Long Live the King
A/N: That would be interesting... Chubby Chocobo as the new King of the Guardian Force's... Kinda creepy actually. I'm trying to update as quickly as I can, even with the lack of good ideas. I have an idea for this chapter, but that would make it incredibly short, and we don't want that now do we? That's what I thought.
Maybe Headmaster Cid should become King!
Chapter 6: Follow the Tracks
Once again, everyone was in the library. Quistis sat quietly at a table with Rinoa and Irvine while Squall and Selphie watched Zell pace back and forth.
It didn't take long for Paige to show up, carrying yet another book in her arms. "Alright, this time it's a real book." She reassured Squall and began to flip through the pages. She stopped in a center page and put a finger to the line with the information they needed. "There's a certain place that the Guardian Force's go to when they leave once their attack is finished. I don't know what they call it, so we can just refer to it as the Guardian Force Realm." She looked up momentarily, "GF Realm is probably easier to say, huh?" Then down to the book again.
"When certain Guardian Force's appear, it seems that they just come out of nowhere, right? Carbuncle, Doomtrain, Diablos, etcetera..." She paused, gaze focused on the ceiling as she thought about it.
"What we need to do is find a way to get there, right?" Quistis spoke up, head tilted to the side.
Paige nodded in response and rubbed at the back of her head. "But the question is... How?"
Silence fell over the group as everyone thought over what could be done to reach this unknown 'GF Realm'. Zell glanced up from his thoughts and voiced his suggestion. "How 'bout we try going through that little hole Carbuncle comes out of?"
A long pause, then Paige whapped the back of his head with the book she held. "What if it doesn't lead anywhere? And even if it does, the hole could close up on us. Carbuncle isn't all that big, you know."
Zell sighed and gave a shrug. "Yeah, I know. But at least I tried. I don't see anyone else throwing out their ideas."
There was a yelp and all turned to look at Selphie, whom was now in the tight hold of Irvine. "You're genius!" He grinned and put his cowboy hat on top of her head. "Selphie had a great idea, but she thinks it's stupid. C'mon, tell 'em!"
A few muffled grumbles from Selphie let him know that she couldn't breathe at the moment. He released her and gently patted her back.
She glared at him quickly, and then smiled to the others. "Well, it's kind of silly, but we could try catching a ride with Doomtrain."
Another silence fell over the group as they thought about this.
Ride on Doomtrain? Is that even possible? Rinoa thought to herself. Doomtrain did come out of thin air and disappeared back into it. Maybe it would prove to be useful. "Well," she finally spoke up. "It wouldn't hurt to try, right?"
Squall frowned and turned to her, arms crossing over his chest. "Last time that was said, it proved to be pointless and a waste of time."
Selphie looked down and kicked lightly at the ground. "Yeah, I know. See, it was a silly idea..." She seemed to be disappointed. Irvine looked down at her and lifted the cowboy hat slightly to get her attention.
"It wasn't a silly idea. Whether mean ol' Squall wants to or not, we're going to try it out." He smiled gently and pushed the hat back down on her head. Selphie seemed to accept his attempts at making her feel better and smiled up at him.
"You know, if it's going to work, we're going to need to get a lot of rest, stock up on magic, fix up our weapons... all that." Quistis interrupted. She stood up and made her way to the exit of the library. "Selphie, you and Irvine go stock up on magic outside of the Garden. I know you lost all your Curaga in the battle with Quezecotl, Selphie." The two being addressed nodded and headed out.
"Zell, you go into the Training Center and work on your combat skills. Try to stock up on some magic as well." Zell stood and started on his way out.
Paige raised her hand and interrupted Quistis' orders. "Can I go with him?"
Quistis shook her head. "No. You don't have a weapon to protect yourself with. You stay here. I'm going to check with Headmaster Cid. He's the one that gave you the Magic Lamp," Now she was talking to Squall. "I'm going to find out where he got it. Other than that, I'll see if he has any other information." And with that, she left.
"And then there were three..." Rinoa said softly. She looked to Squall, then to Paige.
"I don't think she likes me." Paige commented, sitting down in a nearby chair. Rinoa shook her head and sat down beside her.
"She likes you. It's just... That's how Quistis is sometimes. She's so used to giving orders as an instructor that it's hard to tell the right times for being a friend and the right times for being a supervisor."
Paige seemed to take this well and smiled. She stood up and made her way to the exit. "Thanks, Rinoa. I'm gonna go see if I can dig up anymore information on the computers. The books seem to have run out of information for once." And then she was gone.
After a few seconds, Rinoa slowly stood and looked over to Squall. "So, what do we do? Quistis didn't give us any orders."
Squall stood quietly. Brooding... Rinoa thought. Finally, he turned to her and visibly relaxed.
"If this does work, I want you to be careful. You're still a sorceress... We don't know how the Guardian Force's, or whatever else is in that Realm, will react to you." He left his standing post and walked over to her, gently pulling her into his arms. "And I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you..." He admitted softly.
Rinoa felt her heart flutter in her chest. "Don't worry." She wrapped her arms around his torso as her head rest on his chest. "I have my knight in shining armor to protect me..."
