment.
"Then shall I replace her?" Xu asked. The Trepies nodded lightly and the three left Quistis alone with her fondest fantasy. Xu turned to the window beside her after she took a seat on the Trepies' table. The view of the sunset giving the ruins and ancient castles scatter around the lush Dolletian greenery twinkled in her eyes.
***
At another Dollet bound train, which was two hours apart from Squall's ride, Fujin slid the doors open and found Seifer lying on the sofa of his cabin. She transmitted an outraged look to Seifer causing Seifer to rise from his nap and turn to Fujin.
"RAGE!!!" Fujin could not contain her anger as she lunged for Seifer's neck.
"Fujin, what the heck happened to you?" Seifer said, shielding his neck from Fujin's attack.
"I thought we were allies," Fujin balled her fist and her eyes started to water.
"We almost got eaten alive by mating piranas when our ship got sunk in Lake Obel and you did not come to help us!"
"Sorry, I didn't see 'cause Selphie and I wanted to leave the place after we got the clue," Seifer tried to explain and Fujin rejected it hardly.
"SELPHIE, SELPHIE, SELPHIE!" Fujin screeched. "Just what'd she done do you when you two were trapped in the gondola ride?"
"Trapped?" Seifer tried to sound confused. "Oh yeah, the gondola systems got jammed up just before we departed from the gondola. Must've been scary hanging there above those sharp rocks."
"TRUE? MEAN IT?" Fujin said back to her booming voice. Seifer nodded and shrank back to his resting position. Fujin then turned around to exit the cabin until she ran into Selphie, who was running to the cabin after chatting with Zell and Irvine and the two old ladies. Fujin and Selphie exchanged looks before she
finally left the couple alone.
"Seifer, wanna continue where we'd stop at the gondola?" Selphie said cheerily, which was followed by a yes. Selphie silently locked the door behind her and strutted towards the sofa unbuttoning her yellow blouse.
***
Rachel and Daniel got the next clue first after they had reached the route marker at the Nautilus Fountain. Then, a taxi appeared and Squall and Rinoa were seen stepping out of the cab.
"...where the 'Lost King' is pointing." Rachel then began to ask the people around the square. "Does anyone know where the 'Lost King' is?"
"It's the satellite dish at the communications tower!" someone anonymous shouted back.
"Thanks!" Rachel signaled Daniel to return to their taxis and they climbed in. "Dollet Communications Tower sir!"
"The 'Lost King'!" Quistis turned to the giant satellite dish on the communications tower, which was perched at the Dollet Plateau. Quistis and Xu climbed back to the taxi and followed Squall and Rinoa.
Rachel and Daniel's taxi dropped them in front of the steps to the Dollet
Plateau. Holding a map in her hand, Rachel climbed the steps arduously until the full view of the communications tower surfaces. The Trepies tilted their heads to gaze at the 'Lost King' in awe.
"Let's go inside quickly," Daniel said. Rachel and Daniel entered the automatic gates to see workers working on the circuit boards in the last minute. They both rode the elevator up to the rooftop of the tower, where the 'Lost King' is located, perched on top of a steel turret. Rachel then climbed the ladder of the turret towards the dish. Her ponytail and T-shirt started to waver as a light breeze started to pick up.
"Rachel, what do you see?" Daniel shouted at Rachel who was about 50 feet above him.
Rachel aligned her sight to the direction of the dish, with her hand shielding her eyes from the setting sun sinking into the ocean from afar. "I see a lighthouse! And there's a blue and yellow flag sticking out of the balcony!" Rachel climbed back down and spread out the map of Dollet. She moved her finger to the beach and then to an island. "Belle Lighthouse on Rhondia Island. Let's go!"
The Trepies descended by riding the elevator and saw Rinoa and Squall. They said nothing to them but as they bumped into Quistis outside the tower them became excited.
"Instructor Trepe, we know where's the next route marker. Follow us!"
Squall and Rinoa stared at the tall turret, the throne of the 'Lost King'.
"Squall be careful," Rinoa said to Squall who was gripping on the rung of the steel ladder. Rinoa became worried as the ladder vibrated unsteadily as Squall traveled from rung to rung. The worry ended as Squall returned to the ground.
"Squall I'm so glad!" Rinoa approached Squall and hugged him. "What did you see up there?"
"A lighthouse," he muttered. Squall and Rinoa raced back to the taxi driver who was ordered to wait for the couple at the bottom of the cliff.
"To the lighthouse!" Rinoa ordered as she climbed into the taxi.
"Which lighthouse? There are six of them in Dollet," the driver said.
"Oh crap," Squall pulled his head out of the taxi leaving Rinoa behind.
"Squall, where are you going? Are you going back to the tower? You can't!" Rinoa shouted at her boyfriend but it landed on deaf ears as Squall was already on top
of the cliff. After about twenty minutes, Squall surfaced from the tower and paced back to an unhappy looking Rinoa.
"It's a lighthouse on an island," Squall said to the driver. The driver then turned on the engine and the car started to move.
"Squall don't try to do it again. The ladder looked unstable and you could be squashed like a bug," Rinoa muttered not facing Squall who was tilting his head in resting position. "And make sure that when you do things do it PROPERLY cuz we have long a good deal of time!"
"Oh shut up."
***
The instructors and the Trepies stepped off the boat, which transported them to the shore of Rhondia Island.
"Thanks," Xu said as the oarsman helped her to get off the boat. Then, they dashed to the gates of the lighthouse, which was not far away from the point where they disembarked.
"Operation hours 8.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m.," Rachel read, then turned to look at her watch. "We're late by 4 hours!"
Daniel then spun around and spotted two recognizable figures in resting position behind the bushes. "Hey, look what I've found guys. It's the jackass and Lord Farquaad!" he said in a high-pitched voice bringing laughter among the group.
Jack then set the T-shirt that covered his head aside and woke up with an unpleasant mood. "I'm not a jackass! You disturbed our sleep!" King then started to squirm and woke up to see the Trepies in front of the pavement where they were napping.
"How long did you guys waited?" Quistis asked, trying to break group CC's bad mood.
"We reached here at about 3.30 and we didn't bother to return to the city cuz we've bought food and it's breezy and comfortable here and there are no monsters or wild animals and all," King explained. Jack then pulled out bags of potato chips from his backpack, which was lying beside him.
"Chips anyone?"
Squall and Rinoa soon arrived at the gates, which was shut from entering the lighthouse compound. The couple then found the three teams sitting in a circling on a pavement, playing some sort of game where a player will have to tell the story of another player.
"My name is Quistis Trepe and during my childhood years I lived with Matron or Edea Kramer in an orphanage with Squall, Seifer, Selphie and Irvine and I studied magic there from Matron. Then in my teenage years I moved to Garden and serviced as a kick-ass instructor! I have a crush on Squall Leonheart since childhood until now but Squall didn't notice me because... ah! I have small tits!" King said sarcastically adding fuel to the laughter among the teams.
"Hey guys!" Rinoa said waiving at the circle.
"Squall, Rinoa, you're here!" Daniel said stretching his arms out to Rinoa.
"We're playing 'Tell about Yourself' and we're going to spend the night here.
And oh yeah we left some chips for you in case if you're coming here."
"No thanks, we've brought our food anyway," Rinoa said kneeling to the empty space along with Squall.
The sun finally sunk into the ocean making the world darker and darker.
"I'm Squall and I'm gay. My gay lover is Seifer who not only sits with me in the cafeteria and feed each other in every meal but we also sleep together stripping off clothes and all and don't forget get that..." Rachel then pressed her lips together to imitate a kiss. Everyone laughed at the silly joke except Squall who was silent since he got here. Suddenly, a strong breeze caught up and it distinguished the fire in the center of the circle.
"Oh dear, the fire's out. Who wants to volunteer to get more firewood?" Jack said, but nobody raised his or her hand. Some looked at Jack and King blankly while some turned to face his or her teammate. Then, Squall was the first person to get up from his seat and walked to Jack.
"I'll get them," Squall said while he went to the backpacks to take his torchlight.
"Squall I'll help!" Quistis got up and approached Squall. The two then disappeared into the dark looking for firewood.
***
The day had finally turned into nightfall as the last train arrived at the Dollet train station. Fujin and Raijin stepped down the train and immediately raced to the taxi, which was in front of their line of sight. After they climbed back into the taxi, Fujin turned on the lights and took out the fast forward information written on green paper from the red envelope.
"Where do you want to go miss?" the driver asked amiably.
"GIUSEPPE III FOREST RESERVE," Fujin ordered.
"Uh are you sure about the fast forward pass?" Raijin asked. "I'm certain that we could survive without the fast forward cuz we're fit and smart and all, ya know."
Fujin jabbed Raijin on the side powerfully causing him a great deal of pain.
"GO!"
The driver immediately released the handbrake and the taxi zoomed into action.
The surrounding roads with streetlights guiding motorists during the night soon turned into a dark and eerie forest trail where there was hardly any light but the full moon, which illuminated above the Dollet night sky.
"Are there werewolves around here?" Raijin muttered in panic as a howl echoed through the thick greenery. The driver soon stopped in front of the forest reserve gate where the duo was meant to be heading to.
