Chapter 26
Queries Answered,
Questions Raised.
Squall gave a deep throated sigh as he walked out into Garden's main lobby. He almost forgot that Rinoa was following him.
"Things calmed down pretty fast…" he thought. "But there are still so many questions I have…It doesn't feel like things are clam at all… just confsuing"
He almost chuckled at the irony of his thought.
"SeeDs don't question… they don't ask 'why?' …" he thought. "But I'm sick of being confused… I want some answers."
Squall looked up as he heard some face-paced footsteps approaching him… One of the Garden faculty.
"They're still running around, huh…Even after all that stuff about 'killing the headmaster for…' who was it again? …NORG…"
"Student ID no. 41269, Squall?" the Garden faculty asked quickly.
"Yes" Squall replied without hesitation.
"The Garden Master wishes to see you. Report to the Master's Room right away."
Squall was fairly surprised at this. NORG wanted to see him? …Why?
"Where is the Master's room?" Squall asked.
"Take the elevator to level B1. You have permission."
"But the elevator is brok…" Squall started, but Rinoa tapped him on the shoulder.
"I think Cid said that it was getting repaired… they must be done" she informed him.
Squall nodded in reply. There was a short silence
"So…" Rinoa began inncoently. "Can I come with you?"
Squall shrugged.
"I guess" he said.
Normally, he would've said 'no'. The Garden Master had asked for only him, after all. But he couldn't care less about following protocol right now… He was too angry and confused.
************************************************************************
As Squall and Rinoa dismounted the elevator on floor B1, they gazed about the room with interest.
The dark blue walls and glowing light gave the room quite an eerie luminescence. There was also some mechanics and heavy computer cables strewn about. Once again, Squall found himself amazed at the secrets that Garden held.
Suddenly, they both heard a voice around the corner. It sounded frustrated.
"Please! Listen to me!"
Squall recognized the voice after only a moment.
"…The headmaster's here?"
As Squall and Rinoa struggled to hear the rest of the conversation, they also heard the sound of the elevator. It dinged loudly, and a young man came out from it's sliding doors.
"What are you guys doin' down here?"
Zell Dincht came down from the elevator's platform, and walked down to meet the two.
Squall glared at him. How did he get down here?
Zell noticed his stare.
"What? Oh me?" he started. "I came down 'cuz I saw you guys" he explained quickly.
They heard Cid some more. It sounded like he was struggling with someone.
"Let go of me! I'm not finished!" he cried out.
He appeared from around the corner, and one of the Garden faculty members shoved him away.
"Greedy son-of-a-bitch! Why did I even bother talking to you! SeeDs were brought up for the future! And that future is now! Why can't you understand!?" he screamed at them loudly.
The same Faculty member approached the infuriated headmaster, and grabbed him by the neck. He glared angrily from underneath his yellow hat, and threw Cid to the ground. Satisfied, he walked away.
"Dammit!" Cid cried. "I should've never trusted you! I wish I could go back ten or so years… To tell myself that you're nothing but a money grubbing son-of-a-bitch! Then I would've never built this place"
Cid hung his head, dejected and angry.
The three teenagers approached headmaster Cid with concern and interest.
Cid turned around in surprise.
"Squall!?" he exclaimed. He looked about nervously "…You heard everything?"
"…Yes" Squall replied plainly.
Cid's face flushed a bright red color.
"I'm embarrassed, but sometimes even old men like me lose their temper" he tried to explain. But he already felt like he had lost face… too much for these children to respect him anymore.
Cid started for the elevator, and turned back to Squall.
"Let's get out of here" he encouraged.
Squall pointed at the Garden faculty, indicating that he had been called down, and had to stay. Cid nodded.
"…oh" Squall thought, remembering something.
"Sir, I still have to give you my report" Squall said.
"Please come to my office later" Cid said mechanically. He made his way onto the elevator, and left.
The faculty member approached Squall now. He addressed the whole group.
"You're the SeeDs who returned from Galbadia, correct?"
"Yes" Squall replied, trying to hold back the contempt in his voice.
"It's about time" the faculty member chastised. "Master NORG has been waiting for you. Come."
Squall followed the cloaked figure around the corner. The three teenagers found themselves in front of a huge circular pod. It appeared to be some kind of stasis tube, three in fact. One large container in the center, plus two on the side. It was marked with foreign designs, and flood-light size bulbs sticking out of the ends. Huge cables ran into it, and they glowed brightly.
As they examined the pod, another faculty member appeared.
"Whenever Master NORG calls you, be sure to be there within 3 seconds" he ordered.
Suddenly, a loud rumble sounded. Like a deep, gurgling voice…
"Fusursuru… 3 seconds are up" the voice sputtered.
The sound of air being released quickly sounded as the central pod began opening. The hatch lifted upwards, revealing the Garden master, NORG himself.
