AN: Grr, yet another new chapter rolls eyes mind you, this was kinda needed...
Book Two of the Sorcerer Arc Death's Angel Chapter Eleven Tensions
"What?" Squall's voice was dangerously quiet – a fact that didn't escape the messenger's notice. Swallowing nervously the SeeD repeated his message, cursing the ill fortune that had seen him draw the short straw for carrying the bad tidings to the Commander of Garden.
"Trepe and the Chickenwuss?" Seifer repeated, still not quite able to believe it. First Martine had been abducted – an acceptable, if regrettable, loss – and now Squall's two remaining friends from the war against Ultemecia. Instinctively he knew Squall was going to take this personally – even if Kylari didn't realise what she'd done.
"Yessir." The messenger needlessly replied. He was staring at Squall's back, probably wondering if he was going to survive the next few moments. Privately Seifer wondered as well. He could feel the rage boiling in Squall's veins as if it were his own, and was pretty sure the brunette had turned away to hide blazing golden eyes. Or worse, red daemon's eyes – the sign of a sorcerer or sorceress on the verge of permanent insanity.
After a few minutes Squall seemed to take control of himself, the pure anger becoming denser and more focussed. Squall had a plan - or a goal at least – and Seifer had no doubts that it was going to be extreme and dangerous.
Of course, assuming things could be dangerous – for instance, assuming that Squall was less emotional, simply because he didn't show it. But in this case the assumption that Quistis and Zell had been kidnapped was justified. Their tracking signals – sub-dermal implants standard for covert operatives – had gone from the Great Plains of Galbadia, to the Cape of Good Hope in a heartbeat. Something that could only be the work of a sorceress.
Despite it being the location of the orphanage where Edea lived, the lack of official communication from either her or the two SeeDs had led to the standard assumption of the worst. If there was still no official word after three days, then that assumption would become the official view of the situation, and the appropriate course of action – rescue or retaliation – would be taken. Or things could happen sooner if other information was received. Garden did not negotiate with those who tried to blackmail them by holding SeeDs hostage. Never, under no circumstances. But there were always groups who figured they would be the exception.
As far as the SeeDs at Balamb were concerned, whoever had taken Quistis and Zell was either already regretting it, or they would be when Squall got through with them...if there was enough left of them to express that regret was another matter.
Everyone, sensibly, seemed to have deserted the Garden on urgent errands just before Squall, Seifer and the messenger returned. Squall, despite appearances to the contrary, was still seething. As he stalked through the centre circle to the elevator, he radiated a stony chill that was physically palpable.
It was times like these that Seifer, noticing the faintest shimmer of ice crystals in the air around Squall, wondered why the brunette inspired such loyalty, when everyone was scared witless by him. Of course, it might, he thought, have something to do with the sense of relief that he was – however much it didn't feel like it – on their side.
Dampen your aura. The blond warned, noticing the SeeD staring at the shimmering air surrounding his Commander. Squall looked and felt surprised for a brief second, then the chill in the air noticeably lifted.
Sorry. It's just... His mental voice trailed off, and for an instant his anger surged once more. ...I don't want to believe Edea has joined them, but it's a possibility we have to consider now.
He blinked. Edea defecting to the other side hadn't even entered his thoughts, but now it did, Squall's extreme reaction made more sense to the blond. Squall wasn't just reacting to the loss of Quistis and Zell, but to the potential loss of the woman who'd been a mother to them all.
Seifer didn't know where Squall and the others had found the courage and resolve to fight Edea during the Ultemecia war, not once they'd discovered who she was to them, but he suspected that to fight her again would kill a part of Squall that the brunette couldn't afford to lose.
That the world couldn't afford for him to lose.
His soul.
They collided, almost literally, with another messenger as they stepped out of the elevator on the second floor.
She saluted hastily, looking somewhat relieved that the first messenger was unharmed. Seifer coughed to bring her back on task, sensing Squall preparing to lash out with some of his stored anger. The hint worked, and she flushed in embarrassment.
"Sir, President Loire of Esthar requested a video conference ASAP." Squall raised an eyebrow, seemingly nonchalant, but Seifer could feel his irritation and concern.
"Did he say what he wanted?"
"No sir, not specifically anyway. He did mutter something about trouble and sorceresses, but he ended the call straight after, so I don't think I was supposed to hear."
I bet she was. Seifer muttered.
I agree. Laguna can be too cunning for his own good sometimes. That wasn't necessarily true, Seifer thought, but the man's timing frequently left much to be desired.
"Go easy on him, huh Squall? He wasn't to know about Quistis and Zell." He returned Squall's glare with his best neutral expression. The brunette knew he was right, he just didn't like the fact that Seifer could figure him out so easily. No that the ongoing – albeit one-way - 'cold war' between son and father made it hard to realise that Squall would take his anger out on such a prime target.