"You guys better go to that lodge to spend the night. It's shabby but at least it can protect you from wolves and other animals and monsters and there are rangers around to talk to," the driver said after receiving his pay of 80 gil.
"See, there are werewolves! I told ya it's not a safe place!" Raijin squeaked. Fujin then tugged Raijin painfully by the ear to the shabby cabin nearby.
In the mean time, Selphie and Seifer arrived at the communications tower, which was closed for the night.
"Wanna camp here for the night?" Selphie suggested. Seifer did not hesitate to nod yes. After collecting firewood, Selphie and Seifer retreated to a
dilapidated but cozy shed and built their campfire. Selphie and Seifer then huddled together by the warmth of the flame. Selphie laid her head on Seifer's chest in deep sleep while Seifer embraced her, staying awake on the lookout for monsters and wild animals.
Zell, Irvine, Matron and Dr. Kadowaki in the other hand decided to sleep on the benches of the Town Square but were soon chased away by the police and they were forced to stay in a motel. They combined their money to pay for a room with two beds and a shower and stay there together. The two ladies dozed soundly on the beds after a hot shower while Zell and Irvine spread out their sleeping bags to sleep on the floor and they snoozed peacefully.
***
Squall and Quistis both ventured deeper into the bushes to look for more firewood. Suddenly, Squall felt a warm touch on his butt and in reaction he released all the firewood that he collected in his arms and turned his torchlight to light Quistis' face, and then moved the beam along her arm to see her hand rubbing his back.
"What are you doing?" Squall rebuked.
"Oh sorry, I think I lost my composure," Quistis removed her hands instantly after Squall's words. Then Quistis looked at Squall with her torchlight beam hitting Squall's face. "Anything about Rinoa today?"
"Why did you ask that?" Squall turned away from the blinding flash and paced back and forth around her. "Did you saw me kissing Rinoa at the lake this afternoon?"
"Of course, even the townspeople and Daniel and Rachel did. I mean not to ponder about your privacy but do your feelings toward Rinoa are ever sincere? And did she even cared about you when you're in trouble in the streets of Timber?" Quistis sounded to challenge Squall's beliefs. Squall then turned away from Quistis rambling. "Whatever!"
"Rinoa and I," Squall began slowly, "had a fight since we arrived at Dollet." Squall turned to Quistis and in an instant he dropped his torchlight and kissed Quistis on the lips under the moonlight. Quistis began to be filled with pleasure as she pressed her lips nearer to Squall's and stroked his back.
"Oh my goodness!!" a soft thud then sounded signaling Quistis and Squall to depart from their lips and jerked away from each other. The light from Rinoa's torch shined at the confused looking couple. "Oh sorry for distracting. But we're getting worried and Squall honey, did you get the firewood?"
"One more," Squall said while picking up the firewood he gathered and his torchlight with Quistis' help.
In the darkness, Squall, Quistis and Rinoa were seen in their torches heading towards the camp with even portions of firewood in their arms.
"What happened?" Jack asked and began to sound flirtatious. "Something romantic was going on? It's a full moon out there ya know."
"Nothing, and shut up!" the three chanted in unison.
***
Seifer felt a vibration in his shoulder.
"Who's that?" Seifer struggled to open his eyes and saw Selphie resting peacefully by his side and in front of him stood an old man in grey uniform leaning at him in front of the charred firewood.
"Good morning sir," he started. "Had a nice nap?"
"What's your problem," Seifer said nastily, rubbing his eyes to keep them awake.
"Sorry to disturb but it's already morning and if you're one of those racers you can come inside the tower to have some coffee."
"Thank you sir," Seifer said, then he felt a movement beside him.
"Mm? Is it morning already?" Selphie rose up from the ground stretching her arms.
"By the way, you two looked like the most intimate couple I've ever seen in my whole life," he said sarcastically, which made Seifer reply with by squinting his eyes in an unfriendly manner.
Seifer and Selphie looked up at the top of the turret where the 'Lost King', with its antenna pointing towards the sky, was situated with their arms hugging themselves to warm them from the cold morning wind.
"I'll climb," Selphie climbed up a rung as her grey cardigan and her hair fluttered freely to the wind. "Wow, this is truly breathtaking!" Selphie cheered as she gazed at the sunrise, which colours the whole town in gold. She first aligned her sight with the direction of the antenna and slowly tilted it downwards, until the sea was in full view. And across the sea off the Dollet coast, she could easily see their next destination.
"It's a lighthouse!"
***
Fujin found herself in an unusual morning ache. She opened her one eye and found Raijin's red-skinned hand lying on top of her abdomen. She took away the hand angrily and turned to see Raijin sleeping soundly with his back facing beside her on the same mattress.
"Oh my god, did we have sex?" she thought. "WAKE UP!!" Her voice trembled in the dilapidated cabin. Raijin then woke up groggily to see Fujin looking at him sternly with her hands akimbo to her jeans.
"Morning Fujin," he said sleepily, taking the sweatshirt, which served as a blanket for the night, from his back and began to wear it. "By the way, what time is it?"
Fujin started to blush. But then she shook her head and perked up her voice. "SIX FORTY-ONE!"
It was seven o'clock in the morning as Fujin and Raijin waited for the rangers to open the gates completely as they gulped down their warm morning beverage.
"The forest's all yours!" the ranger said ushering the duo to enter the forest.
The forest was alive with the twitter of birds and the squeak of the chipmunks and so on, which made the harmonious music of the forest.
"What are we looking for?" Raijin asked as he trekked the forest. "I don't wanna hang around here in this eerie forest for too long ya know."
"WIMP!" Fujin hissed, leading Raijin into the woods. "We're looking for a creature called Mr. Monkey who will lead us to the Fast Forward pass."
"How does this Mr. Monkey look like?" Raijin asked. "I gotta know so I can lend a hand ya know."
"Probably furry and has a tail," Fujin replied sarcastically.
"You mean this critter over here?" Raijin arched downwards to pick up a squirrel eating its acorn by the tail. The squirrel waved its paws hysterically trying to scratch Raijin's nose. "Aren't ya an adorable one."
"FOOL!" Fujin kicked Raijin on the ankle causing the squirrel to drop and land on the leaves and then scurried away with its acorn.
"Aw come on, if it wasn't Mr. Monkey I'll keep it as a pet!" Raijin said stupidly. "Oops, I forgot that you don't like fur in your apartment."
"Do you know how a monkey looks like in a first place?"
"Uh... furry and has a tail?" Raijin answered dumbly.
"He looks exactly like YOU! You boorish, dumb, sorry excuse for a disciplinary committee FOOL!!!" Fujin screamed, which initiated a rustle in the woods Fujin could clearly hear with her sensitive hearing.
"Something's coming," Fujin whispered and motioned her finger at Raijin to keep quiet. The rustling sound drew near and, from nowhere, a white-faced monkey with black fur appeared on top of Raijin's head.
"You SUCK!!" Mr. Monkey chattered and jigged.
Raijin's blood started to boil and silently raised his hands towards the head.
"Stupid monkey!!" Two large palms appeared in front of Mr. Monkey and he jumped off just before they crashed on the head. Fujin then took out her hand and deftly caught the monkey by the tail.
"PASS, WHERE!"
"Okay, okay!" the monkey said when a grinning Fujin lifted him up from the ground. "You don't suck okay? I take back my word for it! Let me down and I'll lead you to the hidden treasure."
Fujin released her grip and Mr. Monkey fell on the dirt with a thud. The duo followed the monkey to a bush where Mr. Monkey pulled out the green Fast Forward
Pass from it. "Good luck and don't SUCK!!"
"Oh so now I remember how a monkey look like," Raijin said.
"CONGRATULATIONS! You have claimed the Fast Forward, and now head to the next pit stop, Lord Denithera's Castle in the outskirts of Dollet." Fujin stopped reading and turned to the confused looking Raijin.
Raijin mumbled, "Uh, I think we're lost."
***
Rinoa suddenly woke up from a nightmare. In her dream, she saw Squall and Quistis jogging together along the sands of the beach of Rhondia Island like a perfect couple more intimate than Squall and herself. And it skipped to the next scene, where she was invited to the top of the Belle Lighthouse. The room was all newly painted in white with shades of pink and at the balcony, which was decorated lavishly with fabrics and flowers lie Squall and Quistis, in their wedding clothes, kissing at each other like the night before. Squall then turned from Quistis to Rinoa, sneering at her.
"Come here darling," he said. Rinoa just followed Squall's order and the next thing that she could not imagine, Squall pulled her by the arm and swung her to the aisle. Rinoa then tumbled over the railing and dangled. Quistis was then seen grinning as she lifted up Rinoa's finger one by one, causing Rinoa to fall into a bottomless pit of doom eventually.
"Squall, wake up!!" Rinoa shook Squall's body violently causing him to wake up angrily.
"Rinoa! It's still 7 in the morning. Don't get too excited okay?" Squall said and fell back to his resting position.
"Squall I had the most terrible dream! Don't you care about me?" Rinoa jabbered in panic, causing Squall to rise up again.
"Okay, I'll calm you down by taking a walk by the beach," Squall said.
It was already 8 in the morning and the four teams waited impatiently for the workers to open the gate. In front of them was the Belle Lighthouse, with its white complexion glossing under the morning sun. Presently, Seifer and Selphie were seen jostling towards them.
