Till the end of time: Chapter 2
Retrieval
Balamb-100 hours
"Quistis, it's past curfew. Why don't you tell me about the news tomorrow?" The new Headmaster, a man sent in from Timber.
"Sir, this is of utter importance. It cannot wait." The blonde adjusted her glasses.
"What is it, then?"
"Sir…" Quistis felt her voice shake. "We…we have lost Squall."
"What?!" The Headmaster's deep voice shook the floor. "How did this happen?!"
"Sir, it was inevitable…"
"How did it happen?!" He roared again.
"We were just walking, and…then he was gone…"
"…"
"It's like he just vanished. We split into search parties, but no trace of Squall was found, sir, not even footprints."
"I see." He began to calm, rubbing his chin. "Well, now since I cannot sleep, could you give me the details of this mission, this uncompleted mission, over a cup of coffee in the cafeteria?"
"Absolutely, sir." Quistis nodded.
"So." The Headmaster turned to the blonde. "Are you sure there's no way Squall made himself invisible?"
"Sir, so you really have to ask that kind of a question? Do you really think he's that kind of a person?"
"You're right, Quistis."
Balamb Garden-1200 hours
The new Headmaster started the meeting with a few simple questions: How they were, the outlook of the situation, and how they slept. Two were useless, but they were to lighten the mood. Quistis seemed jittery, jumpy, Selphie seemed high on sugar, Irvine was quiet as well as Zell, and Rinoa looked tired. There were dark circles around her eyes and they were half closed. The Headmaster saw that and tried to make the meeting quick.
"Now, I have learned that your party leader has gone missing and, as you all know, the leading must be transferred to another. In most cases, the leader would be Quistis, but the Garden needs her to be the Commander for the time being, so Zell will be your leader."
"Have you figured out where Nida's base is?" Irvine asked.
"Xu will give you those details." The Headmaster stepped aside to reveal Xu. Her brown hair lie smooth and calm at her shoulders.
"Nida's base lies in Toadstool Lake." She told everyone.
"But we were there already. There was nothing." Quistis said.
"The base lies not on ground or underground, but above the soils, in the air. Nida's base is called The Floating Dark Forest. To get there you must utter a single password at a certain spot. Then you will be taken there."
"Where would this spot be?" Zell asked.
"Adi is printing up the maps now."
"Who's Adi?"
"To replace Squall and Quistis," The Headmaster cut in. "Xu and Adi will be joining your party. For the time being, of course, until Squall is found."
"Yah! New party members!" Selphie cheered.
"Sir!" A girl dressed in a SeeD outfit ran up, her face curved in alarm. "A new enemy has been detected!"
"Who?" The Headmaster asked.
"Torie Aplis, sir. He is residing on the spot to summon the Floating Dark Forest!"
"Well, looks like it is time for battle, eh?" Irvine asked.
"Xu, go fetch Adi and make sure she brings the maps!" The Headmaster told Xu. She nodded and ran off.
(The spot to summon the Floating Dark Forest…could that be the cabin?)
"As soon as Adi and Xu get here, you must hurry and get to Toadstool Lake."
"Sir, here is a sensor." The female SeeD handed her Headmaster a small device, which he handed to Zell.
"Take good care of this. It will show you where power sources and humans are. With that and a map you'll get to Nida's hideout quickly."
"Sir!" Xu and another girl ran up. Zell presumed the other girl to be Adi. She was tall, about 5' 11" or 6' 0". Her brunette hair was extremely short, cut dangerously close to her scalp. She had narrow, black looking eyes, full pinkish lips, and a thin face. There was a strict and serious look to her, like Squall had.
"Zell." Zell offered his hand, but she didn't take it.
"Hurry!" The Headmaster pushed everyone to the Ragnarok.
"Do you have the maps?" Selphie asked as they ran. Adi nodded without looking over.
Since Nida had been revealed evil, a new SeeD named Rocky took over the position of flying the Ragnarok. Selphie, Zell, and Irvine all called him 'Rocket' for his speedy fast piloting and talking. The 15 year old had gotten through the flying courses at 13, but he was only licensed to fly at 15. He also piloted the Garden when he wasn't flying Ragnarok, and he trained two other students around the age of 16 to fly either the Ragnarok or the Garden.
"Whoo-hoo, we're flying!" Selphie cried as they took off.
Ragnarok-1300 hours
"I'm sorry you couldn't sleep very much." Xu apologized.
"No, I'm okay." Rinoa assured her. "Really."
"Then what are those circles under your eyes from?" Adi asked her. Her voice had no definite tone or mood at all.
"I just…I hope Squall is okay."