The situation room was quietly busy, as always. From here every active field operation was coordinated and/or monitored. It was here where all the behind-the-scenes work vital to mission success took place. Even during the war against Ultemecia, their group had been almost constantly monitored by people in this room, although they'd been given precious little assistance. But for now there wasn't much happening. The failure to locate Kylari meant that there was no reconnaissance or operation planning going on, and with Garden only accepting the bare minimum of contracts to fund itself – due to its current state of alert – there were only a handful of operatives being monitored. That, however, was likely to change as soon as Squall put whatever plan he had formulated into action. The question was, would he first seek confirmation that this was Kylari's work?
Even Squall was feeling unsure. Laguna's cryptic message had him worried, and there was every possibility that it had some bearing on the three kidnapped SeeDs. Of course, it might have been Laguna muttering about SeeD's stated purpose of neutralising sorceress threats. If it was the latter, Seifer decided grimly, then he would let Laguna get what Squall was bound to give him. With Garden officially at war with a sorceress, such a blunder was unforgivable. Typical of Laguna, but unforgivable nonetheless.
The brunette made his decision – although it grated sorely against the instinct to rescue his friends first.
"Set up a secure link to Esthar from my office." Squall ordered, collaring a random technician walking past. There was no protest. The SeeD took one look at Squall's expression, set the mug of coffee in her hands down on a vacant table, and left at a run.
"Inform me immediately if locators QTr1618 and Zdi1720 move again, and set up a terrain map of the area – focus on possible incursion points, with an emphasis on concealment." The technician he'd buttonholed this time, already at a console displaying locator locations, nodded, fingers flying across the keyboard.
Satisfied, Squall turned and strode out of the room, leaving Seifer to dismiss the first messenger and hurry after his sorcerer.
The technician had just finished setting up the secure link to Esthar when Squall and Seifer arrived in Squall's third floor office. With a crisp nod, she handed over the conversation with Kiros to Squall, and left the room.
"Kiros."
"Squall." There was a pause. "I don't wish to tell you how to handle your affairs..."
"Then don't." Squall snapped, glaring at the dark skinned man.
"But," Kiros continued, as if Squall had not spoken. "In light of current events, I would advise that you not let things go unsaid that you may later regret not saying." Squall glared daggers, with absolutely no effect.
"I was told President Loire had an urgent message for me." He growled. "What was it?" Kiros glanced off to the side of the screen, as if someone had just walked into the room, then back.
"I'll let him tell you himself. But remember what I said." Kiros stood and moved aside, his place quickly taken by Laguna's familiar face. He looked resigned, sympathetic and hopeful – a combination that Seifer had only ever seen Laguna pull off successfully.
"I apologise if Kiros has been harassing you." Laguna said with a sigh, sounding harassed himself. Seifer noticed that the President, usually as energetic as Selphie had been, seemed tired and worn. Older somehow.
"The message." Squall replied curtly, not commenting if he noticed the differences that Seifer did.
"I have confirmation that Rinoa is in collusion with the sorceress Kylari, and also a positive identification of Kylari by a reliable source. Placing her in Centra." Squall remained expressionless, although Laguna had just sealed the fate of the orphanage.
"I see. A messenger could have told me this." Laguna flinched slightly, eyes flicking to someone off screen. "We believe Kylari to be based at the Centra orphanage." Squall added, seeming to relent slightly. Seifer knew better. Squall wasn't revealing anything top secret, but the information might just shake something loose from Laguna. The man was not a good poker player – not when Squall was in the game. Indeed, the President's eyes widened at the revelation.
"The Centra orphanage? You're sure she's based herself there?" He leaned fractionally closer to the screen, eager to hear the answer. Squall frowned.
What isn't he telling us? The brunette mused to Seifer.
He knows something. The blond agreed. What is a different matter. But there's someone else there who's involved in this mess – see how his eyes keep slipping to something off screen.
"I don't have time for this." Squall snapped abruptly. "If you have information regarding the orphanage or the sorceress Edea Kramer, then tell us now – before we attack." He watched Laguna gape soundlessly for a few moments, then snorted, scant patience exhausted. "Seifer, take over here." He stood and moved aside, ignoring Laguna's protests. "I'm going down to the situation room." That said, the brunette turned and left.
Why me? Seifer wondered, sitting down at the terminal. Laguna grinned weakly at him, as if to express understanding, or sympathy. Seifer glared in return. He didn't entirely agree with Squall's flat refusal to make up with his father, but considering what the brunette had gone through because of Laguna's actions, he didn't interfere. Not as it seemed Kiros had taken it upon himself to do.