"Oh we're right on time!" Selphie exclaimed, out of breath.
"The gay lover has returned to see Squall!" Jack said sarcastically.
"What?" Seifer voiced abruptly at Jack who turned away from Seifer, whistling to himself, which was followed by a jab in the chest by King.
The gate flew open and the five teams raced to the stairs and climbed it one person at a time. Selphie, huffing and puffing reached the balcony of the lighthouse first and pulled out an envelope from the clue box.
"ROADBLOCK!" Selphie hollered, reading the first word that popped out from the envelope. "Before opening this, choose someone who wants to be on top of the world."
As Seifer surfaces from the stairwell, Selphie approached Seifer excitedly.
"Woohoo! I'm going to bungee-jump!"
Seifer looked down from the balcony and saw waves crashing onto the rocks below.
"Selphie are you sure you'll be okay? You could kill yourself!"
"Don't worry I've seen people doing this in TV and nobody got killed. Besides I'm not jump down that balcony, I'm going to jump from the roof of the lighthouse and hopefully land on something soft or you go and get me at the littoral." Selphie explained and disappeared into another set of stairs, which will take her to the roof. Seifer looked back at the rocks below the balcony and began to feel nauseous and woozy.
Selphie was now standing on the roof, which looked like a flat red disc sitting on the tip of the lighthouse. The wind made her hair and blouse fluttered freely as she stretched out her arms perpendicularly to her body. "Woohoo! I'm the king... err... queen of the world!" she cried at the view of Balamb Continent, which looked like a tiny green isle from afar. Below her was a series of rocks jutting out of the ocean sounding to the beating of the waves. A cliff ran down straightly to the tiny littoral below. That will be her target. At the littoral, Seifer, Squall, Xu, Rachel and Jack tilted their heads upward to stare at the tip of the lighthouse.
"Selphie!" Seifer yelled as the wind began to pick up. Selphie then looked down at Seifer, who looked like a tiny dot from above. She then fastened the crash helmet to her head, and her arms stretched out perpendicular to her body.
"I'm ready!" she gave a thumb up but she knew Seifer would not be able to see it. She then took in one big breath heavily. "Here goes."
Selphie started to close her eyes and tilted her body. The sensation of free falling and the air rushing against her skin caused her eyes to open. Selphie screamed until the elastic bungee-cord pulled her back when she was found hanging a few inches from ground level. Seifer pushed away the operators to help Selphie to gain her footing on the ground.
"Oh I feel dizzy," Selphie said waving her head in circular motion. She then came back to her senses and received a red-coloured envelope from the operators.
"You have proven yourself to be king or queen of the world! Proceed to the next pit stop, Lord Denithera's Castle in the outskirts of Dollet!" Selphie said excitedly while waving the paper back and forth.
"See you at the bottom," Quistis, who was the next person to bungee-jump, said to Rinoa. After a few minutes, Quistis was seen flying in the air from the lookout point where the other three people anticipated for their turn to dive.
"Last person to check in will be eliminated!" Quistis stressed out as Xu and she blasted through the pack for a boat back to the Dollet beach. Squall then turned to the top of the lighthouse with his hand shielding his eyes from the morning sun. Rinoa climbed up the ladder, which connected the cramped lookout point to the lofty tip of the lighthouse. After fixing the bungee-cord to her legs and wearing her safety gear, Rinoa then looked down at the waves hitting the rocks below the lighthouse. The sound of the crashing waves made the sickness in Rinoa grew stronger.
"Oh my goodness, she needs help," Squall thought after seeing the dot shied back to the center of the roof. Squall did not hesitate to push away the other people to get back to the lighthouse.
"Sir you can't..." the operator's warning was interrupted when Squall pushed him aside from blocking the passageway to the stairs.
"Rinoa, you can do it!" a voice rang in Rinoa's mind.
"No, remember the dream? You'll die if you fall," another voice retaliated.
Squall neared Rinoa who was hiding her head in her knees at the center of the circle. Rinoa sensed his presence and turned to his fluttering black hair in tears.
"Squall I'm scared!" Rinoa muttered as Squall pulled her up from the floor.
Then, with one powerful force, Squall pushed Rinoa to the edge of the rooftop until she tilted and fell. Rinoa's scream echoed through the air and she fell choppily to the littoral below.
"Hey what's that?" Zell, who was sitting in a speedboat ride with Irvine to the island, said as he saw a figure diving in the air with a rope connected to the tip of the lighthouse. Zell and Irvine then faced each other in excitement.
"BUNGEE-JUMPING!"
Rinoa opened her eyes to see herself lying on the sand as the task operators undid the knot around her legs. Then she heard Squall's heavy footsteps, which vibrated the sand of the beach.
"Squall why did you do that?" Rinoa cried. "You almost got me killed."
Squall did not say anything to soothe Rinoa. After reading the clue, they took a boat back to the beach and then they climbed into a taxi.
"Squall you could've killed me," Rinoa could not pull back her tears as she expressed her fear to deaf ears. After an abrupt sniffle, she motioned her head to rest on Squall's chest and sobbed some more. The tears wetted Squall's black shirt, which made him more embarrassed when people were starting to stare at them.
"Get us out of here," he said snidely to the driver and the car sped off.
***
Cid Kramer was waiting for the teams to arrive at the square of Lord Denithera's Castle, a walled city and fortress that was built over 200 years ago after the kingdom of Dollet came into the rule of the dukes by Lord Denithera, the first duke of the new parliament. The sun moved upward to shine on Fujin's eye patch, who was running with Raijin towards Headmaster Cid, unstrapping and leaving their backpacks at the entrance of the square.
An old woman in medieval Dolletian clothing started to motion as Fujin and Raijin thudded on the mat. "Bonjour and welcome to Dollet."
"Fujin and Raijin," Cid began, "You're team number one!"
Raijin then breathed deeply in relief. "Glad it paid when we got lost in that forest, ya know."
"Wow, it's so pretty that it looks like it came out of a storybook!" Selphie said as she admired the brick red-coloured castle standing proudly on top of a hill with four great turrets. The road soon turned bumpy as the taxi traveled up the slope to the front gate of the fortress. Across the moat stood Cid Kramer expecting Seifer and Selphie's arrival.
"Seifer and Selphie, you're team number two," Cid told the team who turned into an uproar of euphoria.
Meanwhile, Zell just could not wait to go for the dive. However, as he looked down at the dots of people and the sharp rocks outside the littoral, which was about 1000 feet from the roof, the gastric juices started to build making Zell feeling sick and woozy and wanting to throw up. Irvine gaped as he saw Zell retreating in vertigo.
"Dude, are you all right?" he shouted but the voice barely reached to the top of the lighthouse. Zell then started to think about Seifer. If he were here waiting for the jump he would profusely call him a chicken-wuss and people will start laughing at him. The picture of Seifer standing in front of him mouthing 'chicken-wuss' at Zell came to his mind like thunder.
"I'm not a chicken-wuss!!" Zell ran to the edge of the roof and soared into the air. Then, the gravitational forces pulled Zell towards the littoral causing him to feel the thrill of free fall.
"Wahoo!" Zell howled as he bounced up and down after he had reached ground level. Then it was Matron's turn to dive.
"Don't let it get to you!" Dr. Kadowaki yelled at Matron who was climbing to the roof. After wearing the safety gear, Matron neared the edge of the roof, closed her eyes, and made her once-of-a-lifetime jump, which would haunt her memories forever.
"Oh my goodness, I can't believe I did that!" Matron exclaimed as she was laid on the ground. Dr. Kadowaki started to worry after reading the clue.
"Come on girl. We've got to go and lead the boys or else we'll be eliminated!"
***
"Rachel and Daniel, you're team number six."
Rachel and Daniel cried out in relief after Cid auspiciously announced the result. Cid then waited again patiently for the arrival of the last two teams.
Soon, the sound of car brakes screeched and a taxi stopped abruptly in front of the moat gate. A person with stand-up hair and a face tattoo stepped out of the taxi.
"We're ready to hear it," Irvine said after he stepped in front of Cid huffing and puffing, wrapping his arm around his pardner. Cid paused for a while until Zell and Irvine stopped huffing.
"Zell and Irvine," Cid paused again to build up the anxiety in the team. "You're team number seven!"
After hearing the ear-soothing news, Zell and Irvine hugged and roared together in joy. Zell then spoke to Cid happily.
"The next you'll know we'll be winning the one million gil!"
Matron and Dr. Kadowaki were soon seen running towards to Town Square. The two women hugged from shoulder to shoulder and stomped on the mat together.
"We're here finally hubby," Matron said to her husband, totally out of breath but smiling.
"Edea and Dr. Kadowaki, the students back at Balamb Garden really missed you since day one, but I'm sorry to tell that you both have been eliminated from the race. And we'll be sending you two back shortly," Cid informed half-hearted.
Edea then fell her head on Dr. Kadowaki's shoulder and sobbed. The infirmary lady tried to comfort in her own words.
"I know it's hard to accept but we'll have to face the fact that we're in competition with teams who are younger and fitter than us."
Matron then lifted her head up and wiped off her tears. "Honey, can you give our regards to Zell and Irvine 'cause they have been good with us lately?"