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Once again, Rinoa was in her room, alone. She sat at her desk and stared at the book she had abandoned not so very long ago. Squall had walked her to her room, and she suggested he stay with her tonight, but he had said, 'I want to look some things up before we end up going into something that we don't know about.'
She let out a sigh and picked the book up before making her way to her bed and plopping down onto the mattress. She turned on the lamp beside her and leaned back on the pillows to make herself comfortable.
"Alright, Odin. Help me out here," she muttered to herself while opening the book. She turned to her bookmarked page of the picture and frowned at it. After a few minutes of silence, she noticed something strange. There was a thin, red line drawn down the center of the picture of Odin.
As she saw it, she remembered the battle that brought Odin's death. Seifer cut the armored man in half. She could see it clearly, the blade running through his body, and then the halves falling apart. The horse ran off with a cry for its master and was gone the moment their battle began with Seifer.
Rinoa shook her head and let the book drop and slide down to the floor while she rubbed at her temples. "Maybe I just need sleep." She told herself before glancing to the digital clock. It read 1:47 am. She yawned and simply shifted herself till she was under the covers. Changing clothes would take far too much time and energy that she just didn't have right now. Turning off the light, she quickly fell into a deep sleep.
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It was two hours later that Squall came to her door. He turned the knob and quietly entered the dark room. She must have fallen asleep... He thought to himself as he quietly removed his shoes and jacket. Then he waited for his sight to become adjusted to the darkness before making his way to the bed.
There, he saw Rinoa sleeping peacefully, body curled up beneath the thin blankets. Gloves were pulled off and set on the nightstand before he reached out and gently pushed her hair from her face. Earlier, she had wanted him to stay with her for the night, and, without really thinking about it, he brushed her off for work. He didn't even find anything useful.
Slowly, and as carefully as he could, he slid into the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. He held her to his chest and let his muscles relax. "Goodnight, Rinoa." He whispered softly into her hair. She murmured something in her sleep and he couldn't help but give a small smile. Well, as much of a smile as he could. Soon, the lion slept with the angel close to his heart.
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Eight in the morning had everyone outside of the Garden close to the forest. Selphie was fiddling with her Strange Vision and Irvine was beside her, filling the Exeter with Pulse Ammo. Zell was shadowboxing, trying to rid himself of the nervousness and excitement building up. Rinoa and Squall stood side by side, a blushing Rinoa staring down at the ground while their Commander gazed quietly off to the side.
Quistis came up to the group and cracked her Save the Queen in the air for both their attention and the effect it had on the monsters that would try to sneak up on them. "Alright, who has Doomtrain junctioned?"
Selphie raised a shaking hand. "I do." Irvine gently took hold of her shaking hand and gave it a small squeeze. She looked up to him and her cheeks turned to a rosy hue. "I'm just a little nervous..." she admitted to him quietly.
"We're all a little nervous, Selph. Don't worry 'bout it." He reassured her. She nodded slightly and turned to Quistis again.
The instructor looked around the group. "I didn't find anything on the Magic Lamp, except that it just showed up in Cid's office one day... rather mysteriously, is what Cid said, so we're going into something we don't know about. Is everyone ready?" They all gave some sort of reply, be it a grunt, nod, or punch into the air. Then she turned to Selphie. "Summon it."
Selphie nodded firmly and held the Strange Vision into the air. "Doomtrain!" She called out for it, hoping it would come to her, unlike Ifrit for Zell. The sky grew dark and there was a whistle in the distance. All turned to the sound and waited, hoping for its arrival.
The self-made tracks began to form along the field towards the group and Selphie whooped in excitement. "It's coming!" She shouted happily.
Indeed, the train from hell was coming down its own tracks. It got closer, and Zell stopped fidgeting. "Um... This isn't going to work," he shouted out to the group. Rinoa took a step forward as she watched the train that was fast approaching.
"Squall! It's not slowing down!" She shouted out. Squall cursed beneath his breath and ran forward as the tracks began to form beside them. There was no enemy for Doomtrain, so it continued on its way. "Squall!" Rinoa shouted out again.
The train began to run by them. Squall turned to the group and held a hand up to get their attention. "We're jumping on!" He ordered. And with that, he reached out and grabbed a bar on the side of the train. Quistis followed his order and jumped to the train, grabbing hold of it as it went by. This was followed by Rinoa and Zell.
Irvine grabbed hold of Selphie's hand and ran forward, grabbing the end of the train. He pulled Selphie up beside him and she grabbed onto the railing. She pulled herself over and into the Doomtrain just as it faded from view. The sky lit up again in daylight and a few birds began to sing. A Bite Bug buzzed by and entered the forest.
Besides that, all else was calm.
A/N: Finally! I needed a few days to get into the good mood of writing for this. I'm rather proud of this chapter, now. :3 I love Doomtrain (obviously), and I figured, since Selphie loves trains, I'd give her Doomtrain and let her have the brilliant idea of summoning it and catching a ride. :O See? Not all the GF's are rebelling. Tell me what you think. The next few chapters are going to be difficult to write... There's going to be my attempts at battles again. .; So... Be prepared.
Review, Review!!