"You didn't sleep, did you?" Xu asked.
"No. I'm just so used to having him next to me…"
"That's what happens when you start dating. You become emotionally, mentally, and physically attached to him. Then when he breaks up with you, dies, or disappears, you break down, like a pathetic, shallow person." Adi frowned.
"You make relationships sound so cynical." Xu wrinkled her nose disapprovingly.
"I think they are."
"They aren't if Squall's in it." Rinoa said.
"That just makes them more so." Adi frowned. "And we can't all have him, thank Hyne."
"…"
Xu shifted uncomfortably at the silence that followed. Rinoa angrily glared at Adi, while Adi smirked back calmly, not the least disturbed by the furious stare she was receiving.
"We're here." Xu announced, clearing her throat, trying to make the thick silence more comfortable. It didn't work. Adi stood stiffly, still smirking at the black haired girl, who appeared to be getting upset.
(Why is she being so mean about her Commander? Is she just jealous of Rinoa?) Xu wondered.
"Let's go, Xu." Rinoa finally tired of the starting battle, and she pulled her friend out the door, frowning at Adi once more.
Toadstool Lake-1330 hours
"Who should keep the maps?" Xu asked as she and Rinoa, breathless, came running in the door, the swooshing noise of the door behind them.
"I will." Adi came in behind them, harshly pulling the maps from in between Xu's fingers.
"Where's the cabin?" Zell asked, walking over to the brunette girl and looking at the maps over her shoulder.
"Yeah! Let's blow stuff to smithereens!" Selphie leaped into the air.
"Just come on Sefie." Irvine didn't seem as animated as usual. "We've got to get Squall back."
(I bet Squall wouldn't be happy that everyone is depressed over his disappearance. Everyone is acting like he died and we're going to resurrect him. If only it were that easy… But I know I'm sad over this. I want him back. I want him here…with me…) Rinoa frowned, tears almost threatening to enter her eyes, dare she think any more.
"It's this way." Adi had pulled the maps away from Zell and now led the group out the door, guiding them towards the cabin that would be used to access the Floating Dark Forest.
Toadstool Lake-1400 hours
"Look! I see Torie!" Selphie cried, jumping up frantically. The blonde boy turned his head in the direction of Zell's party.
"Sefie! You gave away our position!" Irvine yelled angrily. Selphie shrunk back, perhaps realizing that she should keep her mouth shut.
Torie headed towards Zell, his eyes flaring in some unneeded anger that would have been meant for Squall, were he here.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are." Torie smiled cruelly. "Your friend is waiting for you."
"What friend?" Zell asked nastily, trying to contain the anger that would later come out by way of his fists.
"Fight me and find out."
(This guy really wants to fight, don't he?) Zell thought.
"Fine." Xu said.
"Gladly." Selphie pulled out Strange Vision, preparing to fight dirty.
Torie pulled out a double bladed sword and swung right away, just barely missing Zell's left arm.
Rinoa grabbed Shooting Star.
Zell readied Ehrgeiz.
Xu swung her heavy axe, which she called 'Kami."
Adi sheathed her unnamed sword.
Irvine fired a bullet to test Exeter.
"Ready?" Zell asked his group.
"Never been readier!" Selphie cried.
"Let's go!"
They pounded in on Torie; the sounds of guns and swords hitting air sifted into the distance. Torie swung at Zell, pausing the blonde's movements for a little while as he was pushed into the corner, but Irvine fired a bullet into Torie's right arm, and Torie swung around, flinging one end of the sword at the brunette who had hurt him.
Irvine fell, injured, onto the ground.
"Irvy!" Selphie called, casting a Curaga spell on her boyfriend.
"Selphie!" Irvine cried as Torie sliced a prominent red line across Selphie's back. She smashed him in the face with Strange Vision while Zell jumped onto his back and pounded random places. Irvine fired a bullet and hit the cut that had been inflicted by him earlier, reopening it.
Xu shoved her axe deep into a Grendel's belly-it had jumped out from behind a tree-and ran towards Torie. He reflected her away with a Protect and hastily cast a Reflect spell as he was hit with a Blizzaga spell, courtesy of Rinoa.
"We need Squall!" Rinoa cried in desperation as she pulled Shooting Star out of a tree stump.
"No! If you say that we need him, that means we've become dependant on him!" Xu cried.
"Is that bad?" Zell yelled from across the field, where he was fending off a Chimera.
"Yes, if he isn't here! That means we think we won't do as well if he isn't in battle with us, but we can do the same as we usually do, even without him!" Xu cried out in pain as Torie slashed her shoulder. Adi retaliated for her hurt friend by shoving the blade of her sword deep into Torie's stomach. He grunted, caught her arm, and then fell, lifeless, to the ground.