Matron and Dr. Kadowaki half-heartedly entered the vehicle, which will take them back to Dollet to board a Balamb bound vessel. At the deck of the ship, Matron and Dr. Kadowaki set their eyes at the city and its five lighthouses for the last time so far, leaving the thrills of the race for good but the memories will still remain in their hearts.
-------------------------------------------------
The eight remaining teams were now put under a mandatory rest period for twelve hours at the camping grounds of the Gazing Mountain summit. The next morning, all teams were happy to have free breakfast at their table and mingled with each other. Some complained about the lack of food and sleep and it was so darn cold last night that they wanted to wrap the whole tent to their body.
"After the cliff climb my back starts to ache really badly," Daniel commented sleepily talking to Jack. Rachel offered some cream to Quistis but was heavily refused.
"Come on. You need some calcium and extra energy," Rachel reasoned.
"Sorry, on a diet," Quistis said gulping down a glass of milk, "Besides, I hate cream and bacon and eggs will do." She then turned from the down looking student to Squall and stared at him thoughtfully. Squall gave a piece of bacon to Rinoa and she happily chewed it down, and then both of them laughed together like a perfectly loving couple.
"Jealous?" Xu tapped on Quistis' shoulder and she turned to see Xu smiling. "I wished I had a boyfriend too."
Seifer, Fujin and Raijin isolated themselves by sitting at the furthest end of the picnic table.
"Hey guys," Selphie walked towards Seifer who was eating his eggs. "Why don't you guys join us and talk together?"
"I would love to, ya know!" Raijin began to rise up from his seat. Fujin silently kicked his ankle causing him to shrink back down to his seat.
"Leave us alone!" Seifer mumbled with eggs in his mouth. "We're in the middle of the discussion."
As Selphie left the posses to rejoin Zell and Irvine, Raijin stared at Fujin in this eye. "Why can't I mix around?"
"FOOL!" she banged the table with her fist. "You'll reveal that we've cheated."
"Yeah, and I'll confess the whole thing to Squall and the others until the part where you almost took away Nida's life!" Raijin scolded.
"Oh, so Fujin cut the rope huh?" Seifer said.
"POSITIVE," Fujin replied. "And thank you for leaving us your penknife."
Seifer's eyes widened suddenly and then raised his head until it was directly towards Fujin's eye patch. "I don't bring a penknife, they're sissy tools. And I didn't leave a knife in the cave. I was planning to hijack the gondolas but I was stuck in this camping ground since I got here so I couldn't get out."
Fujin sat up straight in surprise while Raijin gaped. "Ya mean you didn't leave us that knife?" Raijin said assuring to himself.
"Hell no," Seifer said in irritation going back to eating his breakfast.
"I thought you recognised it as Seifer's honey," Raijin turned to Fujin who had a blank expression.
"ASSUMED," Fujin said turning to Seifer. "YOU PROMISED TO HELP US."
"Sorry!" Seifer said holding his hands up with the table utensils.
"So who left the knife?" Raijin asked to himself.
"Probably the operators or a climber who went into the cave," Seifer suggested.
"Who knows anyone could've left it there."
"But it was on top of the last envelope. It looked like a setup to me," Fujin said.
"I'm going to talk to the others," Raijin stood up but Fujin did not force him to sit back down this time. "Let's take it as a coincidence."
***
After packing their backpacks Jack and King surfaced from their red tent and walked to the checkpoint, which was not far away. It was 7.34 a.m. and the man who greeted them last night gave them the red envelope.
"Good luck," he said. Jack tore the envelope open and read the contents softly.
"Choose a marked car at Bluerock Cliffs and drive yourselves to the Vinzer Pier at Lake Obel. You have 300 gil for this leg of the race."
After counting the money, Jack and King headed for the gondola, which will take them back down to Bluerock Cliffs. The view was magnificent as the rocks showed off their bluish complexion and the morning sunrise looked orange but golden from behind the mountains. King was elated to see even more animals and monsters during the gondola ride than last evening. After the ten-minute ride, they ran to the cars.
"Lake Obel, here we come!" Jack cheered and entered the back seat. After that, King tuned up the engine and the car started to move. They drove through the scenic mountain passes and then into the flat country roads, which was adorned with the scenery of Timber's most prized meadows and farmlands. Jack and King removed their winter clothes as they reentered the warmer part of Timber.
***
Tourists started to pour in Bluerock Cliffs and the summit was bustled with weekenders who want to picnic or camp overnight to look at the view of Timber City at night. The campsite began to jam up causing Rinoa and Squall, Quistis and Xu and the Trepies wanting to leave the place minutes before they officially start the leg. Rinoa and Squall stepped up on the mat to claim their clue at 12.53 p.m., followed by Quistis and Xu and the Trepies who checked in together
ten minutes after Squall and Rinoa had checked in last night.
"Lake Obel, let's go," Quistis said, riding a taxi to the summit's gondola station to Bluerock Cliffs.
***
The blue reflective complexion of Lake Obel, the largest lake of Galbadia Continent soon surfaced from the meadows as Jack and King drove along the road. Soon, they reached Lakeside Meadows, a small town located by the shore of Lake Obel and also a holiday home to the late Galbadian President Vinzer Deling.
"Hey, there's a flag," Jack spotted the blue and yellow flag with an arrow pointing to the left junction perched on a streetlight. King diverted the car into the junction and arrived at the pier. King parked the car messily by the beach and soon the two card players stepped down from the car to run to the clue box, which was standing at the end of the pier.
"Detour," Jack said after he ripped the envelope open. "Paddle: Row longboats to
Shadow Isle in a distance of two miles. Saddle: Ride Chocobos in a distance of four miles to the Sanpiper's Bridge and cross it to get to Shadow Isle."
"Oh I wanted to ride Chocobos but let's take the boats since it's fast," he said turning to the longboats below the pier. After wearing water vests, King lowered to the boat followed by Jack and then he released the knot that kept the boat from drifting away. The boat drifted offshore and the two people started to paddle to the island.
A boy got up and shouted at the boat from the pier in warning. "Hey, don't swim in the water 'cause it's the piranas' mating season!"
***
Seifer and Selphie rode midway down the cable in their gondola, sitting side by side but turned away from each other in deep thought. Suddenly the cables screeched and Seifer jolted forward.
"Oh my god, what's going on?" Selphie said in panic as she saw the other gondolas stopped moving at 300 feet above the mountain range. Presently, a man's voice started to speak from the intercom.
"We apologise for the inconvenience. There's been a technical error in the cable car system so we had to halt the gondola. It won't take long until the gondolas start functioning again. Oh yeah, and do not panic. We guarantee that you will not fall and crash into the mountains and die. Thank you."
"What the %$&%*%&^*," Zell cursed waiting for a gondola ride at the summit station along with Irvine, Matron and Dr. Kadowaki.
"Hope it doesn't take long," Dr. Kadowaki longed with a sigh.
"Hmm... I wonder if Selphie made her move if she and Seifer were trapped in the gondola," Irvine thought dirtily.
Seifer looked down at the mountains from the gondola's window. Below there were chunks of rocks jutting out of the surface that can pierce through a human body. Seifer began to feel sick in his seat as the gondola wobbled back and forth due to the wind. As every minute passed by he could feel the gondola declining a few inches downwards and he thought he was a sure goner.
"Seifer," Selphie said leaning her body to Seifer, who was sinking his head in his arms. Selphie then tried to sound flirtatious. "This is the best time we should explore each other!"
Seifer looked up at Selphie's grin and gaped. "What are you trying to do?"
Seifer looked around in panic but there was nobody else but the Selphie. "No. NOOOOOO!!!"
Fujin and Raijin were the last couple to receive their envelope at the checkpoint at 3.15 in the evening. They took their final chance to eye at the beauty of Timber from the viewpoint.
"RUN," Fujin said ordering Raijin to dash for a taxi. After a 2-minute taxi ride, Fujin and Raijin reached the station. As they enter, they spotted Zell by his face tattoo looking at the large clock and shaking his legs impatiently.
"Hey guys," Raijin greeted and then Fujin jabbed him telling him not to be to friendly. "Why are you guys waiting here?"
"The freakin' gondola just got shut down and we've been forced to wait for almost an hour now," Zell explained.
"SEIFER, WHERE?" Fujin asked coolly.
"Let's just assume that Seifer might either be on his way to Lake Obel or stuck midway with Selphie in the gondola ride," Irvine said turning his attention to the woman fiddling her silver hair. "Wanna take a bet?"
Raijin raised his hand.
"Ugh, help me!" Seifer laughed lying on the steel floor as Selphie tickled his chest when she tried to remove his black T-shirt with a skull in the middle. As Selphie finished removing the T-shirt, revealing Seifer's muscular body, she then continued to unbuckle Seifer's belt. That caused Seifer to react by lifting his legs to kick Selphie's torso, which made her huddled to one side. Seifer got up with his senses fully recovered. "What are you trying to do to me you bitch!" Seifer barked at her while putting back on his T-shirt and sweater. He then approached Selphie and found her sniffling. At the moment, Seifer and Selphie exchanged glances and kissed passionately. After a few seconds, Seifer departed from her lips and whispered, "Are you heterosexual, bitch?"
