Ghost of a Good Thing
By: Selphie Lynne Tilmitt and Xifa
Have you ever had one of those moments that make you go cold? There's no reason for it…all you know is that suddenly there's a disturbance, and it feels like something very bad is going to come of it…then it's gone, leaving you wondering if you were insane or if there was a serious problem. I hadn't had a feeling like this since before time compression…and I had hoped that I never would again.
I closed my eyes, thinking back on the past couple of days. There are times when you think life is so good that nothing can go wrong. And just as you think that, everything goes wrong all at once. My friends and I had defeated Ultemecia... She was gone, and no one had to worry about her or Adel ever again. Time compression was a nightmare, but Rinoa saved me... Rinoa, who wasn't quite as wonderful as I had once previously thought. I knew I shouldn't feel bitter towards her or her new boyfriend, but... Seifer Almasy?!?!
((Flashback))
"So, Squall...I...think we need to talk."
I nodded, but I didn't think I was gonna like what I heard. It was probably only something trivial that would hardly affect us at all. But Rinoa was important to me, and anything she thought was important I would definitely listen to.
"What is it?"
"Don't get me wrong or anything, you're a great guy, but...I don't think you're the one for me. I mean...well...I think we should just be friends."
"Whatever you thin,." I shrugged, wiping my face blank. Rinoa... we'd been through it all together. We had faced the Sorceress Ultemecia, I had become your knight, but now...
She smiled, almost as if in relief. I could hardly believe it…
"I'm glad you agree," she nodded. "I'm sure you'll find someone perfect for you. See you around, Squall." She waved and walked off as if we'd just had a simple chat about the weather.
I wondered if she realized that she was the only 'perfect' one for me. I shook my head; feeling like icy water had just been dumped on me. Rinoa...
((flashback ends))
The only good thing that had happened out of all of this was the defeat of Ultemecia, and therefore the end of the threat. It seemed I could finally go back to just being a normal SeeD now -- as normal as I could be without Rinoa-- and leave Headmaster Cid in charge of everything.
So just when I'd found the keychain flashlight light in all this smothering darkness, something had to come along to completely drain the batteries and wipe even that small bit of hope out.
"S-s-squall, do you f-f-feel that?" Selphie ran over to me. I snapped out of my concentration, and obviously I -did- feel the quaking earth.
"C'mon!" I grabbed her arm and pulled her away, trying to get away from anything that would fall and hurt us.
"Oh, Squall," she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, deathly pale. "Look...the window...look outside..."
The once clear-summer's sky had turned completely black, the sun a strange shade of maroon spatched with black. A large shadow flew around the sky...it was impossible to tell what it was since it was too dark.
"Ohmygosh!" Selphie suddenly yelled, falling to the ground. "That...what just...OW!...did you just feel that?!" she cried. "OW!"
I winced, but I wouldn't let myself fall to the ground, even yell for that matter, because it would just show exactly how weak I'd become. I reached to the back of my head, searching for Quetzalcoatl. To my horror I found a huge blank space where all my GFs had been. There weren't any memories there, and there weren't any GFs. That was probably the third worse feeling in the world, which of course was next to being dumped by Rinoa and being trapped in time compression.
"I can't cast any magic," Selphie frowned. "Why can't I cast any magic? I just stocked up!" She scowled, looking slightly annoyed, but it was probably her way of masking pain. "Where's my potions..."
I pulled one out and handed it to her, frowning. "Our GFs are gone. Completely. We have no control, and the pain was most likely them leaving our minds." It was dawning on me as I spoke. "And magic is an ability that GFs give you. So we can't do actual magic, just para-magic... yeah..."
"Our GFs...why did they leave us?"
I never had the chance to answer Selphie, however.
"Squall? This is the headmaster speaking! Would you please come to my office?"
I groaned. Of all these times he chose to put me in charge of a havoc-ridden, chaotic garden. I nodded to Selphie.
"Be careful." I ran off to find Headmaster Cid.
He was waiting outside his office, as usual. He stood up as I arrived, looking nervous.
"Hopefully you can give me an accurate report of what just happened..."
I explained the the GFs revolt, unjunctioning themselves and causing the earthquake as quickly and simply as possible, knowing that he couldn't understand just quite what I meant because he had never had a GF junctioned to him.
"So it's the GFs wanting power...here, follow me really quick..." He led me into his office, where words were glowing in an almost magical way on his wall, as if painted by an unseen hand.
"I don't know where it came from, but I fell down during the earthquake and when I got up, here it was," Cid explained nervously.
"The time has come for you to succumb to the power that was once Ours. Prepare for the battle to end all," the words read.
Well that was enough to creep me out.
"A GF wrote that... what could it mean?"
I searched my brain rapidly for any logical explanation, but then realized in a sense that GFs themselves weren't logical. I was complete loss, and even Quetzalcoatl had ditched me. So much for the perfect life. Rinoa was gone. My GFs were gone. The things I treasured had abandoned me when I needed them.
'The power that was once ours' it's obvious that the GFs want to take over. And from the sounds of it, they've had a taste of being in control. But didn't they understand? SeeD's were powerless without GFs, and without SeeD's, most GFs wouldn't ever be summoned at all. We were a team, and they had no reason to be against us. As a matter of fact, neither of us had a reason to fight. We had beaten the sorceress together. Why did they suddenly change? I would've given anything for at least time to negotiate with Quetzalcoatl. Just an hour and I was almost sure I could change things.
Cid was reading a letter he'd pulled out of the fax machine.