His appearance matched his voice, but came as a rather confusing surprise to Squall and the others. NORG was large. The yellow skin on his body lapped over itself with layers of fat. His head was almost shaped like a cone, with no nose, and a long mouth spanning from, what would have been, ear to ear… if he had had any ears.
NORG waved his hands in the air, apparently showing his frustration. He had abnormally long fingers, with not two, but three bending joints in each.
"…This is the Garden master? The proprietor of Garden? …He's not human? Come to think of it, we didn't know anything about him" Squall fell silent as he considered this.
"………What a shock."
NORG grew impatient.
"FushifuruFushifuru…" he stammered. "GIVE-YOUR-REPORT-ON-THE-SORCERESS."
Squall scratched his head and look at the ground.
"Now where do I start…?"
The faculty members whispered to him angrily.
"Answer him quickly. Be concise."
"It's going to be a sad report" Squall thought, shrugging.
"…We failed to assassinate Sorceress Edea." Squall began. "Confirmation of Headmaster Cid's order was made at Galbadia Garden. After Irvine Kinneas of Galbadia Garden joined our party… …We set off to carry out the 'sorceress Assassination' order from Balamb and Galbadia Gardens…"
NORG suddenly became infuriated at this. He interrupted Squall.
"Bujurururu!" he chanted. "BALAMB-AND-GALBADIA'S-ORDERS!? Bujurururu! YOU-WERE-FOOLED!"
"Fooled!?"
"I … don't understand" Squall said plainly.
NORG rolled his large, squinted eyes in disgust.
"Fushurururu… EXPLAIN-TO-THEM" he said, waving his hand at the Garden faculty.
"Master NORG has known about the alliance between the president of Galbadia and the Sorceress. He heard it from the Galbadia Garden master himself" one of the faculty members began.
"The Galbadia Garden master…?" Squall said, not immediately remembering.
"Fushururu… " NORG started. "THE-MASTER-OF-GALBADIA-GARDEN-IS-A-SUBORDINATE-OF-MINE-NAMED-MARTINE."
The faculty member continued.
"Yes. In fact the sorceress and Garden are closely connected. That is why the sorceress will definitely try to gain hold of all Gardens. So Master NORG sent an official order to Galbadia Garden. It was to kill the sorceress. An assassination was thought to be the best means."
"But…" Squall began, still not understanding.
"Bujurururu!" NORG gurgled. "THAT-SLY-WEASEL-MARTINE-USED-YOU-AS-A-LAST-RESORT-FOR-THE-ASSASSINATION. HE-GAVE-THAT-ORDER-TO-PLACE-THE-BLAME-ON-ME! THAT-THAT-BASTARD."
"Are you saying that Balamb Garden had nothing to do with that order?" Squall said with contempt.
The faculty member nodded.
"You just happened to show up just before the mission was to be carried out. They used you. But the operation failed. The sorceress is still alive and…"
The other faculty member interrupted him.
"The sorceress retaliated. Just as we suspected. No doubt, it was the sorceress who ordered the missile attacks."
The first spoke again.
"Something must be done to calm the sorceress' anger."
Squall took it all in slowly. At the last comment, he held up his hand.
"Wait a minute..." he protested. "That's just…"
The faculty member stopped him.
"In order to do so, we needed to hand over those involved in the assassination to the sorceress. We had to show Balamb Garden's sincerity."
He spoke in past tense to Squall, as if trying to make a point…
NORG burst out in excited anger.
"Bujurururu! OFFER-THE-SeeD's-HEAD-ON-A-SILVER-PLATTER-AND-PRETEND-WE-OBEY-THE-SORCERESS!" he commanded.
Squall went wide eyed at this.
"Wha… Why aren't we fighting the sorceress!?" he yelled. Squall became infuriated. Why shouldn't they resist an enemy of Garden?
"What about all the training we endure everyday!? What good is it!?" Squall argued.
NORG glared down at them.
"WHAT-DID-YOU-SAY!?" he replied. "YOU-LOST-TO-THE-SORCERESS! QUIT-YOUR-WHINING!"
The Garden faculty members looked at each other. One began shaking his head.
"Headmaster Cid was saying the same thing…"
The other one shook his head 'no'. He didn't want to anger NORG
"H-Hey…" he said, trying to keep the other quiet.
"Bujurururu!" NORG cried out. The faculty members gazed up at him in fear, and ran off.
NORG continued his tirade. He spoke quickly and angrily.
"CID!? THAT-IDIOT-CID-DISPATCHED SeeD-TO-KILL-THE-SORCERESS. AND-IF-YOU-FAIL? THIS-GARDEN-WILL-BE-DONE-FOR! MY-GARDEN! IT-WILL-ALL-BE-OVER!"
He stopped to catch his breath. He breathed in and out carefully.