Selphie shook her head shyly. "Hey let's do that again."
Presently, the gondola started to motion. Selphie got up and wore back her yellow cardigan. "I enjoyed that Seifer," Selphie said to Seifer who was getting up from the floor. "I didn't know you could tame me that well."
"Well, let's just say I've got experie... uh... male instinct," Seifer replied.
***
Squall and Rinoa were paddling in the middle of Lake Obel to the Shadow Isle.
"Squall," Rinoa stopped paddling and said, "Isn't this the time to like... do something romantic?"
Squall stopped and gave a stern look at Rinoa. "Honey, this is a race and after this leg we can have a private time together okay?"
"Aw but can we have it once in the middle of the race, especially since Lake Obel looked so pretty now?"
The two lovers approached each other lovingly and their lips began to touch and a kiss began. Quistis, who was struggling with the oar, looked at the reflection of the couple smooching passionately on the crystal clear lake. Xu noticed Quistis' behaviour and started to act sternly.
"Quistis, I think I'll turn around so that we can synchronise our paddling," she said firmly.
Meanwhile, Rachel and Daniel rode the Chocobos across the town and towards the bridge connected to Shadow Isle. Suddenly, Rachel's Chocobo hesitated as it approached the water. "Kweh!!!" it wailed and danced around in panic causing Rachel to fall off and hit the water. Daniel laughed as Rachel rose to the shore dripping wet. Rachel then approached the Chocobo.
"What's wrong, lil' fella?" she talked to the medium-sized Chocobo stroking its cheek.
"Kweh kweh!!" The chocobo started again and pointed to the water with its beak.
Rachel then walked to the bridge and looked at her perfect reflection on the clear waters. Subsequently, the reflection rippled and a silver-coloured fish jumped out of the water trying to bite Rachel's nose with its razor-sharp teeth. Rachel was lucky to dodge the attack and ran back to Daniel.
"Daniel, the Chocobos are scared of the piranas so we'd better walk to the island. Daniel dismounted from the Chocobo and jogged to Rachel and both of them crossed the lake, trying not to touch the railing in case the piranas attacked again.
Squall and Rinoa got off the boat and landed on the shore of Shadow Isle. Then, they headed to the clue box located between the bridge and the boat drop-off point. Rinoa opened the box and took out the envelope.
"Let's see where we're going next," Rinoa ripped the envelope open and a route-info popped out. "Take a train to Dollet and find the Nautilus Fountain."
"Dollet, huh," Squall said to himself.
"Let's go!" Rinoa tugged Squall by the hand to the bridge and they ran in with Rachel and Daniel.
"Don't touch the railings cuz there are piranas in the water!" Rachel warned.
"Okay," Rinoa yelled and nodded.
Rachel and Daniel then took the envelope from the box, ripping it apart.
"DOLLET!" Rachel and Daniel both screamed in joy. Presently, Quistis and Xu wearily approached the clue box and opened it sluggishly to reveal a pile of red envelopes.
"Oh we're going to Dollet next," Quistis said, looking at the cityscape of Timber across the lake.
***
Selphie did not rant like yesterday as they were driving along Lake Obel, but was brooding for a long time. Seifer noticed the strange silence in Selphie.
"Selphie, are you all right?" She turned to Seifer's reflection in the back view mirror.
"I didn't know Seifer would ask such a question," she said innocently, but it hit Seifer's heart.
"I didn't mean to say that you bitch, 'cause I'll never change like that son of a bitch Squall!" Seifer pressed the accelerator harder and the car sped blowing away the leaves lying on the road.
After about 30 minutes, Seifer parked the car next to the pier. After reading the clue, both of them started mounting the Chocobos and signaled them to move. Ten minutes later, three cars arrived at the pier, which were Zell and Irvine, Dr. Kadowaki and Matron, and Fujin and Raijin. Then, Zell and Irvine and Fujin and Raijin lowered themselves to the longboats while Dr. Kadowaki and Matron mounted on the Chocobos' saddle.
"FOOL!" Fujin hissed at Raijin. "Don't you know how to row!?"
Raijin then turned around to face Fujin's back and paddled making their boat to move away from Zell and Irvine's. Zell and Irvine did the same and their boat started to move straightly towards the island.
"Yay, we're going to Dollet!" Fujin could hear Selphie's loud and cheery voice.
"HURRY UP!" Fujin ordered. Raijin obeyed like a dog and paddled faster.
Suddenly, water started to build up below Raijin's seat.
"Oh I think I peed," Raijin whined.
"FOOL! WATER ENTERING BOAT, ROW FAST BEFORE SINKING!" Immediately, the both of them hastened their movement, but it made things worse as the boat rotated as it moved forward due to unsynchronized paddling. Consequently, just before they could reach the shore, the boat sank and Fujin and Raijin were seen floating on the water.
"RAGE!!!" Fujin screeched as she looked at Seifer walking on the bridge with Selphie behind him. Raijin felt a tickling sensation on his finger. He held up his hand a eyed at the baby pirana biting his thumb playfully.
"PIRANAS!!!" The warning marked Fujin and Raijin's swim to the shore of the isle. Fujin then climbed to the shore and then Raijin followed to rest on the sand beside her out of breath.
"CLOSE!!" Fujin wiped off the moisture on her face and wrung her drenched pink sleeveless blouse.
"Ow I think I got my butt bitten," Raijin said in pain as he rubbed his buttocks carefully. After that they shuffled to the box, dripping wet.
"NAUTILUS FOUNTAIN. TRAIN FROM TIMBER TO DOLLET," Fujin announced, with Zell and Irvine presently stepping out of the boat. Fujin then clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. "SEIFER!"
***
Jack and King got off the train after it had stopped at the Dollet train station. The communication tower which stood high on top of the Dollet Plateau was an unmistakable monument representing the Dukedom of Dollet, which was founded since the era of the Sorceress War and its capital city Dollet was a charming seaside town with an ancient and nostalgic charm to it. Jack and King admired at the golden architecture of old alleys, buildings and statues as they rode a taxi to the city center, where the magnificent Nautilus Fountain was set and its statue, the Nautilus, was a work of Stiletto, one of the greatest architects of the thousand-year old dukedom. The card players did not stop to admire the beauty of the statue, the son of the seas, Nautilus, with his arms stretching out to hold a giant basin of water, one of the basic creations of life, into the shallow well with the carving of the world map.
King opened the clue box, which was in front of the fountain and took out the envelope. He then ripped it open and read it to Jack. "Your next destination is where the 'Lost King' is pointing."
Jack then asked the people around the square the whereabouts of the 'Lost King'.
"I think it's a statue at the Dollet Museum," a man said.
Immediately, the team called for a taxi to take them to the museum. After their arrival, Jack and King entered the museum to look for the statue. Then they found a figure that resembled an aging king with a sceptre in his hand, but the statue is not pointing.
"Why aren't you pointing?" King scolded at the statue, whose eyes looked at him sternly. This caught the attention of a guide.
"Sir, can you please pay some respect to our 'father'?" she said approaching the team.
"I'm sorry but maybe you can help us?" Jack said showing the route-info to the woman, who soon giggled after reading it.
"The 'lost king' is another name of the big satellite dish at the communications tower," she explained briefly. "And if I'm not mistaken, the first building it should be pointing directly to is the Belle Lighthouse on Rhondia Island off Dollet beach."
"Thanks," Jack said, then seen running to the exit.
"No running!" she shouted.
***
Squall looked at the sky thoughtfully in the Dollet bound train, which turned from bright blue to golden as the hours go by. He felt someone tugging his sleeve and turned to see Rinoa smiling.
"What are you thinking of, honey?" she asked meekly.
"Whatever," he said in his breath and continued looking at the sky. Quistis set her eyes on Squall who was just sitting at the opposite table, waving her fork back and forth above her plate of sirloin steak.
"Quistis, are you alright?" Xu tapped on Quistis' shoulder. "Snap out of it."
"Sorry Xu, got distracted," Quistis said turning to Xu. "What'd you do if your dream boyfriend has already someone beside him?"
"I'd say forget him," Xu munched her salad. "But if you're serious, then when the perfect opportunity strikes, yank it in and tie it up."
"The perfect opportunity huh?" Quistis thought deeply. Her thoughts suddenly burst when the Trepies surprised her from behind. She turned around to see Daniel and Rachel and stared at them in irritation. "You almost choked me. Have you no manners?" she chided.
"Sorry Instructor Trepe," Rachel apologised. "We thought that we asked to come to our table. We have the most beautiful view of Dollet!"
"Yeah, and there are lost of castles," Daniel added.
"Sure, we'll go to your place," Xu rose from her seat but Rachel shook her head at Xu. "Sorry, Instructor Xu. We're only inviting Instructor Trepe."
"Sorry I'm not in the mood. Anyway I've been to Dollet and seen most of the sites," Quistis tried to reason, making the Trepies nod in disappointment.
"Then shall I replace her?" Xu asked. The Trepies nodded lightly and the three left Quistis alone with her fondest fantasy. Xu turned to the window beside her after she took a seat on the Trepies' table. The view of the sunset giving the ruins and ancient castles scatter around the lush Dolletian greenery twinkled in her eyes.