"Yah!" Selphie jumped once, then turned around to tend to Irvine, who had been injured by a stray Chimera. Adi took care of Xu, and Rinoa and Zell nursed each other-mostly Rinoa nursing Zell's fists from punching Torie's back so harshly.
A few Cura's and Curaga's were cast, and the party was in okay conditions.
"What friend was he talking about?" Xu asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Do you think it was…" Rinoa thought out loud. "…Squall?"
"Why would he let himself be captured by Nida?" Zell asked, confident that no one could hurt his friend if they tried their hardest.
"Maybe…he didn't." Rinoa said quietly.
The group was silent.
(If Nida's that powerful, then…how are we going to defeat him?)
"Maybe it isn't even Squall!" Selphie cheered, hopeful as always, although the doubt could be seen easily in her eyes.
"Who else could it be?" Zell asked her.
"…"
"Who else is right." A familiar voice said. Rinoa turned to see her boyfriend with his gunblade slung over his shoulder.
"Squall!" She ran up to hug him, but he fended her off, shoving her backwards into Irvine. Her face exploded with rage and astonishment, and she stood up forcefully, swiping at the air with fury.
"What's wrong with you?!" she asked, more out of sadness than anger.
"Nothing." He said quietly, stretching Lionheart to the sky. "Why do you ask?"
Zell almost exploded in Squall's face, seeing Rinoa's face the way it was at that moment. It wasn't even describable, with sadness, pain, suffering, and anger mixed together. It moved the blonde, and he stole a glance at Squall's face to see if he reacted even a little.
Squall didn't even falter. Instead he smirked at Rinoa, showing that he was, indeed, possessed completely.
"You-you pushed me!" Rinoa's lips began to tremble, and tears began to fall from her face, seemingly translucent.
Everyone's mouth was open in visible amazement and shock. No one even tried to stop Rinoa from coming at Squall-until he cruelly slashed her arm.
(What are they thinking, engaging in combat with each other?! They both know better!)
Zell saw the look of fury on both Squall's and Rinoa's face, and he changed his opinion.
(On second thought, I don't think they really care.)
Xu stepped forward, stopping Lionheart from slicing Rinoa into small pieces, but not for long. He hit 'Kami' away from Xu's hands, and it flew into the forest.
"Squall, we don't want to fight you!" Selphie cried, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. All she wanted now was to curl up in Irvine's arms; she was that shaken up.
"Too bad. I enjoy fighting with you." He swung at her, but she dodged, accidentally hitting him with Strange Vision. He retaliated angrily with a savage slice to her stomach, leaving a thin red line across the sunset-yellow fabric.
"Squall, don't do this! We don't want to fight you!" Irvine yelled. "Please stop!"
A single shot from Irvine's gun brought Squall to his knees, contradicting Irvine's words.
(I guess Nida's power made him weaker.)
Zell thought too soon, because Squall began to grow yellow. An energy burst exploded around his feet, and he flew towards Irvine.
(Oh no! He's going to use Renzokuken!)
Slash after slash followed, and then Squall's follow-up attack came. Of course, it was Lionheart.
After the extreme attack finished, Irvine fell over, one point away from being dead. Selphie hurriedly cast her remaining four Curagas and took another slash to the stomach, parallel to the other.
Adi quickly shoved her sword into Squall's left arm, rendering it useless. He backed away, his blue eyes flashing. He grabbed Lionheart-which he had dropped in the progress-and growled a threat.
"I'll let you off the hook-this time. Next time you won't be so lucky!" Squall regained his composure quickly and ran, disappearing once more into the distance.
"Hey! Come back! Squall!" Rinoa called to her boyfriend. When she turned around, there were tears streaking down her face.
"I want Squall back. I want my Squall." She walked towards a tree, slamming her fist hard into it.
"We'll get him back, Rinny!" Selphie cheered. "Just wait and see!"
"He doesn't want to come back to you." A raspy voice replied to an unasked question. "You hurt him."
"Seifer!" Zell readied Ehrgeiz, swinging at the air.
This time the battle started quickly, with no hesitation, because Seifer, as the entire group knew already, was a hostile character.
Xu swung angrily at Seifer, catching her blade in the tree the blonde enemy had been standing in front of. Rinoa lashed out at him, still bitter from the confrontation with Squall. She threw Shooting Star at him, only to find it tossed directly back at her. It slid back into its holster on her wrist, but not before Rinoa got a slice to her arm.