"THAT-IDIOT-CID" he continued. "HAS-HE-FORGOTTEN-THAT-IT-WAS-I-WHO-PUT-UP-THE-MONEY-TO-ESTABLISH-GARDEN!? I-WANTED-TO-OFFER-THE-SORCERESS-CID'S-HEAD-ALONG-WITH-SeeD'S. I-ORDERED-THE-STUDENTS-TO-FIND-CID-BUT-THEY-SIDED-WITH HIM!"
He stopped for a moment. NORG seemed to be talking to himself at this point.
"Bujurururu! Bujurururu!" he muttered. "THIS-IS-MY-GARDEN!"
"NO!" Squall cried out. "It's not just yours."
NORG once again glared down at Squall.
"Bujurururu! THEN-WHAT-IS-IT!?" he mockingly asked. "IS-IT-CID'S-AND-EDEA"S!? THAT-PATHETIC-MARRIED-COUPLES!?"
"What…?" Squall began.
"The headmaster and Edea are married!? …I don't get it."
NORG's eyes widened, and he nodded slowly.
"Bushurururu" he mumbled. " …NOW-I-UNDERSTAND. CID-AND-EDEA-ARE-TRYING-TO-TAKE-GARDEN-AWAY-FROM-ME." NORG began pressing buttons and pulling levers from inside his pod.
"YOU"RE-ONE-OF-CID'S-FOLLOWERSS-AREN"T-YOU!?" he screamed down at them. "PREPARE-TO-DIE!"
Rinoa cried out at this.
"Squall!"
NORG's pod began to close. His gurgling voice could still be heard from inside.
"BLUE-YELLOW-RED …AS-LONG-AS-ORBS-STAY-RED-I-WILL-ATTACK-SeeDs-WITH MAGIC" he said to himself. He didn't realize the tactical advantage he was allowing the SeeDs by revealing this.
Squall noticed the lights… the large orbs on the side of NORG's pod… They were altering colors quickly.
"Zell! You and Rinoa smash those orbs! I'll attack the center pod, until we bust this thing open…!"
Zell and Rinoa nodded, and went to work. They were able to keep NORGs magical attacks to a minimum, as long as they kept attacking each orb.
Squall found that his gunblade could easily penetrate the metal covering of NORG's pod. He sliced into it as much as he could, yet it still remained shut, concealing NORG.
"DAMN-THOSE-SeeDs!" NORG cried within his pod. "THIS-IS-MY-GARDEN! YOU-CAN'T-DO-AS-YOU-PLEASE!"
Squall sliced in once more. The pod door burst open, revealing a frightened and frustrated NORG.
"Better scan 'im, just to make sure that he doesn't have any tricks up his sleeve…" Squall thought. As he did so, he noticed that NORG possessed a GF… A water typed Guardian force called 'Leviathan'. He drew it, and signaled for Zell to move in for a final attack to NORG.
As his pod began exploding and short-circuiting, NORG shrunk back in fear.
"FUSHURURURU…" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'M-DONE-FOR! I'M-AFRAID-OF-YOU! ME-WHY-ME…?"
A bright, blinding light flashed as NORG screamed.
"What's happening?" Squall thought, shielding his eyes. The lightn became more and more intense with each passing moment.
It soon began to die down. After the light lifted, Squall's eyes adjusted and he gazed up at a huge orb of energy surrounding the inside of NORG's pod. It swirled with a yellow and purple mass of colorful energy.
Zell and Rinoa shook their heads.
"What the hell was that?" Zell cried.
Squall immediately waved his hand at the sight.
"Forget about it for now" he said. He didn't even want to try and think about it.
"I can't believe you just said that." Rinoa exclaimed. "I think what just happened is really serious."
She was right, of course, but Squall glared at her furiously. What did she know?
"What's the point of talking about it now!?" Squall retaliated. "You don't know what's going on, either!"
A long silence came over the room.
Squall took a step back, and put his hand to his forehead.
"This is crazy" he said, much calmer now. "I don't know what's goin' on anymore. I feel like a helpless puppet being manipulated in some…" He huffed. "…major scheme"
Rinoa's eyes widened in sympathy. She now understood why he had overreacted. She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder, trying to be consoling.
"Squall…" she began softly.
It felt comforting, to have her hand on his shoulder, but Squall shook it away. He didn't want to rely on anyone to comfort him… He just wanted his questions answered.
"Yeah…" he said angrily. "I'm goin to see the headmaster."
************************************************************************
Well, okay. A short chapter, but interesting nonetheless.
I have to say, I am getting a little dicouraged in writing this fic. I have such a long way to go… and am having such a little amount of time to spend on it… -_-… I dunno... I'll continue writing because I have dedicated myself to some extent on this… but… aw hell. I dunno. I really don't know what I'm trying to say here… I just needed to get a little rant out….
Next capter will be up soon, hopefully.
************************************************************************