Long Live the King
A/N: I'm in a very good mood right now. You have no idea. :D I went back over the last four chapters and uploaded them again, but this time with divider thingies between the scenes so you could know when one Squinoa moment ended and some other scene began. Just so you could skip the other scenes and continue with the Squinoa. :3 Also, I have no idea if you can call an elevator back up if you press the emergency stop button. .; I don't even think they have stairs in the Garden, but I put those in there, too. :D
Personally, I think Carbuncle should be King. D
Chapter 5: Misleading Children
Squall flipped through the pages of a thin book, every now and then reading a few lines before flipping through it once again. Zell glanced over to him, raising an eyebrow as he watched him flip through, stop, then flip again.
"Squall... Dude... You've flipped the pages of that book about five hundred times now. Don't you think you should just read the book? Or grab another one?"
The commander frowned and set the book down. "Rinoa said that the Guardian Force's have a King. Or... had a King, all thanks to Almasy." He placed a gloved palm to the cover of the book he had been looking through, tapping at it with a finger. "I thought maybe, since this book is centered on Odin, it would have some of the answers we need."
Zell sighed and shook his head before running a hand through that mountain of blonde spikes.
Irvine smiled at the two, then glanced over to spot Selphie and Paige, their Library Girl, giggling and coming towards the three men and Quistis, a rather flat but wide book being clutched in the arms of Paige. "Hey, Zell... Looks like your girlfriend found something interesting."
The hot headed SeeD glared up at Irvine, then looked expectantly to the two girls. "What'dya have?"
Paige and Selphie exchanged looks before handing the book over to Zell. He stared at it for a few seconds in silence, causing Irvine to look over his shoulder. There was a long pause before even Quistis became interested and closed the book she had been reading to look.
Slowly, Quistis took the book and made her way to Squall. "I think you should look at this..." She tried to sound as serious as possible. Quickly, she returned to the group, hand over her mouth to stifle any oncoming laughs.
Squall stared at it then looked up to his so-called friends through his bangs. "You're joking..."
"Nope! That book shows secret passages in the Centra Ruins. You know, where we first found Odin! There might be something there." Selphie smiled and turned to look at Paige. "See? We did find something useful!"
Squall's gaze slowly fell back on the colorful cover of the book. He opened it up and stared at the equally colorful, if not more, pages of the creation he held and the super-sized letters. "But, Selphie... It's a children's book. These passages could just be created from a child's imagination."
The cheerful girl put two fingers to her chin and played with an imaginary beard. "Even so, it wouldn't hurt to check it out, right?"
"She has a point," Irvine spoke up. He walked over to Squall and snatched the book from his hands, looking through the colorful pages and where the passageways were hidden.
Squall frowned and waved a hand in the air. "Fine. We'll check it out. Somebody go get Rinoa."
The group looked over at each other for a bit before Zell spoke up. "Where is Rinoa?"
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The woman in question sat quietly in the room she had been given for her stay. It was something of a guest dorm room for the Garden. In her hands she held the book that she had introduced to the group the day before in Cid's office. She turned to the page with the picture of Odin and frowned.
Odin was their King... She thought to herself while turning the page. She read through a few paragraphs and sighed. "But Seifer killed Odin... So they-" Slowly she turned back to the page with the picture of the late King and his horse and stared at it. "They don't have a king anymore."
A knock at the door startled her and she quickly shut the book and lost her train of thought. "Who is it?"
"Selphie!" The girl shouted from the other side. Rinoa smiled and left the book on her desk to open the door. There stood Selphie and the girl she had seen with Zell when she had arrived to her 'welcoming committee'.
"This is Paige. The Library Girl. And Zell's girlfriend." Rinoa smiled to Paige and held a hand out.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Rinoa Heartilly."
Paige nodded and took her hand, shaking politely. "I've heard a lot about you from Selphie on the way over. A resistance group leader, huh?" Paige smiled to Rinoa. The sorceress glanced to Selphie, then back to Paige.
"Yes, well... Not anymore, since we achieved our goal of gaining Timber's independence. Now, does Squall need me for something?"