***
At another Dollet bound train, which was two hours apart from Squall's ride, Fujin slid the doors open and found Seifer lying on the sofa of his cabin. She transmitted an outraged look to Seifer causing Seifer to rise from his nap and turn to Fujin.
"RAGE!!!" Fujin could not contain her anger as she lunged for Seifer's neck.
"Fujin, what the heck happened to you?" Seifer said, shielding his neck from Fujin's attack.
"I thought we were allies," Fujin balled her fist and her eyes started to water.
"We almost got eaten alive by mating piranas when our ship got sunk in Lake Obel and you did not come to help us!"
"Sorry, I didn't see 'cause Selphie and I wanted to leave the place after we got the clue," Seifer tried to explain and Fujin rejected it hardly.
"SELPHIE, SELPHIE, SELPHIE!" Fujin screeched. "Just what'd she done do you when you two were trapped in the gondola ride?"
"Trapped?" Seifer tried to sound confused. "Oh yeah, the gondola systems got jammed up just before we departed from the gondola. Must've been scary hanging there above those sharp rocks."
"TRUE? MEAN IT?" Fujin said back to her booming voice. Seifer nodded and shrank back to his resting position. Fujin then turned around to exit the cabin until she ran into Selphie, who was running to the cabin after chatting with Zell and Irvine and the two old ladies. Fujin and Selphie exchanged looks before she
finally left the couple alone.
"Seifer, wanna continue where we'd stop at the gondola?" Selphie said cheerily, which was followed by a yes. Selphie silently locked the door behind her and strutted towards the sofa unbuttoning her yellow blouse.
***
Rachel and Daniel got the next clue first after they had reached the route marker at the Nautilus Fountain. Then, a taxi appeared and Squall and Rinoa were seen stepping out of the cab.
"...where the 'Lost King' is pointing." Rachel then began to ask the people around the square. "Does anyone know where the 'Lost King' is?"
"It's the satellite dish at the communications tower!" someone anonymous shouted back.
"Thanks!" Rachel signaled Daniel to return to their taxis and they climbed in. "Dollet Communications Tower sir!"
"The 'Lost King'!" Quistis turned to the giant satellite dish on the communications tower, which was perched at the Dollet Plateau. Quistis and Xu climbed back to the taxi and followed Squall and Rinoa.
Rachel and Daniel's taxi dropped them in front of the steps to the Dollet
Plateau. Holding a map in her hand, Rachel climbed the steps arduously until the full view of the communications tower surfaces. The Trepies tilted their heads to gaze at the 'Lost King' in awe.
"Let's go inside quickly," Daniel said. Rachel and Daniel entered the automatic gates to see workers working on the circuit boards in the last minute. They both rode the elevator up to the rooftop of the tower, where the 'Lost King' is located, perched on top of a steel turret. Rachel then climbed the ladder of the turret towards the dish. Her ponytail and T-shirt started to waver as a light breeze started to pick up.
"Rachel, what do you see?" Daniel shouted at Rachel who was about 50 feet above him.
Rachel aligned her sight to the direction of the dish, with her hand shielding her eyes from the setting sun sinking into the ocean from afar. "I see a lighthouse! And there's a blue and yellow flag sticking out of the balcony!" Rachel climbed back down and spread out the map of Dollet. She moved her finger to the beach and then to an island. "Belle Lighthouse on Rhondia Island. Let's go!"
The Trepies descended by riding the elevator and saw Rinoa and Squall. They said nothing to them but as they bumped into Quistis outside the tower them became excited.
"Instructor Trepe, we know where's the next route marker. Follow us!"
Squall and Rinoa stared at the tall turret, the throne of the 'Lost King'.
"Squall be careful," Rinoa said to Squall who was gripping on the rung of the steel ladder. Rinoa became worried as the ladder vibrated unsteadily as Squall traveled from rung to rung. The worry ended as Squall returned to the ground.
"Squall I'm so glad!" Rinoa approached Squall and hugged him. "What did you see up there?"
"A lighthouse," he muttered. Squall and Rinoa raced back to the taxi driver who was ordered to wait for the couple at the bottom of the cliff.
"To the lighthouse!" Rinoa ordered as she climbed into the taxi.
"Which lighthouse? There are six of them in Dollet," the driver said.
"Oh crap," Squall pulled his head out of the taxi leaving Rinoa behind.
"Squall, where are you going? Are you going back to the tower? You can't!" Rinoa shouted at her boyfriend but it landed on deaf ears as Squall was already on top
of the cliff. After about twenty minutes, Squall surfaced from the tower and paced back to an unhappy looking Rinoa.
"It's a lighthouse on an island," Squall said to the driver. The driver then turned on the engine and the car started to move.
"Squall don't try to do it again. The ladder looked unstable and you could be squashed like a bug," Rinoa muttered not facing Squall who was tilting his head in resting position. "And make sure that when you do things do it PROPERLY cuz we have long a good deal of time!"
"Oh shut up."
***
The instructors and the Trepies stepped off the boat, which transported them to the shore of Rhondia Island.
"Thanks," Xu said as the oarsman helped her to get off the boat. Then, they dashed to the gates of the lighthouse, which was not far away from the point where they disembarked.
"Operation hours 8.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m.," Rachel read, then turned to look at her watch. "We're late by 4 hours!"
Daniel then spun around and spotted two recognizable figures in resting position behind the bushes. "Hey, look what I've found guys. It's the jackass and Lord Farquaad!" he said in a high-pitched voice bringing laughter among the group.
Jack then set the T-shirt that covered his head aside and woke up with an unpleasant mood. "I'm not a jackass! You disturbed our sleep!" King then started to squirm and woke up to see the Trepies in front of the pavement where they were napping.
"How long did you guys waited?" Quistis asked, trying to break group CC's bad mood.
"We reached here at about 3.30 and we didn't bother to return to the city cuz we've bought food and it's breezy and comfortable here and there are no monsters or wild animals and all," King explained. Jack then pulled out bags of potato chips from his backpack, which was lying beside him.
"Chips anyone?"
Squall and Rinoa soon arrived at the gates, which was shut from entering the lighthouse compound. The couple then found the three teams sitting in a circling on a pavement, playing some sort of game where a player will have to tell the story of another player.
"My name is Quistis Trepe and during my childhood years I lived with Matron or Edea Kramer in an orphanage with Squall, Seifer, Selphie and Irvine and I studied magic there from Matron. Then in my teenage years I moved to Garden and serviced as a kick-ass instructor! I have a crush on Squall Leonheart since childhood until now but Squall didn't notice me because... ah! I have small tits!" King said sarcastically adding fuel to the laughter among the teams.
"Hey guys!" Rinoa said waiving at the circle.
"Squall, Rinoa, you're here!" Daniel said stretching his arms out to Rinoa.
"We're playing 'Tell about Yourself' and we're going to spend the night here.
And oh yeah we left some chips for you in case if you're coming here."
"No thanks, we've brought our food anyway," Rinoa said kneeling to the empty space along with Squall.
The sun finally sunk into the ocean making the world darker and darker.
"I'm Squall and I'm gay. My gay lover is Seifer who not only sits with me in the cafeteria and feed each other in every meal but we also sleep together stripping off clothes and all and don't forget get that..." Rachel then pressed her lips together to imitate a kiss. Everyone laughed at the silly joke except Squall who was silent since he got here. Suddenly, a strong breeze caught up and it distinguished the fire in the center of the circle.
"Oh dear, the fire's out. Who wants to volunteer to get more firewood?" Jack said, but nobody raised his or her hand. Some looked at Jack and King blankly while some turned to face his or her teammate. Then, Squall was the first person to get up from his seat and walked to Jack.
"I'll get them," Squall said while he went to the backpacks to take his torchlight.
"Squall I'll help!" Quistis got up and approached Squall. The two then disappeared into the dark looking for firewood.
***
The day had finally turned into nightfall as the last train arrived at the Dollet train station. Fujin and Raijin stepped down the train and immediately raced to the taxi, which was in front of their line of sight. After they climbed back into the taxi, Fujin turned on the lights and took out the fast forward information written on green paper from the red envelope.
"Where do you want to go miss?" the driver asked amiably.
"GIUSEPPE III FOREST RESERVE," Fujin ordered.
"Uh are you sure about the fast forward pass?" Raijin asked. "I'm certain that we could survive without the fast forward cuz we're fit and smart and all, ya know."
Fujin jabbed Raijin on the side powerfully causing him a great deal of pain.
"GO!"
The driver immediately released the handbrake and the taxi zoomed into action.
The surrounding roads with streetlights guiding motorists during the night soon turned into a dark and eerie forest trail where there was hardly any light but the full moon, which illuminated above the Dollet night sky.
"Are there werewolves around here?" Raijin muttered in panic as a howl echoed through the thick greenery. The driver soon stopped in front of the forest reserve gate where the duo was meant to be heading to.
"You guys better go to that lodge to spend the night. It's shabby but at least it can protect you from wolves and other animals and monsters and there are rangers around to talk to," the driver said after receiving his pay of 80 gil.
"See, there are werewolves! I told ya it's not a safe place!" Raijin squeaked. Fujin then tugged Raijin painfully by the ear to the shabby cabin nearby.
In the mean time, Selphie and Seifer arrived at the communications tower, which was closed for the night.