Laguna had done what was best for the majority, both at that point in time, and in the future – although how much of the future they'd known had always been doubtful. But Squall was doing the same now – although he had no children to abandon, and Seifer was uncomfortably aware that if the choice between the world – which Squall didn't see as having ever done him any favours – and someone important to the brunette, ever came up, the world would probably lose. Or Squall would find a way to sacrifice himself so that everyone else won. But besides the differences caused by Laguna's actions, there was little doubt in the blond's mind that if the two reconciled, they'd have more in common than they thought.
"President Loire." Seifer finally acknowledged the man on the screen, forgoing the dip of the head that was his usual token recognition of the man's status. Squall was pissed with him, and Squall was his immediate superior, as well as his sorcerer, best that Laguna figure out from the start that Seifer was also not in the best of humours.
"Seifer!" He beamed – one of the few people who could smile at the ex-sorceress knight and mean it – totally missing the subtle warning. "How are you?" His enthusiasm faltered in the face of one of Seifer's more pointed glares. "Um, yes. Well. The orphanage, right?" Seifer nodded.
"And Edea, if you have any word." Laguna seemed to cringe at the name.
"Well, nothing about the orphanage, but Edea is..."
"Right here." The familiar voice overrode Laguna's from off screen.
"Yeah." Laguna agreed. "I was hoping Squall would talk with her but..."
"Seifer will do, Mr President." The off screen voice interrupted. Laguna brightened.
"Right then, I'll let you two talk." The Estharian President virtually fled from his place, replaced by Edea's serene face. But something was wrong with her too. She looked like she had been crying, her eyes were red-rimmed, and her usual thick mascara looked newly applied. Her hair was also scraped back into its bun with more severity than usual.
"Edea." Seifer acknowledged, careful to keep both tone and expression neutral. Just because she was in Esthar talking to Laguna didn't mean she was a friend – or a foe. Typically she started with a question he wasn't expecting.
"What has happened to that boy's manners?" Seifer pinched the bridge of his nose and carefully counted to ten before answering, still feeling the intense pressure of Squall's anger at the back of his mind.
"We think Kylari has Quis and Zell." It was only when he realised he was surprised by Edea's cold glare, that Seifer realised he'd expected her to be sympathetic.
"Don't use your losses as an excuse." She sneered, sounding more like the Edea he'd known during the war against Ultemecia than the one he'd known as a young orphan at the orphanage. "Cid is dead, and by my hands, but you do not see me throwing childish tantrums." Seifer bristled, only refraining from an angry retort because he realised the implications of Cid's death. After a long, tense pause, Edea spoke again. "Inform Commander Leonhart that I will come to Balamb Garden in two days time." Seifer raised an eyebrow.
"And why is that? You realise that you've given us absolutely no reason to trust you. After all, you were possessed during the last threat, and this time you've gone so far as to kill your own knight. Despite the fact that you'll go insane unless you find another or pass your powers on." Edea frowned irritably.
"I know who Kylari is, and what she intends. I also intend to carry out Adel's plan."
Adel's plan will doom us within days. Squall muttered, having 'listened' through his knight. Of course, Seifer couldn't say anything to Edea.
"I'll let Squall know..." The blond found himself looking at a blank screen. "You do not see me throwing childish tantrums." He mocked the dead screen, snorting in disgust. Sometimes he wondered if Edea realised how lucky she was that people had accepted her helplessness against Ultemecia's control.
Adel's plan? He queried his sorcerer.
To bring Ellone back to Earth and have her take the powers of all the sorceresses not under Kylari's control.
But...but that's madness! Seifer protested. All she needs to do is to kill Ellone and we've lost! Squall silently agreed.
Fortunately I think Ellone will see that too. If she stays up there then Kylari has to work to get to her, and that at least buys us time. Seifer was stunned, hearing his beliefs that Squall would sacrifice anything to save those close to him, being shattered by the cold words.
Time? He asked quietly. That buys us...time? What about Ellone's life? He could feel Squall's emotions getting dimmer. Don't you dare Squall Leonhart! Don't you dare! His eyes flashed angrily, but the rage subsided as Squall's emotions flooded back and swamped it.
Time is all we can buy. We're not going to win this war Seifer... I've seen it. We're going to lose, and the world is going to be destroyed. The brunette's bleak mental voice faded to silence.
You're wrong. He had to be wrong. We can win this Squall. They had to be able to win...didn't they? There was no reaction from the brunette. Didn't Ultemecia seem invincible at the start? But you kept going. You kept fighting. You made it past every obstacle – and you defeated her. There was still no response, although Seifer could tell Squall was listening. So what if Kylari was the power behind Ultemecia. With me by your side, who can stand against us?
How about a thousand Ultemecias? A million? Seifer frowned in confusion. Forget it. Squall sounded resigned. I'll fight on because it's all I know how to do. It's all I knew how to do against Ultemecia too. But I'll fight with my eyes open to the truth – this is humanity's last stand.
AN: Hmm... that was longer than I expected. And all angsty too... Oh well, two to go!