~*~ When Did This Happen? ~*~
:: Seiftis. Squffie hints. (Quistis x Seifer, Squall x Selphie) ::
Chapter Twenty-Four: Ring Your Bells
~Silverium~
Disclaimer: Squaresoft. Not Silver.
"Have we ever had a better mission?" Irvine asked rhetorically as he stared at his hand and threw more coins into the poker bowl,
"I'll see your 500, and raise you 250,"
"All right, what's your hand?" Irvine asked, a lazy grin on his face as his opponent glared him down,
"Three of a kind,"
"Full house." Irvine threw down the said cards and picked up the chips he had just earned,
Zell grinned and slapped him on the back, heading for the buffet. They had searched the place through and through, and then received a message from Squall saying they should all head for Esthar in the morning. With nothing else to do the men had started to gamble. Even better, the men had started to win.
After a long night, Zell losing 5000 gil, and Irvine winning 7000 to make up for it, they retired to their rooms only to wake up scant hours later, weary but eager to get to their next destination.
They met the two other men in Esthar at Squall's father's palace where Laguna provided them with some helpful all-access passes and uniforms to disguise them as guards of the palace and president. Squall now teamed up with Zell to look into the chemical base and Irvine and Seifer went to the biochemical restricted labs.
Taking first a simple tour, Squall and Zell were successfully bored out of their minds until the tour took them to a hallway made of glass. From their vantage point they could see scientists busily working on various experiments.
"And this is where we test different chemical acids, we're going to move on to the question-and-answer part of this tour, if you have any questions just ring the bells—"
"—I'll ring your bells…" Zell muttered making Squall crack up and snicker behind his leather gloves,
"—and a scientist will get right to you." The perky girl finished, not hearing Zell's comment.
Filing into a room Zell and Squall instantly rang their bells, an action that brought huge grins to their faces. Two middle-aged men looked at them expectantly,
"Are any of the acids here potentially dangerous?" Squall asked,
"Yes, all the scientists are required to wear protective eyewear."
"What do you do if acid gets in your eyes? Is there some sort of antidote for all of these? I mean, if you can't wash your eyes out quick enough?" Squall continued conversationally,
"We have bases to counter the acids, anything really deadly is in a different laboratory." The scientist responded,
"Ooh? Another lab?" Zell looked up with a boyish grin, "Do they offer tours too?"
"No, it is a restricted area."
"Oh." Zell's face fell.
They sat through the rest of the questioning in silence, both hoping Irvine and Seifer would find the base and get inside easily enough. As soon as they got the antidote Quistis would be saved, Squall wasn't sure, but he had a feeling her time was running out. It was just a gnawing in his stomach, but it was there.
When the two came out they blinked against the sunlight and stepped into the closest store.
"I need to use your bathroom." Zell said to the man behind the counter bluntly,
"Uh…sure, it's over there."
Both men walked in and came out dressed in Estharian soldier. The man behind the counter gawked but said nothing as the gentlemen strode out with hawk eyes. The walk to the biochemical lab was long and tiring, and both were given odd looks, but once they found the building that matched the picture Selphie had given them, both took in deep breaths.
"Well, maybe we can meet up with Irvine and Seifer inside," Zell said, looking up at the multi-floored building that stretched out to either side imposingly,
"It would be best if we stayed split up and met when we've gotten the antidote. Remember, we don't just want to save Quistis, we want to catch Bronze."
"Right. Forgot."
"Let's go."