"Same thing just happened down at the other Garden," Cid said, looking sick. "Well, I'm glad we got Galbadia Garden and Trabia Garden fused. It'll be easier for them to recuperate from this. Martine has the same message in his office. They'll be flying their Garden up here...it'll take both Gardens to even recover from this incident, much less prepare to fight back..." Cid picked up the microphone for the intercom. "Students, may I have your attention? I know something very very bad just happened. We'll be explaining everything later, but for right now just stay calm. Visit the nurse if you have to. Please don't panic. I'm putting Squall in charge again. Please do everything he says and don't make it harder on him." He paused, reading the paper. "...Galbadia Garden and Trabia will also be joining us up here. We are all allies, PLEASE do not fight with them. Take care, be careful, and thank you." Cid hung it up, still reading the paper. "Okay, let's figure this out..."
"Woah, Headmaster Cid, why did you put me in charge?! I can hardly manage a party on a SeeD mission! You keep doing this to me!" I threw my arm down. Why did he keep doing this to me?! This was gonna drive me insane! I had enough on my plate to handle between Rinoa and Quetzalcoatl, I didn't need the entire -Garden- on my shoulders! Last time was different. Last time the situation was completely different, but this time…no, not this time.
"You did an excellent job saving the world last time," Cid said calmly. "And I trust you to do it again this time. You'll be in charge of not only Balamb this time too, but the Galbadia-Trabia fusion as well. Luckily, Martine says he's sending a...well, heck, they're not a SeeD. Martine...well, whatever he thinks. In any case, you're going to have a co-commander this time."
Fury and anger, depression, it was all boiling to the surface. So many emotions, I didn't think there was room for them even with the huge empty space in my head without my GFs. I put my head in my hands, trying to come to grips with all that ha d happened. Just -trying- to get my head around all this was too much. Now I had to worry about 4000 people in the Gardens, and everything that had went wrong was gonna be entirely my fault. I didn't even have anyone to talk to, no one to lean on... I shook my head. I didn't need anyone anyway.
"Headmaster..." I desperately searched for all the words I wanted to say, but none of them came.
"You'll do just fine, Squall," he said reassuringly. "And even if you don't, just try your hardest. That's all I care, and that's why I put you in this position. Because I know you'll try your hardest in any given circumstance."
I wondered what he'd do if I simply quit Garden, fighting simply as a mercenary, no longer a SeeD and with no ties to anyone to be severed. I wouldn't be on anyone's side... I wouldn't be for one army or against another, I would be on my own side, and I could do what I thought was correct at any given time.
But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had grown up at Garden. This was my home, and I had to protect it. Besides, I had no where else to go. I had no desire to look to Laguna for help. None at all. He was more like a shadow in my memories then any family at all. It was his fault, I reminded myself bitterly, that Raine died. If he would've been there, just maybe he could have saved her. I wouldn't be in this position. I wouldn't be killing for money, I wouldn't -have- to be in Garden... I would be normal, with a home and a family. Not a school for mercenaries. I simply glared at Cid, and I didn't allow any more angry thoughts to go through my head.
"We're in a recovery stage right now, so there won't be much for you to do," he offered, as if hoping these few ideas would help me out. "Tomorrow the other Gardens should arrive and we, well, er, you and the other commander, can start planning what to do."
"Sir, I'm sorry to say this, but there's no escape from leadership." I frowned. I dunno how I was keeping my voice down, but somehow I was.
"I know," Cid said, standing up and pacing around his office. Another fax came in. Cid read it and scowled, then scribbled on a piece of paper 'Martine, quit faxing me and get down here! -Cid' and faxed it back. He stared outside. Even the monsters outside were starting to act strange, undoubtedly joining sides with the GFs. "We could be in for a long battle," Cid sighed, standing up. "Go get some rest until tomorrow, Squall. Just use the system," he gestured vaguely at the random wires and microphones that somehow made up our Garden's announcement system. "if you need me, or anyone else for that matter." He stood up and left, shaking his head.
Selphie, Zell, Quistis, Irvine...pretty much the entire group from our quest to defeat Ultemecia walked into the room. The only person missing was Rinoa.
"We heard," Quistis commented simply.
"We're behind ya all the way," Zell said, the others nodding in agreement with him.
"Thanks." Suddenly I wanted to be around no one. I didn't want to out up with them and their comments about my leadership, yet I couldn't help but wonder with a pang if Rinoa was off somewhere with Seifer.
"Anytime, man. Just let us know if there's anything we can do to help ya," Zell nodded.
"Alright." There wasn't anything they could do. Nothing to help me with anything, even when the whole world seemed to be falling in on me.
"Alright, then," Quistis nodded. "Well, you probably should get some rest since you've been up here with the headmaster the entire time and haven't had a chance to. We'll leave you alone."
With that she walked off, the others following.
I left numbly for the dorms, planning on locking myself in my room and -attempting- to sort this all out. I knew there was no way I could get some rest. Not with the fact that everything seemed to go wrong and everyone seemed to be abandoning me.
I sat down on my bed and pulled out a piece of notebook paper and a pen, putting everything down in writing and hoping maybe that was something I could come to grips with. And for another period of time I stared at my gunblade, tempting thoughts running through my head. But the Garden needed me. I couldn't do that. I put my head in my hands again, thinking of any way to make things better. It never came to me. I closed my eyes, frustrated. So many confusing thoughts and feelings. It felt like the original quest of the assassination of the sorceress all over again. But this time... there was no one. I was completely alone. So the beginning of the end was dawning.
Xifa's notes: Please just hang around for the second chapter…I know the first one might not have been that interesting, but sometimes it's like that, just trying to get everything in. Review if you loved it or hated it, please! This means a lot to me and Sefie too! Love and peace, Xifa