"Wanna camp here for the night?" Selphie suggested. Seifer did not hesitate to nod yes. After collecting firewood, Selphie and Seifer retreated to a
dilapidated but cozy shed and built their campfire. Selphie and Seifer then huddled together by the warmth of the flame. Selphie laid her head on Seifer's chest in deep sleep while Seifer embraced her, staying awake on the lookout for monsters and wild animals.
Zell, Irvine, Matron and Dr. Kadowaki in the other hand decided to sleep on the benches of the Town Square but were soon chased away by the police and they were forced to stay in a motel. They combined their money to pay for a room with two beds and a shower and stay there together. The two ladies dozed soundly on the beds after a hot shower while Zell and Irvine spread out their sleeping bags to sleep on the floor and they snoozed peacefully.
***
Squall and Quistis both ventured deeper into the bushes to look for more firewood. Suddenly, Squall felt a warm touch on his butt and in reaction he released all the firewood that he collected in his arms and turned his torchlight to light Quistis' face, and then moved the beam along her arm to see her hand rubbing his back.
"What are you doing?" Squall rebuked.
"Oh sorry, I think I lost my composure," Quistis removed her hands instantly after Squall's words. Then Quistis looked at Squall with her torchlight beam hitting Squall's face. "Anything about Rinoa today?"
"Why did you ask that?" Squall turned away from the blinding flash and paced back and forth around her. "Did you saw me kissing Rinoa at the lake this afternoon?"
"Of course, even the townspeople and Daniel and Rachel did. I mean not to ponder about your privacy but do your feelings toward Rinoa are ever sincere? And did she even cared about you when you're in trouble in the streets of Timber?" Quistis sounded to challenge Squall's beliefs. Squall then turned away from Quistis rambling. "Whatever!"
"Rinoa and I," Squall began slowly, "had a fight since we arrived at Dollet." Squall turned to Quistis and in an instant he dropped his torchlight and kissed Quistis on the lips under the moonlight. Quistis began to be filled with pleasure as she pressed her lips nearer to Squall's and stroked his back.
"Oh my goodness!!" a soft thud then sounded signaling Quistis and Squall to depart from their lips and jerked away from each other. The light from Rinoa's torch shined at the confused looking couple. "Oh sorry for distracting. But we're getting worried and Squall honey, did you get the firewood?"
"One more," Squall said while picking up the firewood he gathered and his torchlight with Quistis' help.
In the darkness, Squall, Quistis and Rinoa were seen in their torches heading towards the camp with even portions of firewood in their arms.
"What happened?" Jack asked and began to sound flirtatious. "Something romantic was going on? It's a full moon out there ya know."
"Nothing, and shut up!" the three chanted in unison.
***
Seifer felt a vibration in his shoulder.
"Who's that?" Seifer struggled to open his eyes and saw Selphie resting peacefully by his side and in front of him stood an old man in grey uniform leaning at him in front of the charred firewood.
"Good morning sir," he started. "Had a nice nap?"
"What's your problem," Seifer said nastily, rubbing his eyes to keep them awake.
"Sorry to disturb but it's already morning and if you're one of those racers you can come inside the tower to have some coffee."
"Thank you sir," Seifer said, then he felt a movement beside him.
"Mm? Is it morning already?" Selphie rose up from the ground stretching her arms.
"By the way, you two looked like the most intimate couple I've ever seen in my whole life," he said sarcastically, which made Seifer reply with by squinting his eyes in an unfriendly manner.
Seifer and Selphie looked up at the top of the turret where the 'Lost King', with its antenna pointing towards the sky, was situated with their arms hugging themselves to warm them from the cold morning wind.
"I'll climb," Selphie climbed up a rung as her grey cardigan and her hair fluttered freely to the wind. "Wow, this is truly breathtaking!" Selphie cheered as she gazed at the sunrise, which colours the whole town in gold. She first aligned her sight with the direction of the antenna and slowly tilted it downwards, until the sea was in full view. And across the sea off the Dollet coast, she could easily see their next destination.
"It's a lighthouse!"
***
Fujin found herself in an unusual morning ache. She opened her one eye and found Raijin's red-skinned hand lying on top of her abdomen. She took away the hand angrily and turned to see Raijin sleeping soundly with his back facing beside her on the same mattress.
"Oh my god, did we have sex?" she thought. "WAKE UP!!" Her voice trembled in the dilapidated cabin. Raijin then woke up groggily to see Fujin looking at him sternly with her hands akimbo to her jeans.
"Morning Fujin," he said sleepily, taking the sweatshirt, which served as a blanket for the night, from his back and began to wear it. "By the way, what time is it?"
Fujin started to blush. But then she shook her head and perked up her voice. "SIX FORTY-ONE!"
It was seven o'clock in the morning as Fujin and Raijin waited for the rangers to open the gates completely as they gulped down their warm morning beverage.
"The forest's all yours!" the ranger said ushering the duo to enter the forest.
The forest was alive with the twitter of birds and the squeak of the chipmunks and so on, which made the harmonious music of the forest.
"What are we looking for?" Raijin asked as he trekked the forest. "I don't wanna hang around here in this eerie forest for too long ya know."
"WIMP!" Fujin hissed, leading Raijin into the woods. "We're looking for a creature called Mr. Monkey who will lead us to the Fast Forward pass."
"How does this Mr. Monkey look like?" Raijin asked. "I gotta know so I can lend a hand ya know."
"Probably furry and has a tail," Fujin replied sarcastically.
"You mean this critter over here?" Raijin arched downwards to pick up a squirrel eating its acorn by the tail. The squirrel waved its paws hysterically trying to scratch Raijin's nose. "Aren't ya an adorable one."
"FOOL!" Fujin kicked Raijin on the ankle causing the squirrel to drop and land on the leaves and then scurried away with its acorn.
"Aw come on, if it wasn't Mr. Monkey I'll keep it as a pet!" Raijin said stupidly. "Oops, I forgot that you don't like fur in your apartment."
"Do you know how a monkey looks like in a first place?"
"Uh... furry and has a tail?" Raijin answered dumbly.
"He looks exactly like YOU! You boorish, dumb, sorry excuse for a disciplinary committee FOOL!!!" Fujin screamed, which initiated a rustle in the woods Fujin could clearly hear with her sensitive hearing.
"Something's coming," Fujin whispered and motioned her finger at Raijin to keep quiet. The rustling sound drew near and, from nowhere, a white-faced monkey with black fur appeared on top of Raijin's head.
"You SUCK!!" Mr. Monkey chattered and jigged.
Raijin's blood started to boil and silently raised his hands towards the head.
"Stupid monkey!!" Two large palms appeared in front of Mr. Monkey and he jumped off just before they crashed on the head. Fujin then took out her hand and deftly caught the monkey by the tail.
"PASS, WHERE!"
"Okay, okay!" the monkey said when a grinning Fujin lifted him up from the ground. "You don't suck okay? I take back my word for it! Let me down and I'll lead you to the hidden treasure."
Fujin released her grip and Mr. Monkey fell on the dirt with a thud. The duo followed the monkey to a bush where Mr. Monkey pulled out the green Fast Forward
Pass from it. "Good luck and don't SUCK!!"
"Oh so now I remember how a monkey look like," Raijin said.
"CONGRATULATIONS! You have claimed the Fast Forward, and now head to the next pit stop, Lord Denithera's Castle in the outskirts of Dollet." Fujin stopped reading and turned to the confused looking Raijin.
Raijin mumbled, "Uh, I think we're lost."
***
Rinoa suddenly woke up from a nightmare. In her dream, she saw Squall and Quistis jogging together along the sands of the beach of Rhondia Island like a perfect couple more intimate than Squall and herself. And it skipped to the next scene, where she was invited to the top of the Belle Lighthouse. The room was all newly painted in white with shades of pink and at the balcony, which was decorated lavishly with fabrics and flowers lie Squall and Quistis, in their wedding clothes, kissing at each other like the night before. Squall then turned from Quistis to Rinoa, sneering at her.
"Come here darling," he said. Rinoa just followed Squall's order and the next thing that she could not imagine, Squall pulled her by the arm and swung her to the aisle. Rinoa then tumbled over the railing and dangled. Quistis was then seen grinning as she lifted up Rinoa's finger one by one, causing Rinoa to fall into a bottomless pit of doom eventually.
"Squall, wake up!!" Rinoa shook Squall's body violently causing him to wake up angrily.
"Rinoa! It's still 7 in the morning. Don't get too excited okay?" Squall said and fell back to his resting position.
"Squall I had the most terrible dream! Don't you care about me?" Rinoa jabbered in panic, causing Squall to rise up again.
"Okay, I'll calm you down by taking a walk by the beach," Squall said.
It was already 8 in the morning and the four teams waited impatiently for the workers to open the gate. In front of them was the Belle Lighthouse, with its white complexion glossing under the morning sun. Presently, Seifer and Selphie were seen jostling towards them.
"Oh we're right on time!" Selphie exclaimed, out of breath.
"The gay lover has returned to see Squall!" Jack said sarcastically.
"What?" Seifer voiced abruptly at Jack who turned away from Seifer, whistling to himself, which was followed by a jab in the chest by King.