Selphie looked off to one side, then to the other, as if it were a big secret. "We're going to go check out the Centra Ruins for the secret passageways. We're taking the Ragnarok. Paige is gonna stay here and find more information for us."
Rinoa smiled and walked out of the doorway, closing and locking the door behind her. "Another adventure? Sounds fun, let's go!"
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The group gathered on the bridge of the Ragnarok a little after getting Rinoa. Selphie hopped into the pilot's seat and pumped a fist into the air. "Yeah! I missed you so much." She made an attempt to hug the controls, then giggled and sat up straight while Irvine sat down beside her in the co- pilots seat.
"Where was this thing hiding?" Zell questioned aloud, letting his gaze wander all around the inside of the ship.
Selphie grinned and swiveled around in her chair to look at him. "I put a mirror shield over the Ragnarok and parked it behind the Garden. Isn't that smart? So this way, nobody would notice it."
Irvine grinned and patted the top of her head. Selphie giggled and turned back around in her chair to turn the engines on. The Ragnarok roared to life and Selphie's smile grew. And soon they were off, soaring through the skies again.
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Selphie landed the Ragnarok near the Centra Ruins and turned to the group. "I'm going to stay here with the Ragnarok. It's been so long, I want to see if I can get used to the controls again."
The sniper of the group looked to Selphie, then to the group as a whole. "I'll stay with her. You know, just in case something happens."
Quistis frowned down at him, one hand resting on her hip while the other fingered her whip, Save the Queen. Irvine laughed and waved his hands in front of his face. "Seriously! You never know when something might sneak onboard and attack! And it wouldn't be smart to leave poor, defensele— Ow!"
Selphie pulled her nunchaku back to their straps on her back and "Hmph"ed. Zell laughed at Irvine, who was now rubbing at the back of his head.
"Guys, let's get serious now." Quistis ordered. "Squall and Rinoa have already headed out. Zell and I will go with them, and you two will stay here and keep an eye out for anything strange. Selphie, you have permission to kick Irvine out and leave with the Ragnarok if anything happens. And I mean... anything."
Irvine gulped and nodded as Selphie gave a thumbs up.
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Zell and Quistis caught up to Squall and Rinoa, both of which stood by the entrance of the Ruins. Squall looked down at the book he held and sighed. I feel so... ridiculous.
Rinoa stole a quick glance at the book then started forward, Zell and Quistis following behind her. "Let's go, Squall. Staring at that book isn't going to get us anywhere at the moment."
Squall grumbled a few words and closed the children's book.
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It had been hours and they found nothing. "I was right. It was just something invented from a child's imagination."
Quistis gave a sigh and rubbed at her temples. "I know. But it didn't hurt to try. There were no other leads. Let's get back to the Ragnarok."
The four headed up the ramp and made their way to the bridge. Selphie looked over and smiled brightly. "Did you guys find anything?"
Zell shook his head and slumped into a nearby chair. "Nothing. The book was just there to look pretty." He grumbled.
Squall sat in a chair across from Zell and put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. "Let's just go back." He let his hands drop down and he leaned back in the chair. Two arms came down from behind and gently wrapped around him. He felt a slight pressure on the top of his head and he reached up, resting a hand on the blue arm-warmers.
Rinoa smiled and squeezed lightly before letting go of him.
Selphie smiled childishly at the scene before Quistis waved her attention away. Selphie's eyes then widened and she waved her arms around frantically. "I just remembered something!"
All attention was soon on her. "Paige gave us a call from the Garden. She found something!" Selphie turned and prodded Irvine with her elbow. Apparently he had dozed off. Quistis liked to think that maybe Selphie had just knocked him out.
Zell looked over and gave a grin. "I knew she'd find something useful! Isn't she smart?"
"Yes, Zell. She's genius. We hear you mumble about her enough when you daydream..." Irvine finally spoke up. Zell growled, but was far too tired to do much else about it.
"Let's get back... But if she's holding another children's story for us, we're not following anymore of her leads." Squall warned while Selphie started the engines once again.
A/N: Yeah... I started getting very tired near the end. This chapter was a little bit pointless, too. Next chapter should move the story along a little more. Rinoa was onto something, though. The GF's no longer have a King. Let's think about this, now. Who do you think will be King?
Review, Review!