Zell pummeled Seifer as hard as he could manage-his fists still ached-while Selphie backed him up on the side.
Adi drove her sword into Seifer's leg and he howled, raising his sword to his defense and smacking hers away, then slicing her side as she turned to catch it. He spun around and pushed Selphie away. Her head hit a rock and she was out for the rest of the battle. Xu tried to run over to cure her, but Seifer stepped in the way, Zell still punching his back.
Rinoa jumped back into the fight and aimed Shooting Star at Seifer's neck. As she let it go, Seifer disappeared and loud, maniacal laughter could be heard. Then Nida stepped out from behind a tree.
"You fight well…for mortals. You hurt my pawns and now…you expect to get away with it?!" Nida screamed. "A sword through Seifer's leg…and a sword into Squall's arm. I should say, Adi…you would make a great member of my team. How about it?"
"…No! I fight for the side of good! Forever and for always!" Adi cried, much like a hero. Now that she had gotten dirty fighting, her cynical mask that she displayed to the public had come off, and she was open.
"Now, now. What is good, really? To Seifer and Squall, I am a good man. And to them you are evil." Nida smiled at Rinoa, as though he could actually feel and understand the pain she was feeling at the moment. She aimed Shooting Star at him and let it go, but he easily dodged it.
"You know I'm right." Nida said, his grin widening as he shifted his gaze to Zell.
"No. Whoever does the good deeds, whoever defeats the evil, they are good." Xu stepped up in defense.
(Why are we sitting here? We could have killed this dude by now!)
"So? If I defeat you I am good.?"
"If we defeat you, we will become heroes once more." Rinoa stuck her tongue out, thinking she had Nida trapped.
(She's hiding her feelings. I know she collapsing inside, I can tell.)
"Oh really? Ho can you defeat me if you cannot find me?" The dark haired teki snapped his fingers and disappeared from view. Before she realized her was gone, Adi ran at the tree and hit it at the same instant he vanished. She felt her sword hit him though; she just didn't know where. As her sword hit the tree, the green leaves on the top began to fall from the impact, and about five feet of the tree-branches and center alike-began to fall towards them. As Irvine rushed to get out of the way, Rinoa screamed in unison with Xu…and Zell caught the branch in mid-air.
"Yeah Zell!" Xu cheered, raising her arms to help lower the tree to the ground. Rinoa walked over to Selphie, still shaking, to check out the young girl's condition, and Adi followed, keeping her eyes away from the fallen tree.
"Hey Xu." Zell turned to the girl, his face business-like. "Can we go get hot dogs now? I'm starved!"
Toadstool Lake-1830 hours
"What does the map say? I'm so lost." Selphie was healed now, by way of Rinoa's healing magic. Unfortunately for them, Rinoa was the only one left with healing magic, as the others had used theirs in battle.
Now they were standing by the cabin, unaware of what to do. They had received directions on how to access the Floating Dark Forest, but when they had completed the procedures, nothing had come. Nothing had happened. It was completely silent.
"Guys, I don't know…" Irvine frowned.
"Know what?" Zell asked, his mouth beginning to feel dry. He was thirsty, and the only liquid they had was the crimson blood all over their clothes.
"If…Nida's base is here. The locators aren't picking up any human activity."
"Did you ever once think that Nida and Seifer and anyone else affiliated with them is either immune to our sensors or they aren't human and can't be detected with normal equipment?" Xu asked.
"They're still human…" Selphie's voice trailed off as she watched Adi walk over to a tree and lean on it.
"We should be able to track them…even if Nida isn't human, Seifer still is. He bled." Xu said.
"…" Adi shifted, and Rinoa looked over at her.
"What? Were you going to say something?" she asked.
"Do you think that perhaps we can't track them because they aren't here?"
Everyone else froze, obviously showing that they had not considered that possibility. Xu took the sensor from Irvine, whom had borrowed it from Adi, and looked at it.
"I'll scan the world for someone with Seifer's energy level."
They paced the ground for a few seconds until Xu looked up from the tiny device.
"I know where they are."
Author's notes: So, I apologize for the wait. I've been extremely busy with my summer homework, and yoga, and writing my Pretear fic that I didn't have time to type this up. Yes, I've had it done for at least two weeks, I just didn't get it typed up. I made a lot of changes to it anyway, so the wait might have been longer. Anyway, I hope you like it, and the next update might not be for a while, because I am now writing this on the computer, and I only get 2-3 hours a day, and I'm going to be needing that for other projects of mine.
So, I hope you enjoyed this, and I'll try and get to the next chapter as soon as I can. Bye!
Tsuyunoinochi Koukyo