The gate flew open and the five teams raced to the stairs and climbed it one person at a time. Selphie, huffing and puffing reached the balcony of the lighthouse first and pulled out an envelope from the clue box.
"ROADBLOCK!" Selphie hollered, reading the first word that popped out from the envelope. "Before opening this, choose someone who wants to be on top of the world."
As Seifer surfaces from the stairwell, Selphie approached Seifer excitedly.
"Woohoo! I'm going to bungee-jump!"
Seifer looked down from the balcony and saw waves crashing onto the rocks below.
"Selphie are you sure you'll be okay? You could kill yourself!"
"Don't worry I've seen people doing this in TV and nobody got killed. Besides I'm not jump down that balcony, I'm going to jump from the roof of the lighthouse and hopefully land on something soft or you go and get me at the littoral." Selphie explained and disappeared into another set of stairs, which will take her to the roof. Seifer looked back at the rocks below the balcony and began to feel nauseous and woozy.
Selphie was now standing on the roof, which looked like a flat red disc sitting on the tip of the lighthouse. The wind made her hair and blouse fluttered freely as she stretched out her arms perpendicularly to her body. "Woohoo! I'm the king... err... queen of the world!" she cried at the view of Balamb Continent, which looked like a tiny green isle from afar. Below her was a series of rocks jutting out of the ocean sounding to the beating of the waves. A cliff ran down straightly to the tiny littoral below. That will be her target. At the littoral, Seifer, Squall, Xu, Rachel and Jack tilted their heads upward to stare at the tip of the lighthouse.
"Selphie!" Seifer yelled as the wind began to pick up. Selphie then looked down at Seifer, who looked like a tiny dot from above. She then fastened the crash helmet to her head, and her arms stretched out perpendicular to her body.
"I'm ready!" she gave a thumb up but she knew Seifer would not be able to see it. She then took in one big breath heavily. "Here goes."
Selphie started to close her eyes and tilted her body. The sensation of free falling and the air rushing against her skin caused her eyes to open. Selphie screamed until the elastic bungee-cord pulled her back when she was found hanging a few inches from ground level. Seifer pushed away the operators to help Selphie to gain her footing on the ground.
"Oh I feel dizzy," Selphie said waving her head in circular motion. She then came back to her senses and received a red-coloured envelope from the operators.
"You have proven yourself to be king or queen of the world! Proceed to the next pit stop, Lord Denithera's Castle in the outskirts of Dollet!" Selphie said excitedly while waving the paper back and forth.
"See you at the bottom," Quistis, who was the next person to bungee-jump, said to Rinoa. After a few minutes, Quistis was seen flying in the air from the lookout point where the other three people anticipated for their turn to dive.
"Last person to check in will be eliminated!" Quistis stressed out as Xu and she blasted through the pack for a boat back to the Dollet beach. Squall then turned to the top of the lighthouse with his hand shielding his eyes from the morning sun. Rinoa climbed up the ladder, which connected the cramped lookout point to the lofty tip of the lighthouse. After fixing the bungee-cord to her legs and wearing her safety gear, Rinoa then looked down at the waves hitting the rocks below the lighthouse. The sound of the crashing waves made the sickness in Rinoa grew stronger.
"Oh my goodness, she needs help," Squall thought after seeing the dot shied back to the center of the roof. Squall did not hesitate to push away the other people to get back to the lighthouse.
"Sir you can't..." the operator's warning was interrupted when Squall pushed him aside from blocking the passageway to the stairs.
"Rinoa, you can do it!" a voice rang in Rinoa's mind.
"No, remember the dream? You'll die if you fall," another voice retaliated.
Squall neared Rinoa who was hiding her head in her knees at the center of the circle. Rinoa sensed his presence and turned to his fluttering black hair in tears.
"Squall I'm scared!" Rinoa muttered as Squall pulled her up from the floor.
Then, with one powerful force, Squall pushed Rinoa to the edge of the rooftop until she tilted and fell. Rinoa's scream echoed through the air and she fell choppily to the littoral below.
"Hey what's that?" Zell, who was sitting in a speedboat ride with Irvine to the island, said as he saw a figure diving in the air with a rope connected to the tip of the lighthouse. Zell and Irvine then faced each other in excitement.
"BUNGEE-JUMPING!"
Rinoa opened her eyes to see herself lying on the sand as the task operators undid the knot around her legs. Then she heard Squall's heavy footsteps, which vibrated the sand of the beach.
"Squall why did you do that?" Rinoa cried. "You almost got me killed."
Squall did not say anything to soothe Rinoa. After reading the clue, they took a boat back to the beach and then they climbed into a taxi.
"Squall you could've killed me," Rinoa could not pull back her tears as she expressed her fear to deaf ears. After an abrupt sniffle, she motioned her head to rest on Squall's chest and sobbed some more. The tears wetted Squall's black shirt, which made him more embarrassed when people were starting to stare at them.
"Get us out of here," he said snidely to the driver and the car sped off.
***
Cid Kramer was waiting for the teams to arrive at the square of Lord Denithera's Castle, a walled city and fortress that was built over 200 years ago after the kingdom of Dollet came into the rule of the dukes by Lord Denithera, the first duke of the new parliament. The sun moved upward to shine on Fujin's eye patch, who was running with Raijin towards Headmaster Cid, unstrapping and leaving their backpacks at the entrance of the square.
An old woman in medieval Dolletian clothing started to motion as Fujin and Raijin thudded on the mat. "Bonjour and welcome to Dollet."
"Fujin and Raijin," Cid began, "You're team number one!"
Raijin then breathed deeply in relief. "Glad it paid when we got lost in that forest, ya know."
"Wow, it's so pretty that it looks like it came out of a storybook!" Selphie said as she admired the brick red-coloured castle standing proudly on top of a hill with four great turrets. The road soon turned bumpy as the taxi traveled up the slope to the front gate of the fortress. Across the moat stood Cid Kramer expecting Seifer and Selphie's arrival.
"Seifer and Selphie, you're team number two," Cid told the team who turned into an uproar of euphoria.
Meanwhile, Zell just could not wait to go for the dive. However, as he looked down at the dots of people and the sharp rocks outside the littoral, which was about 1000 feet from the roof, the gastric juices started to build making Zell feeling sick and woozy and wanting to throw up. Irvine gaped as he saw Zell retreating in vertigo.
"Dude, are you all right?" he shouted but the voice barely reached to the top of the lighthouse. Zell then started to think about Seifer. If he were here waiting for the jump he would profusely call him a chicken-wuss and people will start laughing at him. The picture of Seifer standing in front of him mouthing 'chicken-wuss' at Zell came to his mind like thunder.
"I'm not a chicken-wuss!!" Zell ran to the edge of the roof and soared into the air. Then, the gravitational forces pulled Zell towards the littoral causing him to feel the thrill of free fall.
"Wahoo!" Zell howled as he bounced up and down after he had reached ground level. Then it was Matron's turn to dive.
"Don't let it get to you!" Dr. Kadowaki yelled at Matron who was climbing to the roof. After wearing the safety gear, Matron neared the edge of the roof, closed her eyes, and made her once-of-a-lifetime jump, which would haunt her memories forever.
"Oh my goodness, I can't believe I did that!" Matron exclaimed as she was laid on the ground. Dr. Kadowaki started to worry after reading the clue.
"Come on girl. We've got to go and lead the boys or else we'll be eliminated!"
***
"Rachel and Daniel, you're team number six."
Rachel and Daniel cried out in relief after Cid auspiciously announced the result. Cid then waited again patiently for the arrival of the last two teams.
Soon, the sound of car brakes screeched and a taxi stopped abruptly in front of the moat gate. A person with stand-up hair and a face tattoo stepped out of the taxi.
"We're ready to hear it," Irvine said after he stepped in front of Cid huffing and puffing, wrapping his arm around his pardner. Cid paused for a while until Zell and Irvine stopped huffing.
"Zell and Irvine," Cid paused again to build up the anxiety in the team. "You're team number seven!"
After hearing the ear-soothing news, Zell and Irvine hugged and roared together in joy. Zell then spoke to Cid happily.
"The next you'll know we'll be winning the one million gil!"
Matron and Dr. Kadowaki were soon seen running towards to Town Square. The two women hugged from shoulder to shoulder and stomped on the mat together.
"We're here finally hubby," Matron said to her husband, totally out of breath but smiling.
"Edea and Dr. Kadowaki, the students back at Balamb Garden really missed you since day one, but I'm sorry to tell that you both have been eliminated from the race. And we'll be sending you two back shortly," Cid informed half-hearted.
Edea then fell her head on Dr. Kadowaki's shoulder and sobbed. The infirmary lady tried to comfort in her own words.
"I know it's hard to accept but we'll have to face the fact that we're in competition with teams who are younger and fitter than us."
Matron then lifted her head up and wiped off her tears. "Honey, can you give our regards to Zell and Irvine 'cause they have been good with us lately?"
Matron and Dr. Kadowaki half-heartedly entered the vehicle, which will take them back to Dollet to board a Balamb bound vessel. At the deck of the ship, Matron and Dr. Kadowaki set their eyes at the city and its five lighthouses for the last time so far, leaving the thrills of the race for good but the memories will still remain in their hearts.
